Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
I saw this recipe and was inspired to try them because of how festive they look with their white coating and bright red colour! However, I was nervous because I’ve had quite a few failures with crinkle cookies. It seems my cookies always seem to stay in tact and end up as small ball shaped plain looking cookies (I definitely care more than the people eating them that they aren’t crinkled). Anyways, I decided to give these a try after reading through the recipe carefully. They turned out perfect! I was so proud when I pulled the first baking sheet out of the oven and they had beautiful crinkles.
It’s important to not cool the dough before baking! That’s the key to ensuring perfect cracks in the cookies as the dough spreads while it bakes. See above photo for the size of the cookies and what they should look like going into the oven.
INGREDIENTS
Dough
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. gel red food colouring*
1/2 tsp. water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Coating
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup icing sugar
YIELD
2 dozen
TIME
Prep - 20 minutes
Bake - 10 minutes
TOOLS
1 large bowl, 2 small bowls
Stand or hand mixer
Baking sheets and cooling racks
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and both sugars until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add eggs one a time, beating in between. Add vanilla.
Dissolve red gel food colouring in water. You could do this in a small bowl or I used a tablespoon to put both in and mix with a toothpick. Add to wet ingredients and beat until combined. The dough should be a bright colour, but will be pink-ish. If the colour is not vibrant, add a bit more food colouring.
In another bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet and beat until just combined, or mix in by hand.
Fill one small bowl with granulated sugar and the other with icing sugar. Use a cookie scoop or tablespoon to scoop dough into small balls. Roll balls first in granulated sugar and then icing sugar, completely coating the dough each time. Place on cookie sheet spread apart so they have room to expand.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until cookies have puffed up and cracked on top. Allow to set for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe adapted from Broma Bakery.
ADAPTATIONS
*Gel food colouring is best because it is much deeper so you can use less. I dissolved this into water to help it blend easier. If you don’t have gel food colouring you can sub in 1/2 tsp. liquid food colouring. You may need to add more, 1/4 tsp. at a time to ensure you have that bright colour that stays after adding the cocoa powder and baking.
