Red Velvet Cream Cheese Chip Cookies

Red Velvet Cream Cheese Chip Cookies– Santa called me and he said he wants these cookies when he comes to your house this year! These red velvet cookies are THICK, soft, and so incredibly delicious. Sweet vanilla flavor shines through with a touch of chocolate from the cocoa and each bite is filled with tangy, melty cream cheese chips.

Cream cheese is meant to be with red velvet and these fun cream cheese chips are a much easier way to get that classic flavor without the hassle of making frosting or cheesecake filling from scratch. These cookies have that show-stopping bright red color with festive pops of white from the cream cheese chips.

I’ve been making these cookies for a couple years now–I first developed this recipe for a home bakery I ran for a few months. I’ve tested this recipe so many times I think I could make it in my sleep. This flavor, along with two others I’ve shared here (ginger molasses and hot cocoa) was one of my most popular cookies!

With classic red velvet flavor and bold, red color, these festive cookies are perfect for holiday baking. If you’re a red velvet fan, you HAVE to put these on your baking list this Christmas season.

Why you’ll love this recipe:

• Soft & thick bakery-style red velvet cookies
• Sweet vanilla-y, slightly chocolaty red velvet + tangy cream cheese chips
• Bold + festive red and white colors
• Small batch recipe
• Freeze well–make ahead option (dough or cookies)
• Perfect for holiday season and cookie exchanges

Ingredients

Butter: Salted butter is a must for a cookie coming from my kitchen. These cookies are super buttery, which complements the very sweet vanilla and chocolaty flavors so well. Make sure to start with cold butter to ensure that these cookies hold together and don’t spread while baking.

Granulated sugar: In baking, sugar helps give structure, sweetness, and moisture.

Brown sugar: Brown sugar has molasses added to it, which helps make cookies chewier and gives a delicious caramelized flavor.

Egg: Eggs help bind all of the ingredients together and provide a yummy richness to these cookies.

Vanilla extract: Essential in red velvet recipes and helps give it that classic, sweet flavor. Use 100% pure vanilla extract if you can, especially for this recipe.

Red food dye: I always use the liquid food dye, although you can also use gel food dye (see this article for how to use it if you never have). If you prefer not to use dye at all, you could try using a natural substitute. I have not tried it with a natural substitute, but I’d love to hear if you do!

Bread flour: If not all, almost all of my cookie recipes use bread flour. I love the texture and density that it helps to give cookies some heft. It’s super important that you measure your flour correctly so that the you don’t end up with overly-dry, crumbly dough.

Cocoa powder: A tiny bit of cocoa powder is just enough to give these cookies the touch of chocolaty flavor that red velvet is known for. I like to use Hershey’s Dark Cocoa powder (although there’s a shortage right now, so my next choice would be Dutch Process Cocoa).

Baking soda and baking powder: The leavening agents are super important for helping these cookies stay nice and tall and thick.

Salt: Never underestimate the job salt has in a sweet recipe. It complements and brings out the sweetness and takes the flavor to a whole new level.

Cream cheese chips: I discovered these cream cheese chips a couple years ago when I was selling Christmas cookies (and used this exact recipe, actually). I’m personally not a huge fan of white chocolate chips, but the cream cheese flavor these have plus the soft, thick red velvet cookies is soooo good.

Equipment

• Large glass mixing bowl
• Silicone spatula (affiliate link) – This is my favorite spatula–I have it in three fun colors!
• Handheld mixer (affiliate link) A trusty hand mixer does the job just as well (if not better, in my opinion) as a stand mixer
• Kitchen scale (optional) – for measuring the flour as accurately as possible
• Measuring cups and spoons
• 1/2 cup cookie scoop (affiliate link) – My go-to for giant cookies
• Sheet pans: 1/4 (for chilling) and 1/2 (for baking) – (affiliate link)
• Parchment paper

How to Make Red Velvet Cream Cheese Chip Cookies

1. Cream the butter and sugars. In a large glass mixing bowl, cream the (slightly softened) butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with a handheld mixer on medium-low speed for about two minutes.
2. Add the egg, vanilla, and red dye. Mix in the egg, vanilla, and red food dye on low speed until the mixture becomes light and fluffy, about one minute or so.
3. Add the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Measure the flour correctly (spooned and leveled or weighed) and sprinkle the remaining ingredients over the flour evenly, then mix on low speed until the dough comes together and is thick.
4. Fold in the cream cheese chips. Add in the cream cheese chips and fold in with a silicone spatula (or sometimes I like to put a food-safe disposable glove on and just mix it up with my hand since it’s such a thick dough).
5. Scoop and chill dough balls. Use a half cup cookie scoop (or portion the dough into ~150 gram balls using a kitchen scale) to divide the dough into six cookies. Lay them on a parchment lined small sheet pan and set in the freezer for at least two hours, overnight ideally.
6. Bake at 350˚F. Bake the cookies straight from frozen on a parchment lined sheet pan for about 18-20 minutes.
7. Let cool and enjoy! Let the cookies cool on the pan for at least a half hour before digging in. Let them cool completely before storing.

Notes & Tips

Tips for Success

1. Start with cold butter. Using butter that is as cool as possible, while still soft enough to work with, during the whole cookie dough making process will ensure that your cookies stay tall and don’t spread or brown too much when baking. Try to get the dough back to cool in the freezer as quickly as possible–don’t just let it sit out for an extended period of time.
2. Don’t over-measure the flour. It’s soooo easy to accidentally over-measure flour and end up with dry, crumbly dough that feels like a fail. Because this dough is already very heavy on the flour, even just a tiny bit extra can cause this to happen. My favorite way to prevent this is to measure by weighing the flour on a kitchen scale (you can measure it straight into the bowl!). If you don’t have a scale, just make sure you measure by spooning the flour into the cup and leveling off with a butter knife.
3. Chill dough in the freezer. Chilling cookie dough does wonders! It helps the ingredients stay cold so that the outsides bake up nicely first while keeping the inside super soft and gooey. Chilling helps the cookies keep their tall, round shape. It also improves the flavor by letting it develop as the dough sits and freezes.
4. Don’t skip the cream cheese chips! If you absolutely cannot find these chips, then white chocolate chips are a good substitute, but they’re definitely not the same. I don’t love white chocolate chips, but these cream cheese chips are sooo good. They’re perfect for these red velvet cookies.
5. Don’t overbake the cookies. It’s really easy to do that with this recipe since these cookies are supposed to stay tall and round. They’ll still look very underdone at the 18-20 minute mark, but trust me–you’ll want to pull them now! They’ll continue to set as they cool.

Storage

These red velvet cookies stay soft and moist at room temperature (in an airtight container) for up to three days. If you plan to keep them longer than that, stick them in the refrigerator. They are good in the refrigerator for 5-6 days.

These cookies also freeze really well. I like to package mine individually and keep frozen for up to three months. To thaw, set out at room temperature for at least an hour before enjoying.

If you’ve made my cookies before, you know that I like to make big batches of dough and keep dough balls in the freezer so I have ready-to-bake cookies at anytime. You can absolutely do that with these–and it’s a life saver for getting ahead on your Christmas cookies!

Other Recipes You Might Like…

• Thick + Soft Ginger Molasses Cookies
• The Best Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Honey Butter Cornbread Cookies
• Soft Pumpkin Butter Snickerdoodle Cookies
• Mini M+M Cookies
• Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies

Print Recipe

Red Velvet Cream Cheese Chips Cookies

Red velvet cookies stuffed full with cream cheese chip are THICK, soft, and so incredibly delicious. With bold red and white color, sweet vanilla flavor, and a touch of chocolate from the cocoa, these are a festive, fun twist on classic red velvet perfect for the holidays!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Chill Time2 hours hrs

Total Time2 hours hrs 38 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bakery style cookies, giant bakery style cookies, red velvet, red velvet cream cheese cookies

Servings: 6 cookies

Author: Kate Reeder

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter cold, cubed
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup light brown sugar packed
• 1 large egg
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp red food dye
• 2 cups + 1 tbsp bread flour (spooned and leveled) or 270 grams
• 1 tbsp dutch process cocoa powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 8 oz Hershey's cream cheese chips 1 bag

Instructions

• In a large glass mixing bowl, heat the cold, cubed butter in the microwave for 10-30 seconds until just soft enough to work with.
• Add the sugar and brown sugar and cream with the butter using a handheld mixer on medium speed for about two minutes.
• Add the egg, vanilla, and food dye. Mix on low until smooth and fluffy, about one minute.
• Add the bread flour (measured correctly) and sprinkle the cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt over the flour evenly. Mix together on low speed until the dough comes together. It will be a very thick dough and should stick together, but not be too sticky.
• Fold in the cream cheese chips until evenly dispersed.
• Using a 1/2 cup cookie scoop portion the dough into six dough balls (or weigh out ~150 grams each on a kitchen scale). Roll each ball between your palms to smooth it out. Place on a parchment lined small sheet pan.
• Chill the dough balls in the freezer for at least two hours, overnight if possible.
• Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Place the dough on a large (half size) sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
• Bake the cookies for 18-20 minutes. They should be tall and round still, and may look underbaked, but they are ready to be taken out.
• Let cool on the sheet pan for at least an hour before storing in an airtight container.

Notes

The cookie dough can be made ahead as far in advance as needed. Keep the cookie dough balls stored in an airtight container, like a gallon freezer bag (transfer after they freeze completely) in the freezer for up to three months.

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