#80 – Red Velvet Sugar Cookies

I have a friend who loves wine. We get along very well. I think its because we think alike and use each other to bounce ideas off each other when ever we get together for, you guessed it, wine. She’s seen me through some tough times and I’ll always value her friendship. She’s the type of friend that inspires me and I always walk away with my head buzzing with ideas, ready to take on the world. No, it’s not the wine making me buzz.

At one of our recent wine meetings, I found out she has an obsession with red velvet anything. So when I came across these beautiful cookies, I immediately thought of her and added them to my cookie count down list. The original recipe I was inspired by came from Cooking Classy. I was determined to share some with her at our next wine meeting.

Welcome to day #9 of the 12 Days of Easy Christmas Cookies!

I had two requirements when I was selecting my cookies for the 12 Days of Easy Christmas Cookies. The first one, you guessed it, they had to be easy. No unusual ingredients or tools, if I couldn’t find what I needed at Walmart or Bulk Barn, they were coming off the list. The second requirement was that they freeze well because all of my cookies were going to be served at my annual Cookie Christmas Party.   My plan was to bake like a mad fiend two weeks prior to the party then concentrate on cleaning and decorating my house the week before the party. Even the majority of my party appetizers were made ahead.

So back to these scrumptious cookies…I had a concern with the cream cheese icing Cooking Classy put on top of her cookies. I was weary of the icing. I wasn’t sure how the icing would taste after being frozen (I’ve had limited success with freezing cream cheese – if anyone has suggestions, I’d love to hear them!!) and I did not want to make the icing the day of the event. Aside from cutting up veggies for my veggie tray, my kitchen was seeing no action the day of my Cookie Party. (if you saw how I baked, you’d understand why… just ask my husband) These Red Velvet Sugar Cookies were either going to be left naked or I had to find an alternative that froze well. Enter chocolate.

All of life’s worse problems seem to be solved by chocolate, don’t you agree? I was going to use (brown) semi-sweet chocolate chips with sprinkles then I remembered I had a handful of white melting chocolates leftover from Halloween. Purrrrfect. Visually appeal and delicious! Just the touch I was looking for, and oh so simple.

So they may not completely conform to the Red Velvet requirements (do you have to have cream cheese together with a fudgy base colored red?) but they are perfect for Christmas, or Valentines Day, or Fridays.. lets be honest, they are perfect for any day you would like a treat. And since they freeze so well, you can have them any day because I can walk over to my freezer and pull one out any time I want one.  Cheers!

INGREDIENTS

2 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Red food coloring – paste or liquid

½ – ¾ cup white melting chocolate

DIRECTIONS

1. Whip the butter, shortening and sugar together until light and fluffy. I like to use my stand mixer for this but the hand held beaters work just as well. Add in the eggs, vanilla and lemon juice. Once this is well incorporated, add your food coloring.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, sifted cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Gradually add these dry ingredients into the butter mixture on a low speed. Mix until just combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
3. When you are ready to bake them, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
4. Shape the dough into 2” balls – I like to use an ice cream scoop, makes the job much easier. Place the dough on a parchment lined cookie sheet and flatten the dough into discs. Cook in the oven for about 12 minutes. The centers should be firm to the touch.
5. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack.
6. When the cookies have completely cooled, transfer them back to a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
7. Melt your white chocolate melts in the microwave in 30 second intervals until melted and smooth. Using a icing piping bag, fork or ziplock bag (which ever method you prefer), drizzle the white chocolate over top of the cookies. Put as much chocolate as you please.
8. A fun alternative would be to dip the tops of the cookies into the color then decorate with colorful Christmas sprinkles.
9. Allow the chocolate to completely harden before storing them in an air tight container. These cookies freeze well.

Linked up at Peeled Wellness party!