Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies

What’s Valentine’s Day without a little Red Velvet? It’s my favorite cake flavor, so of course I had to sneak it in again this year. After last year’s not so stellar cupcakes, I went for a different approach this time. Instead of the usual cake, why not Red Velvet cookies? Sandwiched with delicious cream cheese frosting, they’re hard to resist!

And you don’t even have to tell anyone it’s a box mix.

That’s right. A box mix. So even the busiest of us can whip up a special treat for our Valentines! While I’m not generally a fan of mixes, these are pretty darn good. They’re just a bit crisp and crunchy around the edges and soft and chewy in the center. And it’s got the added bonus of not having to smear red food coloring all over myself and my kitchen in an attempt to achieve the perfect brilliant hue. I will say that when I was rolling them into balls before baking, they looked SO oily I thought I had messed up. But they baked up just fine.

Want an even quicker and easier treat? Opt for canned frosting to fill these, and you'll be serving them up in no time! I went for the homemade cream cheese frosting, and man is it good. Much better than the frosting I attempted for a batch of ill fated orange cupcakes last week. It ended up looking exactly like cottage cheese, and didn’t taste much better. But this frosting—it’s smooth and creamy and delicious!

And if you don’t like Red Velvet, you can substitute any cake mix you prefer. Devil’s Food cookies with a strawberry frosting would be an equally delicious and fun Valentine’s treat. To dress it up even more, use a heart cookie cutter to cut out shapes in the baked cookies for the perfect festive look!

Are you making anything special for the sweeties in your life?

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Red Velvet Cookie Sandwiches
Adapted from Let’s Dish
Makes about 12 sandwiches



Cookies:
1 box (18.25 ounces) Red Velvet cake mix
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 eggs
½ cup vegetable or canola oil

Filling:
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 teaspoons milk
2 cups confectioner’s sugar

1. Make cookies: Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together cake mix and flour, breaking up any large clumps of cake mix.
3. Add in oil and eggs and mix until combined.
4. Using a spoon or a 1-inch cookie scoop, scoop out 1 tablespoon of dough. Roll into a ball and place on prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
5. Bake, rotating pans halfway through for 8 to 10 minutes or until the tops are puffed and slightly cracked. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet about 3 to 5 minutes, or until cookies have deflated slightly. Transfer to wire rack and cool completely.
6. Make filling: In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of milk, beating until combined.
7. Add confectioner’s sugar and beat until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure all ingredients are incorporated, and beat on medium high speed for another minute or until frosting is light and fluffy. If frosting is too thick, add another teaspoon of milk and beat until combined.
8. Spoon or pipe about 1 to 2 tablespoons of frosting into the middle of bottom of one cookie. Top with a cookie of the same size and press gently to push frosting to the edge of the cookies.