Here’s How to Make Christmas-Themed Red Velvet Cookies

Today’s cookies are easy-to-make and festive.  Boxed cake mix as a shortcut ingredient is key and the rest is easy as pie… er… cookie.

To make these more festive, you could color your topping green or put Christmas-themed sprinkles on them.  Or you could make cute little Christmas Cookie Pops (similar to Shannon’s “caramel apples”… but maybe call them “ornaments’ or “holly berries” or something Christmas-y instead).

Oh, and did I mention that I made a cream-cheese-stuffed version?  I didn’t have the patience to freeze my cream cheese so it ended up kinda weaving itself through the cookie, which was actually rather delightful.

Red Velvet Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 box red velvet cake mix
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Vanilla candy coating (optional)

If you want to add cream cheese filling

• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1 tablespoon butter, softened
• 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• tiny pinch salt (super tiny, MAYBE 1/8 teaspoon)

1.  In a large bowl mix cake mix, eggs, and vegetable oil with an electric mixer until smooth.  (It gave my mixer quite a workout).  Oh, and wear your apron unless you always wanted that shirt to have pink polka-dots anyway.

2.  Dump into dough-mound onto plastic wrap.  Wrap and chill 2 hours.

Once chilled, scoop into 1-inch balls and place on parchment-lined baking sheet.*

*Alternatively, you could scoop immediately and then cover with plastic wrap and chill 30 minutes to an hour. 

3.  When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350F degrees for 8 – 10 minutes until baked through.   Let cool on baking sheet.

4.  Drizzle with melted candy coating in a haphazard manner.  Add decorative sprinkles before the coating dries, if desired.

If you want to add the cream cheese… 

1.  Whip cream cheese, vanilla, salt, and powdered sugar until blended.  Cover and freeze until firm, about two hours.

Once frozen, scoop into 1/2 teaspoon-sized balls.

When ready to form your cookies…

1.  Working in batches (so some can stay chilled in the fridge), flatten one of your cookie-dough balls until it is about 2-inches in diameter.

2.  Place cream cheese ball in the middle and pinch dough closed around it.  Roll until smooth and return to refrigerator for 15 minutes.

3.  Bake at 350F degrees for 11 – 13 minutes until done.