Red Velvet Snowflakes with Cream Cheese Icing

Name: Red Velvet Snowflakes with Cream Cheese Icing
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 3 h 35 min
Yield: 2 dz.
Ingredients: 1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled; 1 1/2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder; 1/4 tsp. baking soda; 1/2 tsp. kosher salt; 1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature; 2 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature; 1 c. granulated sugar; 1 large egg yolk; 1 tsp. distilled white vinegar; 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract; 1/2 tsp. red gel food coloring; 4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature; 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature; 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract; Pinch kosher salt; 2/3 c. confectioners’ sugar

These bright festive cookies will pop on the holiday table!

By Torie CoxPublished: Nov 27, 2023

Be the first to review!

Jump to recipe

red velvet snowflakes with cream cheese icing on a tray

Becky Luigart-Stayner

Yields:

2 dz.

Prep Time:

30 mins

Total Time:

3 hrs 35 mins

The first recipe for red velvet as we know it was published as a velvet cocoa cake around 1911. (Leavening agents interacting with the acidic cocoa create the reddish hue, though we now intensify it with food coloring.)

New York’s Waldorf-Astoria hotel helped popularize the dessert in the 1930s, but it was the infamous armadillo groom’s cake in the 1989 movie Steel Magnolias that secured its spot as a Southern staple.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Ingredients

For the cookies:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1 1/2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp. distilled white vinegar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. red gel food coloring

For the cream cheese icing:

4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Pinch kosher salt
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar

Directions

1. Step 1Make the cookies: Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Beat butter, cream cheese, and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in egg yolk, vinegar, vanilla, and food coloring. Reduce mixer speed to low, and gradually beat in flour mixture just until combined. Divide dough into 2 discs; wrap each in plastic wrap, and chill 2 hours.
2. Step 2Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with one disc of dough at a time, roll between 2 sheets of parchment to 1/4-inch-thick. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters and place, at least 1 inch apart, on prepared baking sheets. Freeze 20 minutes. Bake, in batches, until set and dry to the touch, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
3. Step 3Make the cream cheese icing: Beat cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in vanilla and salt. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a small open piping tip. Pipe onto cooled cookies as desired.