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!
Print
Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Yield: 20 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
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 just pulled these out of the oven. Used dark chocolate chips because I didn’t have enough semi-sweet, and they are heavenly!
Made these today and they came out great!! I used only 1 tsp of vanilla and used red velvet emulsion instead of the food coloring. Flattened them down as soon as they came out then put the extra chips on top. I also didn’t chill the mixture just started scooping out with a cookie scoop. They were perfect!!!
Love this cookie recipe. I prefer to make them with white chocolate chips though. Every time I make them, I have to make an extra batch for my brother because he loves them that much!! About to make four dozen of these for a Cookie Trade. Hoping to wow everyone with them!
Cookies were delicious! Moist and yummy. Good with a sprinkle of powdered sugar.!
Have made this 3 times now. Simply amazing. Everything I have made from you has been awesome! Keep up the great work!!
Sally! Help!
I’ve been baking your recipes for almost two years. I’ve made this particular recipe a bunch of times now. Almost every time they don’t turn out correctly! The first two times or so
I made them, they were amazing! Pillowy, soft chocolatey goodness!!
Every since then they turn into flat pancakes! I made them again yesterday and even bought a new cocoa powder. (Hershey’s natural unsweetened) I want my pillowy cookies back! Any suggestions on what I might be doing wrong? I’m a pretty decent baker and have been trying to get these right again to no avail. Help me get my favorite cookies back!
Thanks.
Made these today and they were perfect
Hi! I’ve been using your blog as inspiration for a school project, where I get to choose what I want to research. Needless to say, I chose to dive into baking. I saw your blog, and I completely fell in love with it. Thanks so much for the tips and recipes!
I have one question though: When I made these, I refrigerated my dough for about 2 hours, and when I tried to shape them, they were still extremely sticky, and when I put them in the oven, they had all already flattened out, instead of staying in a round, cylinder shape. Help! I love your recipes, and I really want this one the work out and become delicious cookies.
Thanks so much! <3
Hi Claire- thank you for reading!
I would refrigerate the dough for longer. Even overnight. I know it sounds like a long time, but the more solid and cold the dough– the less they will spread and flatten.
Hi Sally! This is a gorgeous website! I have a question about beet powder. Will using beet powder for color change the taste/flavor of the cookies? Do the cookies taste like beets?
Oh gosh, not at all! No beet cookies! You can’t taste it.
HI, Sally! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I have been looking for a red velvet cookie recipe that does not use box cake mix for months on end now! I should have known to just visit your blog first rather than try to search the plethora of other recipes on the internet. You are always my go-to when I need a good recipe that I can count on and don’t have the time to create it myself. All of the recipes that I have used from you have always turned out fantastic and I am so appreciative of that. I cannot wait to try this recipe thanks again
Hey Sally! You hit this one out the park. I baked these last night for my coworkers and everyone went crazy over them. There’s something special about red-velvet and it’s always been my favorite.
I chilled my dough for 2 hours and then I used my medium sized cookie scoop to bake them. I also didn’t press them down (only because I forgot!) yet they turned out perfect with that slightly chewy but cake-like texture. This one is going in my repertoire for sure! I am so excited about my holiday baking this year because of your recipes! I just started a food blog recently and still no clue what I’m doing or how to take decent pics, check it out if you ever have a min to kill. Great recipe!
This recipe is spot-on. They taste EXACTLY how I imagined they would, maybe even better. I was nervous to try them out because of how inconsistent each commenter’s results were, but I’m so glad that I did. I chilled them for one hour and softened my butter in the microwave. I also made the cookies smaller than suggested, so I had more. Thanks so much for posting. This is my new favorite cookie recipe!
These cookies were a hit at my work and home!. I didn’t chill them for long and used s cookie dough scoop and got 2 dozen cookies from this recipe. I will definitely make it again!
I loved this recipe! It turned out great and I loved how moist they were! A huge hit among my friends and family members! 🙂
Hi Sally!
I want to be able to make these cookies so bad but I’ve tried 3 times now. On all 3 occasions my cookies come out the oven very very thin and flat even though I roll the balls as instructed. I follow all the instructions , they just never come out thick and gooey inside but instead thin. Can you help please?
Hi Anna! Did you alter anything in the recipe at all? Did you soften the butter or melt it at all to get it softened? If you changed absolutely nothing about the recipe, you can try adding another 2-3 Tbsp of flour to help reduce spread.
Hi Sally,
I made these the other day and just like a few others on here, the cookies turned out really flat. They also didn’t have much of a red velvet taste to them. I chilled the dough for two days in the fridge and after letting it sit out for 45 minutes, the dough became very sticky. After they came out of the oven there were no crinkles either. The cookies still turned out really chewy though–which I like. I followed the recipe exactly. I’m wondering what I did wrong? How can I fix this? Any suggestions??
Thanks!
Hi, Sally.
I had such a success with your chocolate chip cookies recipe that I could not wait to try this red velvet one but my cookies turned out to be flat and ugly! And they are a little too sugary and not red velvet enough!!
I guess since I only used 1 Tbsp of red food coloring, they just looked plain dark brown, but other than that, I followed all of the steps correctly.
I chilled my dough overnight and rolled it into balls right after I took it out of fridge since when I leave my dough out for a while, it tends to get too sticky. And I tried both ways for the other recipe and there wasn’t much of difference taste-wise or on the looks.
I don’t know what I did wrong and I’m upset about the result 🙁
Can you please help? Thank you!
Anna, did you alter anything in the recipe at all? Did you soften the butter or melt it at all to get it softened? If you changed absolutely nothing about the recipe, you can try adding another Tbsp or two of flour. You can add more food coloring and, if you’d like, reduce the sugar– though that will likely have an effect on the texture.
Sally, I was wondering if I have to use red food colouring, or if I could do blue instead? It’s fine if I can’t, but I’m making them for my sister and her favourite color is blue!
blue works too!
Made these today.. THEY WERE AMAZING!!!!!
Hi Sally,
How did you roll the dough into balls? when i used my hands it became very sticky, so when i put it into the oven it spreads very fast.
Angelica, your cookie dough may need to chill for just a little longer. It shouldn’t be that sticky. Perhaps 1 more hour.
These turned out great! I substituted regular chocolate chips with white chocolate. We loved the gooey consistency of slightly under baking them. This is definitely going in my cookie rotation.
I have been searching for a cookie recipe for a long time and thank god I have finally found one! This is the exact texture I love – soft & thick and full of yumminess! Thank you so much. They went gone in minutes! The colors are so pretty! Next time I will try without the color and bit less sugar or choc chip.
Made these today. They are absolutely delicious! Thanks for the recipe. Though, they were pretty sweet so I’ll be adding a tad bit less sugar next time. They were soooo moist though and the outside was just the right amount of crispiness. Keeper!
I just made these tonight and they are the best.
This is a real keeper
I made these cookies today except switching up with white chocolate chips and m&m’s and they were delicious!!!! I am so glad I tried these! Thank you so much for the recipe!
I made these cookies today (I needed a dessert to go with the glass of red wine I’m having this evening!) and they are absolutely divine!! So soft! Thank you for another delicious cookie recipe!
Hi Sally. I made these cookies this evening and all I have to say is WOW! They melt in your melt and taste divine! I would rank them pretty high in my books, close to your cake batter chocolate chip recipe which is my absolute favourite. The countdown has started as I wait for your new cookbook!
OMG. These are so delicious! I had to do something quick to bring for dessert for Christmas Eve dinner and these nailed it. I didn’t use as much food coloring and I used mini chips and I’m in love! Thank you for saving Christmas!
These cookies were absolutely delicious! They are so chewy, almost brownie-like. Made them for a holiday party at work and everyone was obsessed with them! Had to print out the recipe for at least 5 people. Thanks for another great recipe 🙂
I made these cookies last night and OOOMMMGGGGG. Waiting for the dough to chill for an hour was difficult, it was the slowest hour of my day! I ate 2 for breakfast today, 2 with lunch and I am about to have at least 2 more after dinner. Seriously, thank you for this recipe!!! To die.