red velvet white chocolate chip cookies

I love February!

Three of my four sweet blessings were born in February. It's a month of celebrations for our family!

Valentine's Day is the icing on the cake for us. It's like a bonus celebration day filled with sweet notes, extra hugs & kisses, and cupcakes & candy.  Add all that to birthday celebrations EVERY weekend in February . . . and you have a fun-filled month. 

Okay, so how fun (and pretty) are these red velvet white chocolate chip cookies!?!

My husband and Littles inspired this sweet creation.   

They had been asking me (bugging me, actually) over the course of several days to bake home-made chocolate chip cookies. When I finally got around to baking them, I thought it would fun to surprise them with something fun and festive. So I adapted my basic chocolate chip cookie recipe to make these red velvet cookies. 

It was as simple as decreasing the flour and adding cocoa powder in its place, and then adding red coloring gel for that signature hue . . . and voila, you have a simple recipe for a festive and yummy Valentine cookie! 

They're tender, moist, and chewy! 

I made half with only white chocolate chips, a quarter with only semi-sweet chocolate, and another quarter with a combination of white and semi-sweet chocolate. 

Our youngest daughter, Lauren, LOVES white chocolate, so her favorite was the all white chocolate red velvet cookies.

Since I'm a big fan of DARK chocolate, I knew that the semi-sweet ones would be my favorite; BUT I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked the white and semi-sweet chocolate combination.

We rolled them in pink, red, and white non-perils . . . and then added big red heart sprinkles to the tops for a little Valentine fare. We loved how they turned out . . . and the best part is that they're not only pretty, but yummy, too!

Wishing you a sweet (and fun-filled) Valentine's Day!

red velvet white chocolate chip cookies

makes 15-18 cookies
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1 1/2 cups, PLUS 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1 Tablespoon milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2  1/2 teaspoons red food coloring (liquid or gel)

1 cup chocolate chips, semi-sweet, or a mix of white and semi-sweet 

*non-perils or sprinkles, optional 

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Preparation

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on high speed until smooth and light colored, about 1 minute. Add the sugars and mix until well combined, scraping down sides as needed. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla and mix well. Mix in the food coloring.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with a silicone mat or parchment paper.

Scoop the dough in 1.5 Tablespoon mounds and form each into a ball. 

Press decorative sprinkles into the sides of the dough balls.

Bake for 10 - 11 minutes. If the cookies don’t spread all the way, gently press on the warm cookies with the back of a spatula. 

Try NOT to bake them longer than 11 minutes!

Let the cookies cool on the sheets for 3-5 minutes. Place a few chocolate chips on top of the warm cookies. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

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chocolate shortbread cookies

I love sweets . . . and I bake, a lot.
And although I love sweets, it's the not-so-sweet treats that I love the most.

 

Scones, DARK chocolate (72%+) anything, shortbread, and simple sugar cookies make up a few of my TOP 5 favorite sweet treat.

So when I came across this recipe for chocolate shortbread in FOOD & WINE magazine a few years ago, I had to give it try.

And I'm so glad that I did because the recipe yields an amazing CHOCOLATE shortbread cookie. It's been my 'go to' recipe since discovering it.

They're rich with chocolate (scent & taste) . . . and have a SLIGHTLY tender - yet firm - buttery, shortbread texture.

I found this festive shredded paper and darling ARROW stamped linen bags at our local craft store, and thought that they would make the sweetest packaging for petite chocolate shortbread hearts.

They're also quite yummy on top of RASPBERRY SORBET . . . .

 . . . . and even crazy delicous made into chocolate & strawberry ice cream sandwiches! 

 

As with any shortbread recipe, HIGH QUALITY ingredients are a must.

So splurge a little on buying GOOD butter and even better cocoa powder. These ingredients make up the FLAVORS in the shortbread, so you want GOOD-tasting ingredients.

Happy baking, friends!
 

chocolate shortbread

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1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

3/4 teaspoon salt

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Preparation

In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter until creamy.

Add the sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the vanilla, then beat in the cocoa on low speed. Beat in the flour and salt; the dough will be soft.

Divide the dough in half and place each half between 2 large sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap. Roll out the dough 1/4 inch thick and transfer to 2 baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, at least 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Working with one piece of dough at a time, remove the top sheet of parchment and invert the dough onto a lightly floured work surface; remove the second sheet of parchment. Using a floured cookie cutter, stamp out cookies as close together as possible.

Transfer the cookies to parchment paper–lined baking sheets and bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until firm.

Let cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then, using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely. Reroll the scraps, and stamp out more cookies, chilling the scraps between batches.

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Simply Suzannes at Home

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heart-shaped sugar cookies . . . a sweet Valentine

We baked and decorated heart-shaped sugar cookies today! 

They're one of my all-time favorite cookies, so it's easy for me to find any excuse to make them. I love their simple vanilla flavor . . . and think that they're wonderful with a cup of tea. 

With Valentine's Day just a few days away, I thought it would be fun to decorate sugar cookies for this sweet holiday.

I kept it simple  . . . and we dressed them with a soft pink glaze and then sprinkled them with sanding sugar. They turned out beautiful . . . and most of all . . . we had fun! 

Ingredients

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

12 Tablespoons (1 ½  sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg, room temperature
 powder sugar (instead of flour) for rolling out dough

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Preparation

To make the cookies, in a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon . . . set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and egg. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Mix until just combined.

Form the dough into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or as long as overnight.

Preheat an oven to 350°F.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. 

On a lightly floured powder sugar surface, roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Using cookie cutters, cut out desired shapes. Transfer to the prepared baking sheets, spacing cookies about 2 inches apart, and bake until just golden around the edges, 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies. Transfer the pans to wire racks and let cool for 5 minutes, then remove the cookies from the pans and let cool completely.

Makes 10 to 20 cookies, depending on cutter size.

Sugar Cookie GLAZE

2 ¼  cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

2 Tablespoons light corn syrup

1 ½  to 2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2-4 drops of pink food coloring

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Combine ingredients and mix until smooth
Spread on top of cookies

Sprinkle sanding sugar on top of GLAZE

ENJOY!

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Simply Suzannes at Home 

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