The only thing better than a big piece of red velvet cake is a red velvet cookie! These soft, chewy red velvet crinkle cookies are a fun spin on this iconic cake flavor.

The fact that they’re rolled in sugar before being baked to perfection is just an added bonus 😀

Making Sure Your Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies Are Soft & Fluffy

While I love getting caught up in the way my desserts look, it’s super important that my recipes are just as delicious.

But even if you have the best red velvet crinkle cookie recipe, so much of it comes down to how you make your cookies.

The first thing to keep in mind is measuring the right amount of flour. Some home bakers tend to pack flour into their measuring cup.

Unfortunately, this can cause a person to add a lot more flour to a recipe than it calls for.

I like to use a kitchen scale to be exact, but you can also fluff your flour up in your bag with a spoon, then add spoonfuls into a measuring cup and level it off with a knife.

The other important thing to keep in mind is to not over-mix the dough!

It’s ok to mix the butter and sugar on high, but once the flour is added you want to mix the dough just until it’s incorporated on a low speed. This will yield fluffy, soft cookies.

If you overwork your dough after the flour has been added, strong gluten strands will form, and your cookies can turn out dense and tough.

Crinkle Cookie Recipe Substitutions and Swaps

While I love this recipe just the way it is, I know some of you might have food allergies or not have all these ingredients on hand.

If you find yourself in either of these situations, I share some swaps and variations that can be made below.

• All-purpose flour – This recipe works best with all-purpose flour, but you can use a gluten free flour blend if needed. I recommend using a GF flour blend like this.
• Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – I prefer using regular baking cocoa, but you can also use Dutch-processed cocoa in this recipe.
• Unsalted Butter – If you only have salted butter on hand, you can use it in place of the salted butter and omit the salt in this recipe. You can also use vegan butter in its place!
• Granulated Sugar – The balance of granulated sugar and brown sugar in this recipe yields a soft, perfectly chewy cookie. I don’t recommend changing the ratio of sugars.
• Brown Sugar – You can use light or dark brown sugar in this recipe! I prefer using dark brown sugar because it deepens the hue of the cookies and adds extra flavor.
• 1 Large egg – If you have an egg allergy you can try using a flaxseed egg or a powdered egg replacer.
• Vanilla Extract – The vanilla is this recipe helps elevate the other flavors in these cookies. I recommend using a good quality vanilla extract for best results. If you don’t have any on hand, you omit this ingredient.
• Red Gel Food Coloring – I highly recommend using gel food coloring to color these red velvet cookies. It creates a beautiful deep shade without throwing off the consistency of the dough the way liquid food coloring can. I usually order my gel food coloring online and love both the Americolor and Chef Master’s brands. If you’re really in a pinch you can use liquid food coloring, but I recommend adding an additional Tbsp of flour to offset the extra moisture.
• Powdered Sugar – The powdered sugar is essential in this recipe to highlight those beautiful crinkles! Sadly, there isn’t really an alternative for this ingredient.

Tips for Making the Best Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies

• Make sure your brown sugar is soft! If it’s hard or chunky it will be extremely hard to mix into this cookie dough. If your brown sugar is hard, try softening it with these tips.
• Really cream together the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until the mixture becomes lighter in color. This helps incorporate air into the dough which makes soft and perfectly chewy cookies.
• Don’t overwork your cookie dough! Once the flour is added, mix on a slow speed just until the dry ingredients are incorporated.
• Use a cookie scoop to ensure your cookies are uniformly sized.
• Flatten your cookie dough balls out to a consistent thickness of about 3/4 inch. If some are thicker or thinner than others, they may over or under bake in the oven.
• Roll your cookies in a mixture of both powdered and granulated sugar. This helps the sugar stick to the cookies better and prevent the powdered sugar from dissolving.

• Make sure the cookies have a thick, even coating of sugar and bake them right after they’re dunked in the sugar mixture.
• Sprinkle a little extra powdered sugar mixture over the top of your cookies once they’re on your baking tray. Sometimes the cookies can absorb the powdered sugar as they sit and adding a little extra right before baking the cookies helps counteract that.
• Don’t over bake your cookies. Err of the side of underbaking your cookies and remember that the cookies continue to bake a bit as they cool. This will ensure your cookies have soft, chewy centers!

Making These Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies in Advance & Storage Tips

You can store these cookies in an airtight container for up to 7 days at room temperature. You can also store them in a Ziploc bag.

Scooped cookie dough balls can be frozen for up to a month if wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in an airtight container.

I like to move the cookie dough to the fridge the night before I plan to bake the cookies. I also wait to roll them in the sugar mixture until right before they’re baked.

Baked red velvet crinkle cookies can also be frozen. These cookies last for up to a month if frozen in an airtight container.

The only downside is that some of the powdered sugar can dissolve as they thaw, so they won’t look quite as pretty!

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Let Me Know What You Think!

If you try my recipe for red velvet crinkle cookies, I’d love to hear what you think of it! Please leave a rating and let me know your thoughts by sharing a comment.

If you want to take a trip down memory lane, below are the original photos from back in 2014!!