If you love a delicious red velvet cake but you’re looking for something a lot simpler and quicker to make, this recipe is going to be perfect for you. In this post I’m going to show you how to make delicious Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies.
What is Red Velvet?
Red Velvet cake is a southern speciality! It’s basically a chocolate cake but made with buttermilk, as opposed to whole milk. It’s also loaded with red coloring gel, which changes the color to a rusty red.
In an earlier post I covered a little hint about buttermilk. You can make your own if you don’t have any on hand. Just add a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of milk. Voila! Buttermilk, the key component to a Red Velvet Cake.
The Infamous Steel Magnolias Armadillo Cake
If you saw the movie Steel Magnolias you know that the groom’s cake (a popular offering here in the south) was in the shape of an armadillo.
When they sliced him open the guests discovered a red velvet cake inside. It made for a good laugh in the movie!
I live in Texas and I’ll confess: I get a lot of requests for red velvet cake, and not just for weddings. For years I doctored a red velvet cake mix but then I came up with a great from scratch recipe.
Red Velvet in Cookie Form?
Then came the cookies. I started with Red Velvet sandwich cookies. Then I came up with a lovely chocolate chip infused red velvet cookie.
But, these crinkle cookies? The inspiration for these came from a different place altogether.
Yesterday I baked some chocolate sugar crinkle cookies. I loved the idea that they “crater” while baking, leaving lovely cracks all over the cookie.
My friends devoured them!
A New Twist on the Crinkle Cookies!
Today, I kept thinking about how easy those cookies were to make. Truly, one of the easiest I’ve made so far. I got to thinking about how easy it would be to turn chocolate crinkle cookies into red velvet crinkles.
And that’s where this journey began!
These cookies don’t call for milk, so it took a minute to figure out how I’d get that classic Red Velvet flavor in. (After all, I didn’t want plain cocoa cookies dyed red.)
That’s when it hit me. Use my vinegar trick, minus the milk.
So, that’s what I did. I trimmed back on the cocoa a little bit, added a teaspoon of vinegar, a hint more flour (more about that in a minute), and red coloring gel. Voila! Red Velvet crinkle cookies!
But, I’m getting ahead of. Myself, as I am prone to do. Let’s talk about what you’ll need to make these delicious cookies.
Red Velvet Crinkle Cookie Ingredients
You will find a full printable recipe card at the bottom of this post but here’s a quick peek at what you’ll need. These are simple ingredients you might already have on hand.
- granulated sugar
- dutch-processed cocoa powder
- large eggs
- vegetable oil
- salt
- all purpose flour
- baking powder
- red coloring gel
How to Make Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
These come together so quickly and easily!
You’ll need a medium bowl for the cookie ingredients and another smaller bowl for the powdered sugar. That’s it!
You won’t need a stand mixer or even a hand mixer for this recipe. A simple whisk and spoon will do just fine.
In the medium bowl place your granulated sugar, eggs, salt, oil, and cocoa powder. (Quick note about the eggs: most recipes call for room temperature eggs but this one does not. Cold is good because you’re going to want a chilled dough.)
Whisk until creamy.
Add the coloring gel. How much you add will depend on you. I use AMERICOLOR gels and the red is fairly strong, so I didn’t need quite as much.
Now it’s time to add the flour and baking powder. This recipe calls for slightly more flour than the chocolate crinkles for a couple of reasons. This recipe has less cocoa powder (a dry ingredient) and more liquid (vinegar and coloring gel). So, I found those extra two tablespoons of flour important!
Cover your dough and place in the refrigerator for 2 – 3 hours or in the freezer for about 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Prepare two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Once chilled, reach for a small cookie scoop and scoop out balls of dough. You’ll want to roll them in your palms to make sure they’re perfectly rounded.
This is a sticky dough, for sure, but if the dough balls feel too soft you can place the whole tray back into the fridge for ten minutes or so.
Place them one at a time in the bowl of powdered sugar and shake until covered.
Put cookie dough balls on the prepared cookie sheet. Pop them into the oven right away or the powdered sugar coating will begin to melt! (Ask me how I know!)
Bake for 10 – 12 minutes or until the powdered sugar craters. (Aren’t they adorable?) If you end up with flat cookies either a). your dough isn’t cold enough or b). you need to add a bit more flour.
Remove from oven and place the cookie sheets on a wire rack to cool.
After ten minutes transfer the cookies directly to the rack to continue cooling.
Serve and enjoy! These are great with a large glass of milk.
You can store these in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also freeze these cookies to eat later, if you like. I actually prefer to freeze the dough balls (without any powdered sugar).
If you’re working with solidly frozen dough balls (that have been in freezer bags, completely frozen for a while) there are a couple of different ways to go about baking them:
1). You can “mostly” thaw the frozen cookie balls before rolling in dough, then bake as instructed OR….
2). You can use them frozen. Roll them in your damp palms, then coat in powdered sugar. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 325 for 14 – 15 minutes or until craters form. (Low and slow is better for frozen dough balls.)
What to Expect from These Crinkle Cookies
I think these would make classic Christmas cookies, friends, perfect for a holiday cookie exchange.
These cookies have a delicious chocolate flavor, but with the twist of red velvet. That little hint of vinegar is just enough to make your feel like you’re eating an armadillo cake!
Just kidding. That armadillo cake was weird.
But seriously, you’ll love these cookies. They’re perfect. You’ll really feel like you’re eating red velvet cake. They got a soft cake-like feel to them that you’re going to swoon over!
And that powdered sugar? It adds just the right amount of sweetness. (Confectioners’ sugar adds just the right amount of sweetness to these cookies.)
Variations on this Recipe
I love to add to existing recipes so I’m already thinking of ways to dress these up. Here are some fun ideas:
Sandwich cookies: I think these would be delicious (powdered sugar and all) with my Cream Cheese Frosting stuffed between a couple of them. Eating them sandwich style really will make you feel like you’re eating red velvet cake. (Cream cheese frosting is a must with red velvet!)
Miniature chocolate chips: I think mini chocolate chips would be delicious in these cookies. Red Velvet is, after all, a chocolate cookie!
Bake these in a brownie pan. These would make delicious red velvet brownies. Just coat with powdered sugar before baking.
More Cookies from Out of the Box Baking
There are dozens and dozens of cookie recipes on this site. You’re going to love all of them!
- Easy Almond Joy Cookies
- Golden Girls Cheesecake Cookies
- Crumbl Churro Cookie Copycat
- German Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
- Simple Pecan Sandies
That’s it for this post, friends! I hope you enjoyed this delicious recipe.
If you make this recipe and love it, don’t forget to leave a review and a comment below. And while you’re at it, go ahead and pin some photos to your Pinterest boards!
See this recipe at
Learn more about doctored cake mixes, the theme of this blog.
For the master list of all doctored cake mix recipes on this site, visit Doctored Cake Mix Recipes, Master List.
About the Author
Janice Thompson is an author, baker, and all-around mischief maker! She has overcome a host of baking catastrophes, including a toppled wedding cake, to learn more about the baking process. Janice has published over 150 books for the Christian market but particularly enjoys writing recipes and baking devotions. To learn more about Janice or to drop her a note, visit her About the Author page.
Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
If you love a delicious red velvet cake but you’re looking for something a lot simpler and quicker to make, this recipe is going to be perfect for you. In this post I’m going to show you how to make delicious Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies.
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup plus two heaping tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Red coloring gel
Instructions
- These come together so quickly and easily!
- You’ll need a medium bowl for the cookie ingredients and another smaller bowl for the powdered sugar. That’s it!
- You won’t need a stand mixer or even a hand mixer for this recipe. A simple whisk and spoon will do just fine.
In the medium bowl place your granulated sugar, eggs, salt, oil, and cocoa powder. - Whisk until creamy.
- Add the coloring gel. How much you add will depend on you. I use AMERICOLOR gels and the red is fairly strong, so I didn’t need quite as much.
- Now it’s time to add the flour and baking powder. This recipe calls for slightly more flour than the chocolate crinkles for a couple of reasons. This recipe has less cocoa powder (a dry ingredient) and more liquid (vinegar and coloring gel). So, I found those extra two tablespoons of flour important!
- Cover your dough and place in the refrigerator for 2 - 3 hours or in the freezer for about 45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Prepare two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Once chilled, reach for a small cookie scoop and scoop out balls of dough. You’ll want to roll them in your palms to make sure they’re perfectly rounded.
- If your dough balls feel too soft you can place the whole tray back into the fridge for ten minutes or so.
- Place them one at a time in the bowl of powdered sugar and shake until covered.
- Put cookie dough balls on the prepared baking sheets. Pop them into the oven right away or the powdered sugar will begin to melt! (Ask me how I know!)
- Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until the powdered sugar craters. (Aren’t they adorable?)
- Remove from oven and place the cookie sheets on a wire rack to cool.
After ten minutes transfer the cookies directly to the rack to continue cooling. - Serve and enjoy! These are great with a large glass of milk.
- You can store these in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also freeze these cookies to eat later, if you like. I actually prefer to freeze the dough balls (without any powdered sugar).If you’re working with solidly frozen dough balls (that have been in the freezer for a while) there are a couple of different ways to go about baking them:
1). You can “mostly” thaw them before rolling in dough, then bake as instructed OR….
2). You can use them frozen. Roll them in your damp palms, then coat in powdered sugar. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 325 for 14 - 15 minutes or until craters form. (Low and slow is better for frozen dough balls.)
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 22 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 71Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 17mgSodium: 53mgCarbohydrates: 10gFiber: 0gSugar: 9gProtein: 1g
The nutrition information is a product of online calculators. I try to provide true and accurate information, but these numbers are estimates.