Red Velvet Cookies With White Chocolate: Thick, Chewy, and Bakery Style

Red Velvet Cookies with White Chocolate

If you have ever bitten into a bakery cookie and wished yours came out that thick, this is the recipe that finally got me there. These red velvet cookies with white chocolate bake up with crisp edges, a soft and chewy middle, and little pockets of melted white chocolate in every bite.

Each cookie is generously sized at 100g, which is what gives them that tall, New York style bakery look at home. These are not delicate little tea cookies. They are the kind you set out on a plate at a potluck and watch disappear before the main dish reaches the table.

Two things set this dough apart from most cookie recipes you have made. First, the butter goes in cold, straight from the fridge, so there is nothing to remember the night before.

Second, the portioned dough rests in the freezer for at least 4 hours before it bakes. That freeze is not a step you want to skip. It is what keeps the cookies thick instead of spreading into flat discs.

The batch makes 12 large cookies, and the dough freezes beautifully, so you can pull out two or three whenever a craving hits and leave the rest for later.

They are also a smart bake for anyone who brings food to gatherings, because the dough lives in the freezer and you can bake exactly as many as you need. Two for a quiet night at home, a full dozen for a party.

A Farmers’ Market Favorite

These cookies started as a farmers’ market bake, and they were the first cookie flavor to sell out at that market. I understand why. Red velvet with white chocolate reads as something special without being fussy, and once someone tries one, they usually come back for a bag.

I still remember the first time I set them out at my own table on a cool Saturday morning. I had a tray of chocolate chip and a tray of oatmeal, and I figured the red velvet would be the slow seller because of the color.

I was wrong. A woman in a green jacket took one, walked about ten steps, turned around, and bought six more. By eleven o’clock there was nothing left but crumbs and a few white chocolate smears on the parchment paper.

People ask me about them constantly, and the question is always the same. How do you get them so thick? The answer is the freeze and the cold butter, every single time.

What sells them is the texture. They have a rich buttery flavor, a bakery style chew, and a gooey center that stays soft even after the cookies cool. The 100g size helps too. A big cookie feels like a treat someone paid good money for, not a sample.

The dough does need a real freeze before baking, so this is not a mix and bake in twenty minutes situation. Plan for it. The payoff is a thick, chewy cookie that tastes like it came out of a bakery case.

Troubleshooting & Tips

Almost every red velvet problem comes down to two things, the color and the bake time. Here is how to get both right the first time.

Use the right food coloring. Gel based color is what you want. The liquid red food coloring sold in most grocery stores will not work here, because it adds too much liquid and the red never develops the way it should. Start with 1 teaspoon and go up to 2 teaspoons if you want a deeper red.

Do not overbake them. Pull the cookies when the edges are set and the centers still look a little soft, even a little underdone. They keep cooking on the hot baking sheet, and that is exactly what gives you the soft middle.

Give the cookies room. Six dough pucks on a half baking sheet is the right number. Crowd them and the edges will merge into each other as they spread, and you will end up with one giant sheet pan cookie instead of twelve separate ones.

• Best eaten the day they are baked. That is when the edges are crisp and the center is at its softest.
• To revive a cookie, microwave it for 15 to 30 seconds, or put it into a hot oven for 2 to 3 minutes. The white chocolate melts again and the middle goes soft.
• To store leftovers, keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
• Bake from frozen. These cookies are made to go into the oven straight from the freezer. If your pucks have been sitting in the freezer for a while and you bake them straight from frozen, add an extra 1 or 2 minutes to the bake time.

Gel color, cold butter, and dough baked straight from the freezer. Get those three right and the cookies take care of themselves.

More Bakes To Try

If you like baking in big batches and feeding a crowd, these are the next ones I would add to your list:

• Lemon Poppyseed Cookies
• No Butter Banana Bread
• Cinnamon Churro Bites
• Triple Chocolate Muffins

All four are the kind of bake that travels well to a picnic, a church supper, or a teacher appreciation table.

Ingredients

Measure everything before you start, and leave the butter in the fridge until the moment you need it. There is no softening step in this recipe.

A note on the two cocoas. The natural cocoa and the Dutch processed cocoa are both there on purpose, so do not replace one with a double dose of the other. They build the color and the flavor together.

And if you measure flour by volume instead of by weight, spoon it into the cup and level it off. Scooping straight from the bag packs the flour down and gives you a dry, crumbly dough.

White chocolate chunks give you those big pockets of melted chocolate. If you only have chips on hand, they work as a substitute, though the pockets will be smaller and more even.

Instructions

This is a one bowl dough once you get going, plus one medium bowl for the dry ingredients and one small bowl for the eggs.

1. Measure everything first. The butter goes in cold, straight from the refrigerator, so there is no need to take it out ahead of time.
2. Break up the cold butter. In a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the cold butter on low speed for about 30 seconds. You are only loosening it and breaking it into chunks. Do not cream it.
3. Add the sugars. Add the granulated white sugar and the brown sugar and mix on medium low speed until they are evenly combined, about 10 seconds.
4. Add the white chocolate. Add the white chocolate chunks and mix on low speed until they are distributed, about 10 seconds.
5. Whisk the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, natural cocoa powder, Dutch processed cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. Turn the mixer to low speed, add the flour mixture, and mix until you get a sandy consistency.
6. Mix the eggs and the color. In a small bowl, stir together the whole eggs, the egg yolk, the vanilla extract, and 1 tsp of the red food color. Pour this into the mixing bowl and mix on low speed until it comes together as a dough and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
7. Portion and shape. Divide the dough into 100g pieces and shape each one into a thick puck about 1 inch (2.5 cm) tall. That shape is what gives you the thick build, crisp edges, and soft gooey center. If you do not have a kitchen scale, divide the dough into 12 equal portions instead.
8. Freeze the pucks. Put the dough pucks in an airtight container and freeze for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. They can stay in the freezer for up to 2 months, so you can grab one or two any time a craving hits.
9. Preheat and pan up. About 20 minutes before you start baking, preheat the oven to 375℃ (190℃). Place 6 frozen dough pucks on a half baking sheet.
10. Bake. Bake for 14 minutes, or until the edges are set and the centers are still a bit soft. They continue to cook as they cool, so do not overbake them.
11. Let them rest on the sheet. Leave the cookies on the baking sheet for at least 30 minutes. They may look a little raw when they come out, but the residual heat finishes the cooking and prevents overbaking.

A word on timing. That 30 minutes on the baking sheet is not optional. If you move the cookies to a cooling rack right away, they lose the residual heat that finishes the middle, and you end up with a firm cookie instead of a gooey one.

One thing worth saying out loud, baking them from frozen is the whole point. If you let the pucks thaw on the counter, the cookies spread and you lose that tall, thick shape.

Recipe details

You will also want to allow about 30 minutes of resting time on the baking sheet after the cookies come out of the oven.

The source lists a total time of 33 minutes, which covers prep and bake only and does not include the 4 hour freeze or the rest on the sheet, so plan your day around the freeze rather than that total.

Serve them slightly warm with a glass of cold milk, or pack them in a single layer for a bake sale. Either way, they hold up well on a plate for a few hours, and any leftovers keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

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Red Velvet Cookies with White Chocolate

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Red Velvet Cookies with White Chocolate If you have ever bitten into a bakery cookie and wished yours came out that thick, this is the recipe that finally got me there. These red velvet cookies with white chocolate bake up with crisp edges, a soft and chewy middle, and little pockets of melted white chocolate in every bite.

• Total Time: 4 hours 29 minutes
• Yield: 12 large (100g) cookies 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients
226 g unsalted butter, COLD
150 g granulated white sugar
150 g brown sugar
250 g white chocolate chunks
475 g all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled if measuring by cups
15 g natural cocoa powder
10 g dutched process cocoa powder
1 tsp fine sea salt
3 tsps baking powder
100 g eggs, weight is without shell, about 2 large eggs
1 egg yolk egg yolk, from a large egg (about 17g)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1–2 tsp red food color, gel based, preferably

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Instructions

INSTRUCTIONS
1-Measure all ingredients: Measure all ingredients. One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it requires cold butter – like straight from the fridge. No need to take it out ahead of time!
2-In a mixing bowl fitted with paddle: In a mixing bowl fitted with paddle attachment, add the cold butter and mix on low speed for about 30 seconds. We just to break and loosen up the butter so there should be chunks left; we don’t need to cream it.
3-Add the white sugar and brown sugar: Add the white sugar and brown sugar and mix on medium low speed until they are evenly mixed together, about 10 seconds.
4-Add the white chocolate chunks and mix: Add the white chocolate chunks and mix again on low speed until the chocolate is distributed, about 10 seconds.
5-In a medium bowl, whisk together the: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, natural cocoa powder, dutch processed cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. Switch to low speed and add the flour mixture. Mix until you get a sandy consistency.
6-In a small bowl, mix together the: In a small bowl, mix together the whole eggs, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and 1 tsp of red food color. Pour this egg mixture to your mixing bowl and mix on low speed until it comes together as a dough and the mixture is pulling away from the sides of the bowl.
7-Portion the dough into 100g pieces and: Portion the dough into 100g pieces and shape each one into a thick puck, about 1 inch (2.5 cm) tall. This helps the cookies bake up thick with crisp edges and a soft, gooey center. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Place the dough pucks in an airtight container and freeze for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. They can also be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months. Grab a piece or two any time you have a cookie craving!
8-About 20 minutes before you start baking,: About 20 minutes before you start baking, preheat oven to 375℃ (190℃). Put 6 cookie dough in a half baking sheet.
9-Bake for 14 minutes or until the: Bake for 14 minutes or until the edges are set and the centers are still a bit soft. Remember that cookies continue to cook as it cools so don’t overbake them. Leave on the baking sheet for at least 30 minutes. They make look a little raw when they come out – but the residual heat will finish the cooking. This also prevents overbaking your cookies.

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• Prep Time: 15 min
• Cook Time: 14 min
• Method: bake