These red velvet cake-inspired chocolate chip cookies marry the velvet-soft texture and light cocoa undertones from the popular cake flavor with the gooey goodness and crisp edges of classic chocolate chip cookies. Combining brown sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, and buttermilk, these aren’t just cookies tinted red—they truly capture the flavor and appearance of both iconic desserts.
I originally published this recipe in 2013 and have since added new photos and success tips.
Is red velvet a mystery flavor to you? It used to be for me, and I really didn’t understand the hype. I don’t make red velvet treats often, but when I do, I always try to get these 4 flavors into every bite:
- Mild cocoa
- Tangy buttermilk
- Sweet vanilla
- Rich butter
When done right, these 4 flavors are outstanding together! And today’s red velvet chocolate chip cookies nail it.
One reader, Margaret, commented: “I made these with white chocolate chips. They are a new contender for favorite in our house! They were so so good!! Color and consistency turned out just right. Will definitely be making these again. ★★★★★“
Here’s Why You’ll Love These Red Velvet Cookies
- Soft and chewy in the centers with buttery-crisp edges
- Crimson hue is festive for holidays like Valentine’s Day, Christmas, 4th of July, or if your team’s colors include red
- Simple to make
- You can use white or semi-sweet chocolate morsels, or both
- The vibrancy of red is up to you; use as much or as little coloring as you want OR skip it entirely for a light brown cookie
If you’ve ever tried my cream cheese-stuffed red velvet cookies or white chocolate-dipped red velvet cookies, you’re familiar with this cookie dough. Today’s red velvet chocolate chip cookies were the original red velvet cookie I developed and published, and I based the dough off of my double chocolate chip cookies dough.
Grab These Cookie Ingredients:
As you can see, you need some chocolate chip cookie basics including flour, egg, vanilla, brown sugar, and regular granulated sugar. A kiss of cocoa powder and a little buttermilk help move us in the flavor direction of red velvet cake. Between chocolate chips and white chocolate morsels, I think I sway more towards the white chocolate in these cookies, which is usually not the case!
Both are obviously delicious, though.
Tinting the Dough
Tinting the cookie dough red is optional. If you skip the food coloring, the cookies will be light brown.
For the pictured cookies, I use 3/4 teaspoon gel food coloring. You can control how vibrant the red color is, so use more or less depending on the color you’d like. You can find gel food coloring in craft stores, some grocery stores, or online. (I like Americolor Red Red or Super Red.) Liquid coloring is fine in a pinch, but you need more of it for the color to actually show up. If you’re looking for a natural alternative, use 2 teaspoons of beet powder. The color stands out a lot more in cookie dough than in cake batter, and you won’t taste it.
Expect a sticky cookie dough:
Chill the Cookie Dough, Briefly
Like with many cookie recipes on my website, I recommend chilling the cookie dough in the refrigerator before baking it. This is a sticky dough, and letting it firm up in the refrigerator will help your cookies hold shape and maintain wonderfully soft and chewy centers.
I usually only refrigerate the cookie dough for about 1 hour. I find the longer I chill this particular dough, the thicker the cookies will be. If your cookies aren’t spreading at all, you may have chilled the dough for too long; in that case, lightly press down on them with the back of a spoon towards the end of bake time. Easy fix.
You can use a medium cookie scoop to measure 1.5 Tablespoons of dough per cookie, or weigh the dough balls to be about 30–35g each.
While the baked cookies are still warm, I press a few more chocolate chips into the tops. This is only for looks!
So this recipe sounds pretty easy, right? It is! Just your basic chocolate cookie recipe with a bit less cocoa, some vanilla, buttermilk, and a sprinkling of chocolate chips. A quick cookie dough chill and boom! You’ll have red velvet cookies from scratch in about 90 minutes.
Yes, absolutely. If you’d like to do that, you can keep or skip the chocolate chips in the dough. If you skip them, I recommend refrigerating the cookie dough for at least 2 hours. (They spread more without add-ins.) Roll the dough into 1.5 Tablespoon-size balls (about 30 to 35g each), and then roll each into confectioners’ sugar. 1 cup (about 120g) is enough confectioners’ sugar. Bake time is the same.
For more festive Valentine’s Day dessert recipes, try my Valentine’s day cookies, sparkle sweetheart cookies, and these Nutella-filled Valentine’s Day cupcakes!
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Description
These are soft-baked red velvet chocolate chip cookies made from scratch. Be sure to refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 1 hour, and feel free to skip the food coloring for light brown cookies.
Ingredients
- 1 and 2/3 cups (210g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/4 cup (21g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon milk (I recommend buttermilk)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon gel red food coloring (or alternative)*
- 1 cup (180g) white or semi-sweet chocolate chips (plus a few extra for tops)
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix on high until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, add the milk and food coloring, and then mix on low speed until everything is combined. The dough will be sticky. If you want a more vibrant hue, beat in more food coloring a little at a time. Add the chocolate chips and beat on low speed until just combined.
- Cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (and up to 3 days). I recommend just 1 to 2 hours, otherwise the cookies won’t spread much. If chilling for longer than 2 hours, allow dough to sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before rolling and baking because the dough will be quite hard.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Scoop and roll cookie dough, about 1.5 Tablespoons (30–35g) of dough each. (A medium cookie scoop is helpful here.) Arrange on the baking sheet about 3 inches apart. Bake for 11–13 minutes or until the edges appear set. Centers will look very soft. If the cookies didn’t spread, simply press down on the warm cookies with the back of a spoon to slightly flatten. If desired, lightly press a few chocolate chips into the tops of the warm cookies.
- Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cover and store leftover cookies at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. (See step 4.) Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. They won’t spread much, so press down on the warm cookies with the back of a spoon as directed in step 6. For more information, here are my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheet | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack | Americolor Red Red or Super Red or Beet Powder
- Food Coloring: You can control the vibrancy of the red color. Or, if you wish, skip the red coloring altogether because it’s only for looks. I use and recommend 3/4 teaspoon of gel food coloring. You can find gel food coloring in craft stores, some grocery stores, or online. (I like Americolor Red Red or Super Red.) Liquid coloring is fine in a pinch, but you need more of it for the color to actually show up—around 1 Tablespoon. If you’re looking for a natural alternative, use 2 teaspoons of beet powder. The color stands out a lot more in cookie dough than in cake batter, and doesn’t taste like beets.
- Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies: If you’d like red velvet crinkle cookies, you can keep or skip the chocolate chips in the dough. If you skip them, I recommend refrigerating the cookie dough for at least 2 hours. (They spread more without add-ins.) Roll the dough into 1.5 Tablespoon-size balls (about 30 to 35g each), then roll each into confectioners’ sugar. 1 cup (about 120g) is enough confectioners’ sugar. Bake time is the same.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I’ve made these cookies twice, and both times they came out tasting delicious. My only issue is that they don’t come out very red. The second time I made them, I doubled the amount of food coloring gel, but they still are far more brown than red (I’m otherwise following the directions exactly. Any tips on getting the cookies to come out more red? Would beet powder (in addition to the gel coloring) help?
Hi Matt, what brand of gel food coloring are you using? We like using Americolor brand “Red Red” or “Super Red.” It could be possible that the exact brand or shade of color is impacting the color in the final cookies. You could certainly try using beet powder in addition to the food coloring. We’re glad you’re enjoying these cookies!
I’ve used the Betty Crocker brand, but I’ll give the Americolor brand a try. I’m new to baking, but I’ve baked about a dozen different recipes of Sally’s so far, and everything has turned out pretty great! Thank you to you and the rest of Team Sally for sharing all of these terrific recipes and baking tips
They wasn’t red, and I used coloring gel, which is very pigmented, they came out a light brown. But everyone says they are good !
This recipe was confusing and didn’t do exactly what you did even with the same ingredients. At least the cookies were tasty.
Hi Victoria, I’m sorry you had trouble here. Can you provide more feedback on why the recipe was confusing? Was there a step that did not make sense?
Hi, Sally! For a red velvet cookie, do you recommend light or dark brown sugar? I typically prefer dark brown sugar for chocolate chip cookies, but for red velvet cookies, I am not sure if dark brown sugar would overpower the flavor too much. I know you said you can use both, but I was curious if one kind was “more traditional” for a red velvet cookie. Thank you very much!
Hi Naomi, really either works just fine here! Dark brown sugar won’t overpower the red velvet flavor, if that’s what you have on hand.
Delicious and easy to make. However I found that colouring with beet powder ($17 for a small bag!) turned them a weird purplish brown rather than red. Wish I had just used artificial red colouring and saved $$$
Great recipe! really loved the taste and texture. Thank you! Just wondering if I add half a teaspoon of white vinegar, will it enhance more the red velvet flavor the way it does to red velvet brownies?
Hi Joey, you can certainly add it. I don’t see any drawbacks if doing so! Add it with the vanilla.
Is there a way to not make this chewy but crunchy instead?
Hi Nur, these were developed to be a chewy cookie, but you can try decreasing the chill time and baking for slightly longer to get a crispier cookie.
Hi Sally, can I bake this as bars? if so, do you think a 9×13 pan would work? Thank you!
Hi Chel, we’d recommend an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking pan. We’re unsure of the exact bake time. Enjoy!
Hi is there an alternate to adding egg? If yes could you please provide the measurements too? Thanks xx
Hi Dominique, we haven’t tested an egg-free version of this recipe, so we’re unsure what substitute might work best. Let us know if you do any experimenting.
Wondering what would happen if i use melted butter instead of softned butter for this recipe?
Hi Rose, The cookie dough would be a little too thin and the cookies would spread in the oven with melted butter.
All in this family agree – best cookie ever! (And I make a lot of cookies!)
Hello, i really love this recipe but I noticed that the chocolate chip recipe has a lot more amount of cookie dough than this recipe. Is there any way I can make this recipe’s dough the same amount of dough just like the chocolate chip cookies? So that I could make a lot of cookies without repeating the entire recipe.
Hi Zara, you could double this recipe if you wish. Simply double all the ingredients.
OMGGG IT WAS THE BEST RECIPIE IVE EVER TRIED , IT WAS PERFECT THANK U SOO MUCHH, like every cookie ive made always had smth wrong but for the first time nothing went wrong
i prefer my cookies on the thinner side, so would it work if i didn’t refrigerate the cookies before baking?
The cookies would likely spread too much, and/or form into one large cookie. But you can certainly try!
This recipe is amazing I have made this so many times. My family and I love these cookies and they never last more than 5 days
My first time making red velvet cookies and they were DELICIOUS! Great recepie♡
Do you think these would be ok with cream cheese chips instead of chocolate chips?
Definitely!
Can I use liquid food dye?
Hi Sam, liquid coloring is fine in a pinch, but you need more of it for the color to actually show up — around 1 Tablespoon.
Delicious! Subbed in GF flour and they turned out great. Definitely chill the dough… my first batch spread too much! Second time they came out perfectly.
Hi Sally! Could I please ask clarification on how/how long to beat butter+sugars and then later on eggs and vanilla? I would want to avoid to under/over mix the dough!
Also, if I create the balls and let them rest overnight in the fridge already shaped, can I bake them straight from the fridge instead of baking once they come back to room temp? In case maybe pressing them down a bit and have a more flat surface, instead of a ball, so that they can more easily spread even if cooked from cold?
Thank you
Hi Chiara, see step 2: “Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix on high until combined, about 1 minute.” Yes, you can certainly place the shaped cookie dough balls into the oven straight from the refrigerator. Hope you enjoy them!
Hi Sally! May I ask you why here you leave out the extra yolk usually used in the other soft baked cookies? If I wanted to make normal choc chip cookies with this same consistency, should I use just substitute the cocoa powder for extra flour and leave the gel colouring out? Or it does not work like that?
Thanks!
Hi Chiara! Cocoa powder keeps these cookies quite soft and a bit chewy, so I don’t find an extra egg yolk necessary unless I increased the amount of flour (to throw off the ratio of flour to cocoa powder). If you want regular chocolate chip cookies without an extra egg yolk, try these soft chocolate chip cookies.
Thanks so much Sally! I was asking because here the consistency seems different from the other recipe you mentioned. So I was wondering if using same quantities (1 egg and 113g butter, same baking soda etc, maybe just reducing a bit the sugar) and adjusting the flour as needed (in case how?) I would reach a similar consistency, instead of using the proportion of the other recipe (where for 1 egg is used more butter than here). Hope my question makes sense! Thanks again!!!
Chiara
Made these with Hershey’s cream cheese chips (and without food colouring). I tend to bake a few cookies ahead of the full batch, in order to see what bake time works best for my oven. I found that they were a bit dry/cakey for my taste, which can happen with cocoa recipes, so I added a little more milk and they were fantastic. They taste like a hot chocolate cookie. Thanks again, Sally!
I made these and was disappointed as a red velvet cookie. The dough was the right color but when baked, they turned brown. They were however very good Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies
The cookies were delicious! I made these cookies for valentine’s day, and the people I gave them to said that the cookies were good 🙂 so chewy and not too sweet!
Hii.. your recipes are superb bt if it’s possible for you can you please suggest egg substitute with your ingredients.
Hi Nimisha! We don’t have much experience baking with egg substitutes, especially in traditional baking recipes like cookies, where they play an important role in binding the ingredients. If you’re interested, here are all of our naturally egg-free recipes.
Will it still taste good if there is no food coloring?
Yes, the color will just be a light brownish color instead of red. The taste will be the same.
I made these with white chocolate chips. They are a new contender for favorite in our house! They were so so good!! Color and consistency turned out just right. Will definitely be making these again.
I made these for Valentines day and we all loved them. Followed the recipe to a tea EXCEPT I put the milk in early with the egg and the chocolate chips in before the red gel… BUT they were still perfect! I made them Tuesday night, put them in the fridge, pulled them out about 20 mins. before baking Wednesday night. This will be a regular recipe inour house. THANK YOU!
I wanted to love this recipe – I really did. They seemed like the perfect valentines cookies so I planned to make 3 batches. Made it exactly as written and several frustrating things happened:
1. There is NO reason to chill the dough. All chilling does is make it super stiff hard to work with. I made a second batch without chilling and there was ZERO difference in the way the cookies came out – baked at the same rate, spread the same amount, visually identical, identical in texture…
2. the color of the cookie itself came out as a dark maroonish brown. I used high quality professional gel food color and even added additional color to the second batch but no go. They do not look like the photos.
3. At the temperature and length of time the recipe calls for (yes, I tried the full range – even one minute less!) my white chocolate chips carmelized and turned brown.
Taste and texture wise, all good… but otherwise, this recipe – as written – is a miss in terms of delivering the promised results.
These turned out great! I would probably skip the food coloring next time as I added quite a bit but they still only had a slight red tint. I also find red coloring, especially gel, can give a bitter taste if too much is used. These would still be a really nice double chocolate recipe and I’ll definitely make again.
I have a question – I notice that in your recipes you use a LOT of leavening, more than comparable recipes. Do you live in an area that requires so much leavening? For example, in this recipe, you use 1 teaspoon baking soda for about 7.5 ounces of flour. In a comparable chocolate chip cookie recipe, 1.4 teaspoon baking soda is used for 6 ounces of flour, and these cookies bake up nice and puffy, not flat. What is your reason for using a large amout of leavening in your recipes?
Hi Janet, I test and develop my recipes at sea level. This cookie recipe also uses natural cocoa powder, which is a dry ingredient. I find about 2 cups of flour (well, in this case, also the cocoa powder) requires about 1 teaspoon of baking soda (or 2 teaspoons of baking powder, depending on the recipe and other ingredients). You could perhaps slightly decrease the baking soda down to 3/4 teaspoon, I suppose. Are there other recipes with more leavening than necessary? I’d love to take a look at them and review my testing notes.