Red Velvet Oreos

I absolutely love sandwich cookies. My Homemade Tahini Oreo Cookies, Funfetti Sandwich Cookies and Chewy Carrot Cake Cookies are just a few of my favorite recipes on the blog. These red velvet Oreo cookies are no exception. I know you’ll love them because: 

• Tons of flavor. The vibrant red velvet cookie is buttery with a hint of chocolate flavor. The thick cream cheese frosting is both sweet and slightly tangy. This red hued chocolate sandwich cookies recipe makes Oreo cookies even more decadent and delicious. 
• Easy to make with simple ingredients.  These from scratch Oreo red velvet cookies are made with simple ingredients like flour, cocoa powder, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla extract and red food coloring (of course!). The red velvet cookie dough and cream cheese frosting comes together easily. All you need to do is mix, chill, bake and assemble.

For the red velvet Oreo cookies

Dry Ingredients:  Gather all purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.

Wet Ingredients: Gather butter, sugar, an egg and red food coloring.

For the cream cheese frosting

Gather cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk.

Here are my recommended substitutions to make this easy red velvet bundt cake  as easy as possible. 

• Flour: This hasn’t been tested using alternative flours. If this can needs to be gluten free, use a good 1-1 cup all purpose flour substitute. Measure by weight rather than cups as gluten free flour tends to weigh a bit more than all purpose flour. 
• Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: Red velvet cake is typically made with unsweetened cocoa powder. However, these red velvet Oreo cookies work well with regular unsweetened cocoa powder or  with dutch process cocoa powder. 
• Unsalted Butter: Use salted butter if needed. Just make sure to omit the added salt listed in the recipe. 
• Granulated Sugar: This recipe hasn’t been tested using alternative sugars. However, I love using maple sugar as a refined sugar free option in my other cookie recipes.
• Red Gel Food Coloring: For this red velvet cookie recipe, I used a red gel food coloring from Americolor. This recipe really works best with gel food coloring. However, if you don’t mind the cookies having a more muted reddish color, use a plant based food coloring. 
• Cream Cheese: Use a plant based cream cheese for a diary free option.
• Vanilla Extract: This gives a nice background flavor to the cream cheese filling. Omit if you don’t want to use it in the frosting. 
• Powdered Sugar: I like using Wholesome Organic powdered sugar. If you need a lower sugar powdered sugar alternative, I recommend Swerve or Lakanto.

1. Sift and whisk the all purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together until well combined. 
2. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium for about 1-2 minutes, until well combined. 
3.  On the lowest speed, mix in the egg until well combined. 
4. Mix in the red gel food coloring until well combined.

4. Mix in the dry ingredients until well combined. If needed add 1 tablespoon more flour at a time, up to 3 tablespoons additional flour. The red velvet Oreo cookie dough should be tacky but not overly wet and sticky. 
5. Scoop out the red velvet cookie dough on a large piece of lightly floured parchment paper. Cover the top with plastic wrap and roll out the dough to ¼ -inch thickness. Chill in the fridge for 2 hours and up to overnight. 
6. Preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C). Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Pull the red oreo cookie dough from the fridge. Cut the cookie dough using a 2-inch biscuit or cookie cutter. Feel free to use any shape cookie cutter you like. Transfer the cut cookie red velvet dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Gather the leftover dough, re-roll and chill.

7. Bake the red velvet Oreo cookies for about 8-11 minutes. The edges of the cookies will be set. Cool the cookies on the hot baking sheet for 3 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to fully cool to room temperature. Repeat with the remaining chilled dough. 
8. Make the cream cheese filling by beating the cream cheese with the butter until smooth and well combined. Beat in the powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk with the cream cheese and butter until your desired consistency is reached. 
9. Using a small tablespoon sized cookie scoop, apply your desired amount of cream cheese filling the bottom of half of the baked and cooled red velvet cookies. Top with the other half of the baked and cooled cookies to make red velvet sandwich cookies.

Store in the fridge: Store the cream cheese filling in an airtight container to the fridge for up to 3-4 days. This applies to any cookies that are sandwiched together with the cream cheese frosting, too. Once the cookies have the cream cheese filling, they must be stored in the fridge.  

To freeze the red velvet Oreo cookies: Wrap each cookie in plastic wrap or wax paper and place them in a freezer safe, airtight container. They keep well in the freezer for up to 3 months. 

To thaw the red velvet cookies: Transfer your desired amount of cookies out of the freezer. Allow them to thaw overnight in the fridge. Enjoy straight from the fridge or let the cookies sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before enjoying.