Heart Shaped Red Velvet Frosted Cookies
Red Velvet Frosted Cookies
Scroll to find recipe and step by step instructions.
Servings Size:
makes approximately 9-11 cookies
Measurments:
1 cup butter
1/2 cup of packed brown sugar (light or dark)
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp of vanilla extract
1 tbsp molasses (optional but highly recommended)
1 tbsp red food coloring
2 cups of All-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp of salt (optional if you used salted butter)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tbsp expresso powder (optional)
Frosting
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup shortening (crisco) (you can substitute with more butter)
3 cup powdered sugar
4 tbsp heavy cream (or 2 tbsp milk)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Topping:
crumble a cookie once fresh out of the oven
1/2 cup granulated sugar to roll cookies in
What is red velvet?
It’s such a controversial topic. Is red velvet chocolate? Is red velvet its own flavor? Red velvet is essentially a mild cocoa flavor. It’s almost like having a marbled cake (chocolate and vanilla), but the two batters are already mixed. To each his own, but I do believe it is its own unique flavor.
Why measure in grams?
If you ask any bakery how they measure, most will say they measure in grams. Measuring by weight is more reliable for desserts because some recipes don’t specify if you should pack your ingredients and do not take into account how different people measure their ingredients. A common mistake people make in measuring ingredients is when measuring brown sugar. Brown sugar is clumpier than normal sugar because it is mixed with molasses. 100 grams of white sugar is equivalent to 100 grams of packed brown sugar—though most people don’t pack their brown sugar the same way, so you will most likely not get the same measurement unless using a scale.
Food scales are such an amazing and cheap investment to make for your kitchen because they will allow you to copy recipes perfectly because they are far more reliable and allow you to not use as many dishes! Click here to order a food scale!
Buttercream Frosting
I will always recommend using buttercream frosting because it always has a perfect consistency and is the most simple to make (if you follow the recipe and instructions correctly). However, the texture and consistency of your buttercream frosting depends on your environment. Your frosting will not hold a design very well in warmer environments. It is necessary to keep desserts with buttercream frosting chilled while you are storing them to avoid the frosting melted off of your dessert or becoming too soft—losing the design. You will lose your frosting swirl on top of your cookie if you leave it in heat for too long.
A way to avoid losing the design in the heat, whipping the butter for a longer amount of time (maybe 8-10 minutes) before you add any other ingredient may help stabilize it. Adding more powdered sugar or lessening the amount of heavy cream/milk substitute you use will also aid in this issue. Some buttercream recipes require more milk substances such as heavy cream to give it a fluffier texture. If this is the case and you want to put this dessert in a warmer environment for whatever reason, do not use this recipe for your buttercream or remove most of the liquid and replace it with more butter and powdered sugar.
A key factor to getting stable and airy buttercream that is not too dense is whipping your butter before adding any other ingredients. I always allow my butter to reach a white color and double in size before I add anything. This will allow your buttercream to be more airy without creating unnecessary air pockets.
Measurements in Grams:
225 grams butter
95 grams of packed brown sugar (light or dark)
95 grams white granulated sugar
1 large egg (60 grams)
4 grams of vanilla extract
24 grams molasses (optional but highly recommended)
15 grams red food coloring
250 grams of All-purpose flour
6 grams baking soda
2 grams baking powder
1 gram of salt (optional if you used salted butter)
60 grams cocoa powder
15 grams expresso powder (optional)
Frosting
115 grams butter
50 grams shortening (Crisco) (you can substitute with more butter)
360-400 grams powdered sugar
60 grams heavy cream (or 30 grams milk)
3 grams vanilla extract
Topping:
crumble a cookie once fresh out of the oven
95 grams granulated sugar to roll cookies in
Substitutes for milk?
There are several milk substitutes, but you it depends primarily on what you are trying to use the milk for. Some easy substitutes are equal amounts of heavy cream, light cream, half n half (half milk, half heavy cream), or 1 cup plant based milk (almond, coconut, oat, etc.) mixed with 2 tbsp butter (real or plant based).
Most recipes use heavy cream for the point of it whipping up—so using any of the other alternative substitutes won’t work. Light cream, half n half, most plant based milks, and whole milk won’t whip up to a whipped cream texture, so heavy cream is a must-have.
For chocolate ganache, most of the substitutes will work perfectly fine, though it is good to know that heavy cream will give the most light, airy, and stable final product and plant-based/whole milks will give the thinnest and denser product.
Step 1
Preheat oven to convection 350 degrees fahrenheit.
Beat room temperature butter in stand mixer/by hand for 3-5 minutes (or until butter turns off-white).
Step 2
Add in brown sugar and white sugar. Beat the sugar with the butter until the mixture is fluffy (about 2 minutes).
Step 3
Add your large egg and stir into mixture.
Mix in vanilla and molasses (optional).
Step 4
Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, expresso powder, cocoa powder, and salt to form your dough. If using a stand mixer, mix on low. If mixing by hand, use a spatula.
Step 5
Use a 1/3 cup scoop (or 56 grams) and place a single ball of dough on baking tray. THIS IS YOUR TEST COOKIE! Always start with baking a single cookie, to make sure you didn’t forget an ingredient and/or your oven isn’t too hot (some ovens have hot-spots or cook things quicker/slower than others). This is also a good indicator of how much your cookie will spread.
Step 6
After baking your test cookie, place cookie dough balls on your tray and mold into heart shape. Roll in granulated sugar (optional). Use your test cookie to estimate how many cookies you can fit on your tray.
Bake cookies for 9-10 minutes (for 1/3 cup or 56 grams scoop).
Step 7
Let cookies sit on tray for about 10 minutes before removing.
Cool your cookies in the fridge before icing your cookies.
Step 8
For frosting, beat butter and shortening together until mixture turns off-white.
Then add your powdered sugar until fully incorporated.
Add your heavy cream and extracts. Whip the mixture to let the heavy cream fluffen your mixture. If you want, mix frosting with a spatula to take away some of the air bubbles (this will help you avoid air bubbles when piping it out)
Put frosting in a ziploc/piping bag or frost with a utensil.
Crumbl one of your cookies to put on top.
Put in fridge to store up to 10 days or in room temperature for 8 days!