Vegan Red Velvet Cookies, need I say more? They are a blissful marriage of two classic desserts! Deliciously soft, chewy, perfectly sweet, and not to mention, beautifully red! If you’re craving something red velvet, but don’t want to commit to baking a whole cake, then this recipe is perfect for you!
What happens when you take two desserts and combined them? In this instance, it’s a red velvet cake, reimagined in a cookie form. And it’s probably the best thing ever, while cakes are delicious and fun to make, they do need a lot of time to make. While cookies are so simple to make and can be done at almost any time! This is why I decided to make these vegan red velvet cookies in the spirit of Valentine’s Day!
Ingredients Notes
- Oil - Use a neutral flavored oil such as vegetable or refined coconut oil. Avoid using strongly flavored oil, like olive oil.
- Natural cocoa powder - I use regular unsweetened cocoa powder to make these cookies. The most widely available natural cocoa powder is Hershey's. This give the cookies it's lovely light cocoa flavor.
- Sugar - Using both light brown sugar and granulated sugar gives these cookies a great balance of flavor and the right amount of sweetness.
- Vegan White Chocolate Chips - These are a bit harder to find, but I typically buy mine online. The brand that I use is Pascha.
- Gel Red Food Coloring - Gel food coloring is the best when used for baking because it's more potent and you need less of it than the liquid kind. My favorite brand is Americolor.
How to Make Vegan Red Velvet Cookies
Step 1: In a medium mixing bowl combine the all-purpose flour, natural cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Step 2: In a large mixing bowl combine light brown sugar, granulated sugar, oil, non-dairy milk, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth. Add in 4-5 drops of the red gel food coloring to the bowl of wet ingredients, and continue to whisk until well combined.
Step 3: Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients and fold it together until there are no pockets of dry flour left.
Step 4: Then in your vegan white chocolate chips and continue to fold. Cover the bowl and allow the cookie dough to rest in the fridge for 30-minutes.
Step 5: Scoop the cookie dough onto a prepared baking sheet and top it off with more vegan white chocolate chips.
Step 6: Bake for 13-15 at 350° Fahrenheit. Allow the baked cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wired cooling rack. Serve and enjoy!
Tips for making Vegan Red Velvet Cookies:
- Measure your flour properly. A common reason baked goods fail is incorrectly measured flour. I always recommend using a scale for accuracy when baking. Another key point, this greatly improves your chance for success and lessens room for error. My recipes are 100% tested in grams.
- Use natural cocoa powder. Thankfully, natural cocoa powder is what you normally see in grocery stores (a.k.a. Hershey's). However, do not confuse this with hot cocoa powder, THEY ARE NOT THE SAME! Anyway, not only does it give this cookie is flavor, but it works best with the food coloring. Also, do not use Dutch-processed, as it will be too dark for this recipe, and the color will not come through.
- Chill your dough. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! Overall, without getting into too much baking science — chilling cookie dough controls spreading, has better flavor, and has better texture. Trust me, you don’t want to skip this!
Frequently Asked Questions:
- How long do these vegan red velvet cookies last?
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. - Why do I have to chill the dough?
Allowing your cookie dough to rest gives the flour time to hydrate. When the flour is hydrated it helps contain the spread of the cookies so that you nice set edge and a soft chewy center. Additionally, allowing your cookie dough to chill gives it a better flavor profile. So the longer it has time to rest, the better the flavor. - Can I freeze these cookies?
Yes! Freeze the pre-scooped cookie dough on a baking sheet, once frozen transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to 6 weeks. The frozen cookie dough can go straight from the freezer to the oven, just add 2-3 minutes to the cooking time. - Do I have to use red food coloring?
For this recipe, yes because it is red velvet. However, you can skip it, it'll just look like a chocolate cookie. - Can I make this gluten-free?
I have not tested this using gluten-free flour, but for a cookie recipe like this, I think a 1-to-1 all-purpose gluten-free flour will work!
If you enjoyed this recipe, you might want to check these out:
If you tried this recipe let me know in the comments below! Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @flouredframe for more delicious recipes. While you’re at it, don’t forget to tag me whenever you recreate my recipes! Happy baking!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Red Velvet Cookies
Equipment
- Food scale highly recommended
- Measuring spoons
- Mixing bowls
- Whisk
- Silicone spatula
- Bowl cover
- Medium-sized cookie scoop
- Parchment Paper
- Rimmed baking sheet
- Wire cooling rack
Pro TipIf a recipe calls for it, use a food scale to weigh ingredients in grams for the best results! Use the options below to toggle between cups or grams.
Ingredients
- 100 grams Granulated sugar
- 150 grams Light brown sugar ((lightly packed, if using cups))
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 110 grams Neutral oil (I used vegetable)
- 80 grams Non-dairy milk (warm, I used soy)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 4-5 drops Gel red food coloring (I used Americolor, see notes)
- 15 grams Natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 250 grams All-purpose flour ((fluffed, spooned, and leveled, if using cups))
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
- 180 grams Vegan white chocolate chips
Instructions
- First, in a medium bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, natural cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl combine light brown sugar, granulated sugar, oil, non-dairy milk, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth. Add in 4-5 drops of the red gel food coloring to the bowl of wet ingredients, and continue to whisk until well combined.
- To the bowl, add in the dry ingredients from earlier and with a rubber spatula, fold in the ingredients until there are no pockets of dry flour left. Then, fold in your vegan white chocolate chips.
- Cover the bowl and allow the cookie dough to rest in the fridge for 1 hour. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. See notes
- When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove the cookie dough from the fridge, and with a medium-sized cookie scoop, scoop the dough and place it on the prepared baking sheet. Allow 2 inches of space in between. Optionally, if you have white chocolate chips left over, you can add a couple to the top of the cookie dough before you bake.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Measure your flour properly.
My recipes are 100% tested in grams. A common reason baked goods fail is incorrectly measured flour. I always recommend using a scale for accuracy when baking. This greatly improves your chance for success and lessens room for error. - If you’re measuring by cups, avoid scooping the measuring cup directly into the flour.
This tends to pack the flour into the cup, resulting in too much flour and a very dense or gummy finished product. Instead, aerate your flour (fluff it with a fork or spoon) and then spoon it into your measuring cups, leveling it with your finger or the back of a butter knife. Keep in mind though, that this method is not guaranteed to be accurate. Watch this video from King Arthur on how to properly measure your flour if you don’t have a food scale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUSovVHpqsU - How long do these vegan red velvet cookies last?
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. - Why do I have to chill the dough?
Allowing your cookie dough to rest gives the flour time to hydrate. When the flour is hydrated it helps contain the spread of the cookies so that you nice set edge and a soft chewy center. Additionally, allowing your cookie dough to chill gives it a better flavor profile. So the longer it has time to rest, the better the flavor. - Can I freeze these cookies?
Yes! Freeze the pre-scooped cookie dough on a baking sheet, once frozen transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to 6 weeks. The frozen cookie dough can go straight from the freezer to the oven, just add 2-3 minutes to the cooking time. - Do I have to use red food coloring?
For this recipe, yes because it is red velvet. However, you can skip it, it'll just look like a chocolate cookie. - Can I make this gluten-free?
I have not tested this using gluten-free flour, but for a cookie recipe like this, I think a 1-to-1 all-purpose gluten-free flour will work! - Gel Food Coloring. I prefer to use gel over liquid food coloring because it’s way more concentrated and doesn’t add any extra liquid to your cookie dough. I used the Wilton brand, it's vegan-friendly!
- Use natural cocoa powder. Thankfully, natural cocoa powder is what you usually see in grocery stores (a.k.a. Hershey's). However, please do not confuse this with hot cocoa powder, THEY ARE NOT THE SAME! Anyway, not only does it give this cookie flavor, but it works best with food coloring. Also, do not use Dutch-processed, as it will be too dark for this recipe, and the color will not come through.
- No white chocolate chips? No problem! Just replace it with regular chocolate chips. It’ll still taste amazing!
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below & tag @flouredframe on social!
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