Red Velvet Cookies with Cream Cheese

These cookies are monsters and oh so very thick and pretty.
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A few things to know before you make these.
You need red gel food coloring. Do not use the grocery store food coloring. Buy something like Chefmaster gel food coloring from Amazon. You will not be pleased with the color if you use the cheap store bought food coloring.
You will need a scale to measure the ingredients.
These need to be refrigerated overnight.
This recipe makes only 7 or 8 cookies at the recommended weight. You can double the recipe if you're looking to make at least a dozen.

Ingredients

• 125 g unsalted butter
• 100 g light brown sugar
• 125 g white granulated sugar 
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1 tsp red gel food coloring 
• 300 g AP flour 
• 15 g cocoa powder
• 6 g baking powder
• 2 g baking soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 250 g white chocolate chips (about 3/4 of a bag)
• cream cheese for filling

Add your butter and sugars to the  bowl of a stand mixer and beat until creamy with the paddle attachment, about 2-3 minutes.  

​While your sugars are creaming, in a separate bowl, mix together your flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set the bowl aside

Add your egg, vanilla, and red food coloring into the sugar mixture and beat again for about 1 minute.

​Stop the mixer and the flour into the bowl.  Mix on low speed until the flour is just incorporated. Do not over mix the batter.

Lastly, add in the white chocolate chips and slowly mix.  You can also mix the chips in by hand with a strong wooden spoon.

Weigh out 130g of dough and roll into a ball. Make sure not pack the balls tightly. This should make about 7 or 8 dough balls.

Next, create a small hole in the dough with your fingers and place a small square of cream cheese into it (15-20g). Pull the dough back over the cream cheese and roll it back into a ball.

You'll need to chill these over night or put them in the freezer until you're ready to bake them. If you can't wait,  put them in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.

When you're ready to bake them, bring them out of the fridge or freezer and heat the over to 350 degrees. Line a cookie try with parchment paper. These cookies will not spread or flatten out and will remain thick so don't worry if they don't spread like a regular cookie. Cook them for 13-16 minutes. If cooking from frozen, you'll most likely need the full 16 minutes.   

Once baked, leave them to cool on the tray for 30 minutes. They make look a little raw still but that is what we're going for with these cookies.

These are best the day they are cooked but will last for 4-5 days.  You can take a day old cookie and zap in it the microwave for 20 seconds.  

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