Red Velvet Cookies

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1/2 c. Butter, unsalted, room temperature
1/2 c. Brown sugar
1/2 c. White sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Vinegar
2 tbsp Sour cream
1/2-1 tsp Red gel colour, "no taste"
1 3/4  c. Flour
1/4 c. Cocoa powder
1 tsp Baking soda
1/4 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1 c. White chocolate chips
1/4 c. Coconut flakes

[Optional:  Toast the coconut flakes on the stove top for 3-5 min or until the coconut flakes begin to turn golden brown.  Remove from heat completely and set aside to cool.]

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Prepare a cookie sheet by lining with parchment paper.

Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Break up clumps of cocoa powder as much as possible. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add the egg, vanilla, vinegar and sour cream. Beat until combined.

Add 1/2 tsp of food colouring, beat until the colour is evenly distributed.  Scrap down the sides and beat again.  Continue to add food colour until the desired shade of red is achieved.  The wet mixture should be close to the colour of blood orange.

Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat until smooth.

Stir in white chocolate chips.

Using two spoons (or forks), drop about 1 teaspoon of dough onto cookie sheet.  Flatten cookie with the spoon and sprinkle coconut flakes on top.  Bake for 8-10 min.  The cookies should look puffy but it will not rise or spread a lot.

Allow the cookies to cook for 10 min before transferring to cooling rack.  Store cookies in airtight containers.

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My comments:

It's Valentine's Day and there are tons and tons of red velvet recipes floating around the internet.  I love red velvet cupcakes, which I made with a friend a few weeks ago, but I think I'm definitely a cookie girl at heart because it was all the Red Velvet Cookies recipes that really caught my eye.

I originally saw Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies by Two Peas And Their Pods around Christmas time.  I wanted to make it but their recipe called for the use of store bought cake mix.  I didn't like the idea of using cake mix, plus I can't find a red velvet cake mix at my grocery store anyway.  So then, I got this brilliant idea of converting a red velvet cupcake recipe into a cookie recipe.  How hard could that be, right?

It was much easier than I thought...after I got my hands on a totally awesome red velvet cupcake recipe.  I compared the cupcake recipe with a couple of cookie recipes, adjusted a few ingredients, and voila! my very own red velvet cookie recipe.

With only 1/4 cup cocoa powder, this cookie isn't super-chocolatey.  I think I prefer a chocolate cookie with a lot more chocolate flavour.  However, this is as close to inventing-my-own-recipe as I am ever going to get.  I am truly proud of what I've done here!!  :)

I made these for my son's daycare Valentine's Day party.  I originally wanted to make red velvet coconut cookie (add 1/2 cup coconut flakes), decorate the top with a few white chocolate chips, and shape the cookies into hearts before baking.  But I ran out of coconut flakes and my dough was too gooey to shape into anything.  Ah well...  I packed up the cookies in little baggies and taped the Green Lantern Valentine's Day card to each treat bag; it's super cute!!  (Especially the cards with Ryan Reynolds on it! Ha!)  I honestly can't tell you whether people liked it or not.  I can only assumed the kids enjoyed it because kids will love anything sweet.  But the cookies have been in the kitchen for 3 days now and they are still as soft and moist as the day I baked them.  To me, that's a successful cookie recipe!!

(Don't judge me.  I really like Ryan Reynolds.  *blush*  While I tried to dissuade my son from choosing the Green Lantern cards, I was secretly glad I had an excuse to buy cards with Ryan's face on it.  Heehee...)

Next time, I will definitely try the cream cheese filling from Two Peas And Their Pod.  I think the taste will resemble red velvet cookies even more and I love red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  Thinking about it makes me want to bake the cookies now!!  :)

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