These red velvet crinkle cookies are a delicious and festive cookie recipe that is soft and chewy on the inside, with a crispy, crinkled exterior. They are the perfect cookie for special occasions, such as Valentine’s Day or Christmas. These festive cookies are easy to make, are made from scratch, and are sure to be a hit with everyone.
I love making cookies for the holidays. Oh, sure, pies, cakes, cupcakes, and all of those other tasty treats are fun, but my heart is really in cookies. There’s just something about a holiday-themed cookie with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee that makes my heart grow three sizes whenever I enjoy the combo. One of my favorite kinds of cookies to make is crinkle cookies. I love the fun, cracked exterior and the soft, chewy interior. These cookies are a particular favorite of mine because they’re filled with the delicious, classic flavor of red velvet, and their color is such an iconic red!
Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
These cookies start with a simple, red velvet cookie dough loaded with mini chocolate chips. I roll them into balls and then coat them with powdered sugar. Finally, I bake them until they’re soft and chewy on the inside and cracked and crinkly on the outside. They’re ready in no time, and when I’m all done, I have a plateful of classic holiday cookies that has everyone coming back for more again and again.
Why You’ll Love This Red Velvet Crinkle Cookie Recipe
- You can customize them by adding chopped nuts, cream cheese frosting, sprinkles, or just enjoy them with the classic powdered sugar coating.
- They are perfect to add to the holiday dessert menu, or they are great for potlucks, cookie exchange parties, or the perfect cookie for Valentine’s Day.
- They are soft and chewy, super easy to make, and can be baked in just 10 minutes after the dough has chilled.
Red Velvet Crinkle Cookie Ingredients
This recipe only uses a few basic baking ingredients. In fact, if you do any amount of baking at all, you probably have most or even all of them in your kitchen right now. Anything you don’t have can be found quickly and easily in the baking aisle of your grocery store.
- All purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Granulated sugar
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Vegetable oil
- Large eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Mini chocolate chips
- Powdered sugar
- Red food coloring gel
How to Make Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
Making these cookies is super easy. They come together quickly and easily, leaving you more time for holly jolly festivities. In fact, the only hard part of this recipe is waiting for the dough to chill. You won’t be able to stop thinking about eating them!
Step 1: Combine the Dry Ingredients
Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Step 2: Combine the Wet Ingredients
Whisk the sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla in another bowl until combined. Add the food coloring and stir again.
Step 3: Make the Red Velvet Cookie Dough
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Then, add the mini chocolate chips and stir.
Step 4: Chill
Form the dough into a circular disk about 2 inches thick. Wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours.
Step 5: Roll and Coat
Use a small cookie scoop and roll the dough into balls. Then, roll the balls in the powdered sugar.
Step 6: Bake
Place the coated cookie dough balls 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Then, bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
Step 7: Cool
Remove the cookies and let them cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes. Then, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe Tips
- Keep the dough in the refrigerator in between baking batches of cookies to ensure the cookies get that classic crinkle exterior.
- Make your dough no thicker than 2 inches when chilling it. You want all of the dough to be nice and cold when you bake the cookies.
- It’s imperative that you chill your dough for at least 3 hours. Cold dough is the key to the crinkle exterior of these cookies.
Variations
- You can use milk, semi-sweet, dark, or white chocolate chips in this recipe.
- For an even deeper chocolate flavor, try adding a bit of instant coffee or a splash of strong coffee to the mix.
- You can use any neutral-flavored oil in these cookies.
What to Serve with Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
These cookies are delicious with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee or tea. They also make a great addition to a larger holiday spread with all your favorite sweets like cookies, candies, cupcakes, cakes, and pies.
Recipe FAQ
Red velvet crinkle cookies are dense, fudgy chocolate cookies rolled in powdered sugar and baked to create a moist, chewy inside and a crackled, crisp outside.
Two things make crinkle cookies crinkly. First, chilling the dough causes the cookies to expand more than spread. Second, rolling the cookies in powdered sugar causes the outside to dry out while the inside remains moist. This combination causes the cookies to expand while the exterior dries, making the outside of the cookie crack.
Any red food coloring will work, but for super-vibrant cookies, use ChefMaster or Americolor super red.
If your crinkle cookies are flat, you either didn’t chill the dough long enough or you didn’t use enough flour.
If your cookies aren’t crinkling, your dough probably wasn’t cold enough.
How to Store Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
Store these cookies in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They’ll also last for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator in an airtight container. For longer storage freeze them for up to 2 months in an airtight, freezer-safe container or heavy-duty freezer bag.
Try this Delicious Red Velvet Crinkle Cooke Recipe Today
This red velvet crinkle cookie recipe is easy to make and brings tons of holiday joy to any party. Rich and fudgy on the inside and crinkled on the outside, these are the classic holiday cookies for any gathering or to simply keep on hand for your own enjoyment. Give these cookies a try, and I know they’ll become one of your favorite holiday treats!
More Delicious Cookie Recipes You’ll Enjoy
These Peppermint Sugar Cookies with buttercream frosting are absolutely delicious, and so festive. They are egg-less cookies and have become a family favorite cookie recipe that is very versatile and can be changed up for all the different seasons and holidays.
Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 1⅛ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon red food coloring gel
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° (after the cookies have chilled) and line a baking sheet(s) with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together until combined. Set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla together until well combined.
- Add food coloring, stir to combine.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stir. Add mini chocolate chips, stir.
- Form dough into a flat circular disk, about 2-inches thick, and wrap it with the plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 3 plus hours.
- Using a small cookie scoop, roll cookie dough into balls and then roll into powdered sugar.
- Place on the prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart and bake for 10-12 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let sit on the baking sheet for a couple minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- *Place cookie dough back in the fridge while the first batch of cookies bake so the dough stays cold.
Notes
Nutrition
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These were easier to make than I thought, and they were yummy!
Thank you for sharing, Linda! I’m so glad you enjoyed these. Thank you for the 5-star rating too! :)