Chewy and delicious red velvet cookie recipe. That’s right, cookie. As in single serve, for all the proud single girlies out there this Valentines Day, I see you and I got you with this Single Serve Red Velvet Cookie!
This single serve red velvet cookie topped with cream cheese frosting (but of course) ticks all the boxes. It’s soft and chewy with a slight crunch on the outer edge, then covered Crumbl-style with the perfect cream cheese frosting! And by single serve, I hope you know I mean two cookies….because one is simply absurd.
Listen ladies, I get it, Valentine’s Day is around the corner, and if you’re anything like me, your emotions towards this holiday fluctuate from year to year. Maybe one year you have someone special to share the day with and the next year you don’t. Whatever your situation may be, my single serve red velvet cookie is here to celebrate your relationship with your first love, you!
Was that corny or deep? You tell me.
Tips for making the best red velvet cookie:
This single serve red velvet cookie recipe comes together in less than 30 minutes making it perfect for both single and busy gals. A few tricks to make sure you get perfect results…
Use professional Red Gel Food Coloring
The better quality your food coloring is, the less you will have to use and frankly, the less your cookies will taste like “red.” We all know the flavor, we all hate that flavor. I recommend buying a super concentrated gel color so that you don’t have to use too much. I use the food coloring from Wilton!
Follow the bake time for perfectly gooey cookies
I bake these cookies for exactly 10 minutes to get a gooey, fudgy center. You may bake them to your preferred final texture but keep in mind that cookies always continue to bake on the tray after you have removed them from the oven, so it’s always a good rule of thumb to remove them a little bit before you think they’re perfect!
Let them cool!
Allow adequate cooling time for the cookies so that the cream cheese frosting doesn’t melt once applied! I let mine cool on the tray for 5-10 minutes and then in the refrigerator for another 10 before swirling that delicious cream cheese on top!
So grab these ingredients, pour yourself a glass of wine or a hot tea, bake and enjoy!
Can baking be therapeutic?
I often talk about baking being a therapeutic hobby but I’d like to share more about why I feel that way as well as how it can become a relaxing hobby for you!
When I bake, it’s my creative time. I may put on my favorite nostalgic movie or tv show in the background, or a Spotify playlist titled “French café” and leave my troubles behind.
Sometimes I pour myself a glass of wine and light a candle. Then, with the mood set, the mixing of batter, kneading of dough and smoothing of icing is my only care in the world.
When I say baking is therapeutic, sometimes people respond saying “not for me it isn’t!” I completely understand why someone might feel that way. There have been plenty of times where I spend hours on something only for it to fail or something breaks that shouldn’t or I forget to clean as I go and am left with a disastrous kitchen to clean.
So I should in reality, have a caveat to my “baking as therapy” claims…
Baking is therapy when you curate the experience to be relaxing.
How do you curate that relaxing experience for yourself, you ask?
How to make baking therapeutic…
- Prepare your mind–know that it’s okay if the cake doesn’t rise, or the butter wasn’t chilled enough. Shift your mindset from seeing your failures as mistakes to seeing them as opportunities for learning.
- Prepare your space–I cannot and will not bake on top of a messy kitchen. If I were to do this I would be starting from a place of stress! Take an extra 10 minutes to clean any dishes in the sink and wipe down the counters, this small effort will pay you back greatly in brain space and clarity.
- Clean as you go! I’ll tell you the one way to make baking stressful and tiresome, is to not clean as you go! After I use each ingredient that I no longer need, I put it away.
After each major step in the process, I wipe down the counters and put dishes that are no longer needed in the sink. If there is chill time or baking time I don’t sit, I do the cleaning then. Make this shift and you’ll really notice the difference!
By the way, this last tip really helped me when I was on The Great American Baking Show–and the crew that cleaned up behind us made a point to tell me that my workspace was always so clean they didn’t have much to do!
I would reply by saying “it’s how I stay sane in this tent!”
Additional suggestions:
*Maybe try printing off the recipe instead of looking at it on your phone, tablet or laptop and use this time to unplug from technology for a few hours
**Invite friends or family over to share your creation with you. Time spent with loved ones over food is a universally special experience
And that’s how I discovered baking for my mental health. If you try any of these suggestions, let me know how it went for you! I’m really invested in spreading this message to others in hopes that baking will enhance your lives more than it already does!
Single Serve Red Velvet Cookie
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 2 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/8 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp egg beaten
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp red gel food coloring
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter 1/2 stick, room temperature
- 2 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp heavy cream
Instructions
For the Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (roughly 180°C) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
- In a small or medium bowl, add 2 1/2 tbsp of unsalted butter at room temperature, 1/8 cup of light brown sugar and 1 tbsp of granulated sugar and beat together using a hand mixer until combined*
- In a separate small bowl, crack 1 egg and beat it. Then scoop out 1 tbsp of the egg and add it to the butter and sugar mixture. Be sure you add in a full tablespoon of the egg.
- Mix the egg into the butter sugar mixture. Then add 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract and 1/4 tsp of red gel food coloring and mix until combined.
- Add 1/2 cup of all purpose flour, 1 tsp of unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/8 tsp of baking soda, 1/4 tsp of baking powder and 1/8 tsp of salt to the bowl and mix until combined. Mixture will look dry at first but it will come together.
- Divide the dough into two equal sized balls of dough and bake for 10 minutes.**
- Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool completely.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- Add 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of unsalted room temperature butter and 2oz of room temperature cream cheese to a small or medium bowl and beat using a hand mixer until combined.
- Add 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp of salt, 1/4 tsp of vanilla and 1/2 tsp of heavy cream and mix again until a smooth icing forms.
- Place frosting in a piping bag or a plastic bag and cut off the tip.
- Pipe frosting onto cooled cookies in circular motions until the cookies are covered. Enjoy!
[…] want to make a ton of cookies? Try my Single Serve Red Velvet Cookie topped with cream cheese […]