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 was wondering if it’s okay to roll the cookie dough into balls first and then chill
Hi Marta, the dough is pretty sticky. But you could use a cookie scoop to help shape them and then cover and refrigerate them for an hour.
These are a keeper! So good! I had to use liquid food coloring but didn’t want to overdo it so I used 1/2 tbsp and they weren’t super red. Doesn’t matter, they were just for us at home anyway. I’ll be making these again for sure!
My daughter declared these to be perfect! The only change I made was a Tb of plain Greek yogurt instead of the buttermilk. Really good cookies!
is it just me or are the average grocery store large eggs getting smaller and smaller? are you seeing this too? is it enough to impact the cookie dough?
I was looking for a gluten-free, dairy-free recipe for Valentine’s Day. These looked so delicious that I decided to try them with a gluten-free flour. I used King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour along with vegan butter, keeping the measurements and baking instructions the same, and they turned out great!
These turned out perfectly. The taste, color and texture were divine and they were a great treat to distribute on Valentine’s Day
Looks like another great recipe. I’m baking them for Valentine’s Day, but instead of chocolate chips I’m using Hershey’s Cream Cheese Cips
Can I use this recipe to make a cookie cake in a 9 inch cast iron skillet? Or two of them for a large ice cream sandwich
Hi Janeen, you should be able to use this dough for one 8 or 9 inch round pan. Follow the baking directions for our Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake. Enjoy!
These look great! Do you have any egg substitute recommendations?
Hi Helda, we haven’t tested this recipe with egg substitutes, so can’t give any advice here. Let us know if you try any! Here are all of our egg free baking recipes if you are interested in browsing.
If I could give this recipe 10 stars I would! I followed your instructions to the letter including weighing the dry ingredients. I used gel coloring at they turned out a perfect color. Cookies are soft with a perfect texture. Thank you for sharing your hard work with us! Made for my daughter’s fiancé who loved the red velvet Keebler cookies but can’t find them anywhere. I think he will love these more!
I’ve made these cookies for my family two times and both times they were a HUGE hit! I couldn’t recommend this recipe enough.
Made these for my grandson’s daycare providers. The cookies were fluffy, soft and oh so yummy! I did not have regular sized chocolate chips so I used mini in the dough. Then I topped them with 3 grand chips on the top! Perfect Valentine cookie!
Love, love, love the flavor and texture of this cookie. Can’t wait to share them with co-workers. Another good one Sally! ♥️
This is a great recipe. I’d rate it 10/10
Loved this recipe. It definitely not red more brown than anything. But I mainly chose this recipe because it only calls for one stick of butter. Taste just like a chocolate chip cookie.
Absolutely love this recipe. It never fails and they are a crowd favourite too!
Fantastic recipe. I do with the type of cocoa powder was more clear. Definitely use one that is Dutch processed. Makes a world of difference. Also I found the cook time to be too long. I prefer my cookies to be softer, baked 8-10 min and only left them in the sheet an additional 2 min. Perfect.
I used the new Hershey’s cream cheese chips in these and they were wonderful. I added extra food coloring and they still weren’t red when baked but they definitely tasted like red velvet.
This recipe is absolutely delicious. I’m wondering if they would hold up as a crinkle cookie as well? I think they would look amazing in my cookie boxes!
Would it work to add nuts to these? I actualy have some macadamia nuts I’d love to use up- think they would be too much with these flavors? Thanks so much!!
Sounds delicious! We recommend keeping the total amount of add-ins to 1 cup, so reduce the amount of chocolate chips and add chopped macadamia nuts in their place.
What do I use instead of light or brown sugar?
Your recipes are always my go to because they always come out perfect on the first try,, but I’m so disappointed to say the colour on these just did not come out. They’re brown like a chocolate cookie. After looking at other recipes, majority say 3-4tsp of cocoa. I think the 1/4 cup of it is what overpowered the red food colouring. Will try making again just reducing the cocoa!
Omg, I bought a bag of red velvet cookies at the local farmers market the other day and they were good but were made from boxed red velvet cake mix and I knew homemade would be way better. I made these, doubled the recipe and swapped white chocolate chips for the semi sweet. They are soooo good!! Especially warm out of the oven. My 4 year old told me “mom your red velvet cookies taste better” lol!
Unfortunately these cookies did not work. I used the exact same measurements, followed all the steps closely including the chilling for 2 hours and everything and they turned out bad with a very bland taste. The color also didn’t really look like the one on the pictures portrayed here no matter how much coloring I put in them so they are most likely Photoshopped here to look brighter.
I am a beginner baker and did chocolate chips cookies a lot, none of them failed as bad as this one.
I only recommend this recipe if you are a pro baker and can fix the recipe to your liking. Otherwise they will fail even with the right measurements.
Aww sounds like you didn’t follow the instructions. You have to make sure you measure properly and ensure you have room temp butter – not melted. I will say that I don’t have the same color results with gel coloring but I use liquid and get a bright red just like the photos. I’ve also found chilling overnight works best for these to prevent spread and keep your dough balls small. I do one heaping tablespoon of dough. It’s also important to use quality ingredients. I’ve made these last-minute with cheap vanilla extract and sugar and it was not the best. Otherwise, every time I make these cookies people go crazy for them. Better luck on your next try!
I don’t bake cookies much except at Christmas time. However, I’m fascinated with anything red velvet and wanted a cookie recipe that I could add to my collection. I only gave this four stars because I’m not sure if the middle is supposed to be as soft as mine are. I did bake them a lot longer than the 13 minutes because I bake at a lower setting because my oven is new so it bakes really fast. It’s a precaution I use against burning pastries. The cookies are delicious and I’ve shared some with my neighbors…waiting on their reviews. Thank you, Sally
Its absolutely not fair to alter the recipe as you did with lower oven temp and then give 4 stars. You didn’t follow instructions, and that’s on you.
I’ve made this recipe at least a dozen times. These are my kids’ favorite cookies. They love to share them with friends. I had always followed the recipe exactly until recently. I had to make these for a school event and realized I had ran out of natural cocoa powder, it was midnight and I had no choice but use dutch processed cocoa. Let me tell you all, these cookies are BETTER with DUTCH PROCESSED POWDER! they are a little fudgier and the taste is better. I also use a mix of white and dark chocolate chips but that’s just because the kids like it this way. thank you, Sally, for this recipe!
Can I make them as a giant cookie cake ?
Do you think this dough is good for 2 8 inch big cookies.?
Thanks!!
Hi Humera, You should be able to use this dough for one 8 or 9 inch round pan. Follow the baking directions for our Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake. Enjoy!
This is now my go-to cookie recipe!
Hi! Is there any way to make it spread a little bit wider?
Hi Darlyn! When cookies aren’t spreading, it usually means that there’s too much dry ingredient (flour) soaking up all the liquid. When measuring flour, use the spoon & level method. Do not scoop the flour out of the container/bag. Doing so leaves you with excess flour in the cookie dough. If you are ever in the middle of baking a batch and the cookies still aren’t spreading, remove them from the oven, and use a spoon to slightly flatten them out before returning them to the oven. Hope this helps for next time!
What shade and brand of red color did u use to get that nice vibrant color ?
Hi Pearse, We use and recommend gel food coloring. It provides a brighter color than liquid food coloring and also impacts the texture less than adding more liquid. We are fans of this AmeriColor gel.
I made this cookie as an afterthought for a family celebration, and was blown away by the feedback! My family fought over them and requested more ASAP! Thanks for another stellar recipe!