Red Velvet Cookies

These cookies are definitely worth making, and what better time than now to make them with Christmas around the corner and the weather oh so chilly? They're actually really quick and simple in my opinion- 8 minutes in the oven, 15 minutes or less to cool. The hardest part is just not getting the red food dye all over your kitchen, and good luck with that because as of this very moment, our kitchen counter has a new look of red polka-dots. I'll post the recipe at the end for ya.

So first, let's have the players.

1 bag sugar cookie mix, 1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa, 1/4 cup soft butter (basically a stick), 1/4 cup sour cream, 1 tablespoon red food coloring and 1 egg. Oh, and frosting! I used cream cheese frosting. 

Make sure your butters soft. Hard, fresh from the fridge butter won't mix with anything. Microwave it 10-15 seconds until it softens up. I did that after taking this picture.

Add your sugar cookie mix.

Add your 1/3 cup cocoa.

And now your 1/4 cup sour cream.

And then in goes your tablespoon food coloring. Becareful not to dye your kitchen here. 

And mix. It was after this picture that I realized I forgot to add my egg. So make sure you do that. And you don't have to add your ingredients in this order, it doesn't really matter. 

Okay, let me pause here for a couple things you need to know. It is at this point that you should roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place them 2 inches apart on your cookie sheet, but I need to be honest with you. First, this dough will not roll. There is no rolling that can be done with this dough, it's way too soft. And, because it's red, I was concerned that I would dye my hands, hence my gloves. However, I finally gave up on the gloves and used my hands and there was no dying of them, so don't worry about that. 

And second, go by yourself a small 1 inch ice cream scoop / melon baller for this task if you don't have one already. Trust me, I promise you will be thanking me and naming your first born after me. I will be buying on ASAP for all cookies in the future. 

See? I need a cookie scoop. There is just no rolling here. 

Ta-Da! Oh- cook them on 375 for 7-8 minutes. Let them cool for a couple minutes when you first pull them out.

Then transfer them to a cookie sheet to finish cooling. By the way, the best cookie spatula I've found is a  frosting spatula. It works perfectly. Try it. 

It took mine about 10 minutes to cool completely once I put them on the cookie rack. 

And then frost! I love cream cheese frosting, so I got some from my local grocery store's bakery. Feel free to top them with some almonds, coconut, walnuts, or even just a dusting of cocoa, maybe some sprinkles. I just like them plain. 

The recipe:

1 pouch (1lb 1.5 oz) sugar cookie mix

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon red food coloring

1 egg

Cream cheese frosting

1.  Heat over to 375*F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, cocoa, butter, sour cream, food coloring and egg until soft dough forms. 
2. Roll dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. 
3. Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until set. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheer to wire rack. Cool completely, about 10 minutes. 
4. Frost cooled cookies with frosting.