Red Velvet Cut Out Cookies are a delicious spin on a classic, and perfect for Valentine’s Day! This recipe for red velvet sugar cookies is simple, sweet, fun to decorate, and wonderful for sharing with the people you love.
Valentine’s Day is such a fun holiday to bake cookies for! Recipes like this one, Ombre Heart Spritz Cookies, and fun Valentine Cat Sugar Cookies are themed for the one day of the year that we celebrate love, but they are also welcome any time you want to express your love with cookies!
You can make Red Velvet Cut Out Cookies whenever you’re in the mood for a richly flavored sugar cookie that’s a bit different than the regular vanilla sugar cookies everyone else makes. You don’t have to make heart cookies – cut out different shapes, and decorate them for Christmas or birthdays… Anything goes!
Can’t get enough red velvet? Me either! We have so many delicious red velvet cookie recipes for you to bake. Try Red Velvet Brookies (half cookie, half brownie!), or Red Velvet Thumbprints with cheesecake filling next.
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
- An Easy Cut-Out Recipe – Simple ingredients and a basic cookie frosting recipe mean that you can make red velvet cut out cookies without a special trip to the store!
- Rich Flavor – Red Velvet is actually chocolate flavored, but with red food coloring added to tint the chocolate dough a rich, red color. These are super tasty!
- Perfect for Valentine’s – Make a batch of these for your family, or send them in to school with your kids. Everyone will love them!
Ingredients in Red Velvet Cut Out Cookies
Complete list of ingredients with quantities and instructions is located in the recipe card below
- Flour, Baking Soda, Salt: Most cookie recipes start with this blend of dry ingredients.
- Cocoa Powder: This is what gives red velvet cookies their rich flavor!
- Butter: You can use salted or unsalted butter in this recipe. The specifics are in the recipe card below, but generally, I replace 1 stick of salted butter with 1 stick of unsalted butter plus ½ teaspoon of additional salt. Let the butter soften at room temperature before starting.
- Sugar: Use granulated sugar to make the cookies sweet and crisp.
- Egg: Let the egg come to room temperature too! Your cookie dough will mix up super smoothly this way.
- Food Coloring: Use gel food coloring for the best results! I like AmeriColor, Ann Clark, and Wilton brand gel food colors for getting deep, bright color
- Cookie Icing: A simple mix of powdered sugar and milk makes a tasty fuss-free cookie icing.
You’ll also need the basic tools for making cookies, including a hand mixer, mixing bowls, cookie sheets, and a Silpat or parchment paper for lining the pans.
How To Make Red Velvet Cut Out Cookies
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix well with a fork or whisk.
- Mix Wet Ingredients: Start by creaming the butter and sugar in another large bowl, using an electric hand mixer (or use your stand mixer for this part). Then add in the egg and vanilla extract and continue to mix until smooth.
- Combine: Fold the dry mixture into the wet mixture. It will be dry and crumbly at first but will come together.
- Color and Chill: Add 3-4 large drops of red gel food coloring to the dough. Continue to blend until the dough comes together. Add more food coloring if needed to get your desired color. Press the dough into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for at least two hours.
- Cut Out Shapes: Before you start, preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Remove the dough from the fridge, and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of ¼ inch.
- Place: Place the cut out hearts on the prepared baking sheets, leaving two inches between each cookie.
- Bake: Bake in the preheated oven for 11-12 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to brown. Let the cookies cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
How To Decorate Red Velvet Cut Out Cookies
These cookies were decorated with a simple cookie icing made from powdered sugar and milk!
- Combine the icing ingredients in a small bowl, and mix with a fork until smooth. You can add more milk if needed to get the right consistency for piping or drizzling.
- Add the icing to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip, and decorate your valentine’s cookies however you like! Try outlining, filling in the whole shape, drizzling zig-zag patterns, or writing names.
Top Tips
- Cream the butter and sugar together very well. You want the sugar to dissolve in the butter.
- Avoid Overmxing: If you overmix the dough, your cookies will become tough. Mix only until you no longer see the flour in the dough.
- The dough will look crumbly at first. Keep mixing! As you add the food coloring, it will form together into a smooth dough.
- Chilling is important: The dough will be difficult to work with if it’s not chilled, and the cookies will spread on the baking sheet. Give it at least 2 hours in the fridge before rolling it out.
- Let the cookies cool completely before decorating! Icing will melt if you add it to warm cookies.
- If you don’t have a piping bag, you can improvise! add the icing to a ziplock bag, and cut a small piece from one of the corners.
- Icing options: Pick up some pre-made cookie icing from the store if you want to. These cookies will also be wonderful if decorated with royal icing or buttercream.
- White icing works well with red velvet cookies, but you can also tint it any color you like!
How to Store Cut Out Cookies
Your red velvet cut out cookies will stay fresh for up to 1 week if stored in an airtight container at room temperature. Be sure to avoid stacking them, or place parchment paper in between layers to keep the icing from sticking.
These cookies can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
Make Ahead Instructions
The dough for these cookies can be made and kept in the fridge for about 24 hours before baking. You can also freeze the dough for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge before using.
Other Valentines Desserts You Should Try
- Valentine’s Day Cookies with Royal Icing
- Heart Macarons
- Stamped Conversation Heart Sugar Cookies
- Valentine’s Dessert Charcuterie Board
- Heaven on Earth Cake
- Valentine Whoopie Pies
FAQs
If you’re using a heart cookie cutter that is about 3 inches across, you should be able to make 16 cookies with this recipe. To make more than that, you can double or triple the recipe!
Red velvet cookies taste like chocolate!
These simple Red Velvet Cut Out Cookies will be a hit this Valentine’s Day or any day of the year that you decide to bake them! Don’t forget to Pin the recipe to save and share it.
Red Velvet Cut Out Cookies
Equipment
- Piping bags or small ziploc bag
Ingredients
- 2-½ cups (320g) all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 stick (113g, ½cup) salted butter softened, or unsalted butter + ½teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 drops Red food coloring or more to achieve desired color
Cookie Icing:
- 2 cups (230g) powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk + more if needed
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix well with a fork until fully combined.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugars with an electric hand or stand mixer. Mix until smooth.
- Add in egg and vanilla and continue to mix until smooth.
- Fold in dry mixture and continue to mix. It will be very crumbly at first.
- Add in red coloring starting with about 3-4 large drops. Continue to blend until the dough becomes more formed and red. Add food coloring as you go. You may need to switch from electric mixing to hand mixing.
- When your dough is complete, form into a tight ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Place inside the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- After the chill time is complete, preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C and prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface. Roll evenly until the dough is about ¼ inch thick.
- Use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut the dough, then place the heart shapes on the baking sheet, about 2 inches apart from one another.
- Bake cookies for 11-12 minutes, or until lightly browned on the edges.
- When done, allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Allow them to completely come to room temperature before proceeding.
- When your cookies are at room temperature, prepare your frosting. Combine the powdered sugar and milk in a small mixing bowl and stir. It will be very thick at first. Continue to stir until the frosting has reached perfect smoothness and slowly falls off your fork or spoon. Add additional milk if needed, 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Add frosting to a piping bag with a small round attachment. Pipe frosting onto the cookies in whatever design you desire. Allow frosting to harden for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Recipe Yield: You will get about 16 cut-out cookies using a 3-inch heart cookie cutter. You may use other cutters, but the yield will vary.
- To get the brightest red velvet color, use gel food coloring.
- Chilling the dough is important, as it will be difficult to work with if it’s warm. Warm cut-out cookie dough will also spread too much on the baking pan.
- Let the cookies cool completely before decorating.
- Try Different Icing: The icing in this recipe is a very simple powdered sugar cookie icing. You can also decorate these with store-bought cookie icing, royal icing or buttercream if you like!
- White icing looks great against the deep red of these cookies, but you can also tint the frosting other colors.
- Decorating Ideas: Outline the hearts with simple lines, fill them in, or drizzle the icing to make easy decorations. You can also pipe names on these lovely hearts!
- To Store: These cookies will stay fresh for up to 1 week when stored in an airtight container at room temperature. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
- To Make Ahead: The dough for these cookies can be made and kept in the fridge for about 24 hours before baking. You can also freeze the dough for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge before using.
Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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