

If you love classic red velvet cake, these soft and delicious Red Velvet Cookies are sure to become a favorite. Subtle cocoa flavor pairs perfectly with sweet, creamy white vanilla baking chips while the vibrant red color makes these cookies perfect for holidays, Valentine’s Day, Christmas baking, or anytime you’re craving an easy homemade dessert. Best of all, this easy red velvet cookie recipe starts with Pillsbury™ Sugar Cookie Dough, making these red velvet vanilla chip cookies quick, simple, and irresistibly delicious.
These cookies truly could not be easier to whip up! Look below for everything you’ll need.
Refrigerated Pillsbury™ Sugar Cookie Dough: Our ready-to-use sugar cookie dough is the trick to making these scrumptious cookies with minimal prep.
Unsweetened Baking Cocoa: Cocoa gives classic red velvet flavor without making the cookies too chocolaty. Make sure your baking cocoa is unsweetened.
Red Gel Food Color: Gel food color is concentrated, so it delivers that signature deep red color without adding extra liquid to the dough. We tested with Betty Crocker™ gel food color, so that’s what we recommend.
White Vanilla Baking Chips: White vanilla baking chips add creamy sweetness and contrast. Mixing some in the dough and pressing some on top help distribute them evenly and make the white color pop against the red dough.
It couldn’t be easier to make these impressive Red Velvet Cookies. Here’s how—follow the recipe for more details.
Mix the cocoa and gel food color into the cookie dough until the dough is an even, deep red color. Then, mix in the vanilla baking chips.
Roll the dough into 16 balls, and arrange them evenly on 2 baking sheets.
Top the cookies with remaining vanilla baking chips.
Bake the cookies until set around the edges. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.
Leftover cookies are always welcome! Enjoy at room temperature, or warm them up for a fresh-baked feel.
Keep Red Velvet Cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
You can store the cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
For even longer storage, keep cookies in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months.
To reheat cookies from any temperature, place on microwave-safe plate and heat in 5-second intervals until the cookie is just warmed through.

Adjust oven racks so two shelves are positioned near the center of the oven, leaving enough space between them for air to circulate evenly around both baking sheets. Heat oven to 350°F (or 325°F for nonstick baking sheets).
Add cookie dough, baking cocoa, and red gel food color to a large bowl. Mix with a spatula or your hands until the mixture appears completely homogenous.

Mix in 1/4 cup vanilla baking chips. Reserve the remaining 1/4 cup for step 5.

Roll dough into 16 even balls, about 1 1/2 tablespoon each. Place dough balls onto two ungreased baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.

Distribute remaining white vanilla baking chips onto the dough balls, and gently press into the dough.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until set around the edges. Cool about 1 minute, then remove from baking sheets. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

Gel food color can vary between brands, so if you’re not using Betty Crocker™, you may need to use more—or less—to reach that dark, deep red. Add a little at a time until you get your desired color.
This recipe was developed and tested with both baking sheets in the oven at the same time, and in most ovens, they should bake evenly without needing to rotate the pans. However, if your oven tends to bake unevenly or has noticeable hot spots, you can rotate the sheets halfway through baking by switching the top and bottom pans and turning each sheet 180 degrees to promote more even browning and baking.


