Copycat Crumbl Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies

These Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies are a delicious hybrid of cake and cookie. A modern classic, red velvet has known its share of controversy, largely due to the debate over traditional red velvet, which relies on a chemical reaction for its characteristic color, and the more modern version which relies on red food dye.

For the sake of convenience, this recipe favors food coloring over baking science to get the traditional red flavor, and white chocolate chips to provide the sweet and creamy, yet sour tang that is usually provided by cream cheese frosting. So basically this cookie is a more portable red velvet cake. You’re welcome. 

I was raised by hippies, and so prefer “natural” food coloring from the health food store over Red 40, but if you want a more vibrant red, you’ll have better luck with gel food dye. 

Ingredients

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ¼ granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Red food coloring (use as indicated)
• 1 tsp vinegar (white or apple cider)
• 1 ⅔ cup AP flour
• 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 3 Tbsp cornstarch
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add egg, vanilla, and food coloring, and mix until thoroughly combined. 

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt and add to butter and egg mixture ⅓ at a time.

Mix together until just combined.

Add white chocolate chips, and mix in by hand.

Portion the dough into 8 equal balls of dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until the cookie tops are just about to set. 

Remove and let cool before storing in an airtight container. 

Tips

• Sifting your drying goods together will save you time and ensure you don’t end of up with lumps of flour/cocoa powder in your dough.
• Since white chocolate is much softer than chocolate, you’ll want to hand-mix the chips so as to avoid breaking the chips into little specks in the dough. 
• To achieve craggy tops, split each dough ball in half, and then put back together with the rough edges facing up/out.
• For an extra chip-y look, save a handful of chips to dot the top of your cookies with before baking.
• These cookies freeze beautifully. 

Variations

• Although white chocolate chips add a nice tang to these cookies, you can substitute or supplement with any kind of chip you’d like. 
• Adding cream cheese frosting to these cookies takes them to another level of red velvety-ness.
• To bake smaller cookies, split the dough into 16 balls and bake for roughly 6-8 minutes.
• Since we’re already using food coloring, there’s nothing that says you can’t bake a blue, purple, or even green velvet cake.