If you’ve been reading Taste and Tell for awhile, you will remember that last year, I did a week full of red velvet recipes around this time. It turned out so well, and it was so much fun, that I told myself that I would make it an annual event. So here we are – the 2nd annual Red Velvet Week!
It’s time to start thinking about Valentine’s Day, if you haven’t been thinking about it already. And to me, nothing screams Valentine’s Day more than red velvet!! I’m so excited for all of the recipes that I am bringing you this week – starting off with these amazing cookies.
I think that cake mix cookies are making a comeback. I first posted about these back in the summer of 2007. Thanks to Pinterest, they have become the most viewed recipe here on my blog lately!! And I’ve been seeing cake mix cookies pop up from some of my favorite bloggers. There is a reason these cookies are so popular. Not only are they delicious, but they are so darn easy that anyone can make them!!
This cake mix cookie is a little different than those cookies I posted many years ago. The queen of butter – Paula Deen (who I have decided is the red velvet queen) – was the genius who came up with the idea to turn one of my favorite desserts – Gooey Butter Cake – into cookies. I just took it one step further and turned them into red velvet gooey butter cookies.
If you are a fan of crisp cookies, you’ll want to turn away now, because these cookies are nothing close to crisp. They are super, super soft. Super, super moist. Even days after I made them they were still soft and gooey on the inside. I absolutely loved these cookies!!
- 8-oz cream cheese, at room temperature
- ½ cup butter, at room temperature
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 box red velvet cake mix
- confectioners' sugar, for dusting
- In the bowl of a mixer, cream together the cream cheese and the butter. Beat in the egg, then the vanilla. Beat in the cake mix until completely combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Roll the chilled dough into tablespoon sized balls. Roll in confectioners' sugar, and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool.
- ---------------------
- Adapted from Pauladeen.com
red velvet week is my kinda week!!!! it’s my favorite flavor and it’s definitely going to be in my wedding cake. i love that you made it a week 🙂 i will definitely be following closely!
Fabulous cookies! I love their color and texture.
Cheers,
Rosa
Those look insanely delicious! Ilove the addition of cream cheese!! WIll HAVE to try these!!
Whoa. I’m in love!
Look. At. Those.
I made a similar cookie-posting next week:) Love Red Velvet!
Super excited for this week! These are a great way to start out!
Ohhh I just love the idea of these! So pretty and I can only marine how tasty they are!
These look so good! And thanks for the shoutout on my strawberry cookies, too.
I am loving cake mix cookies….so easy and so soft and moist!
OMG woman, these a magnificent.
Red Velvet is my favorite! These look divine! I am all about soft cookies so these are right up my alley!
Yum! These look fantastic!
These looks SO pretty! Super soft and chewy cookies are my favorite.
mmm can’t wait to see what red velvet goodies you’ll be sharing. you definitely started on the right foot!
Yummy!! I am so excited for Red Velvet Week. This looks like one amazing start!
You had me at “gooey butter”. I love this and was just looking for a red velvet cookie recipe yesterday. This sounds perfect. Love the idea of a red velvet roundup!
Have I ever mentioned that red velvet week is my favorite week of the year? Cause it is. Love these! Anything with gooey AND red velvet in the title has to be amazing.
WOW!! Your red velvet cookies, look melt in your mouth delicious 🙂 I love them!! I’m so excited to see what else you come up with for red velvet week
Oh my gosh, those cookies are my life! I made them for Christmas and Valentine’s Day last year and it’s a good thing because I am totally addicted to them. I have a feeling I could eat an entire batch if I really wanted to. 😉
Do you know what size box cake mix you used? Most cake mixes have been decreased from 18 (or so)oz to 15 (or so)oz. I don’t want the cookies to be too soft and goey as I’m giving these to other people and they need to stay awesome. Thanks!
I don’t remember what size I originally made these with, but I’m guessing it was the old size. I guess I need to re-test this! 🙂 I have seen these cookies done recently, though, just calling for a cake mix, so I’m guessing they will work with the new size as well.
These cookies are what dreams are made of – at least my dreams!!
I’m going to add some white chocolate chips in when I make these.
@Sarah, I did the same thing!!!
who wouldn’t love these?
I saw this post yesterday morning, put the ingredients on my list, and baked them yesterday afternoon. I was hoping they would be comparable to my boys’ favorite cookie at Paradise Bakery & Cafe. I had tried to replicate them with a different cake mix recipe last month and those didn’t turn out very good. These turned out fantastic. They aren’t the same as the ones at Paradise, but my boys think these are way better. They are in love with these cookies!!!
oh deb you totally had me at ‘gooey’
My brother has an obsession with red velvet! These look really good!
this may seem like a silly question, but would a red velvet cupcake mix work as well?
@whit, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a red velvet cupcake mix before. I’m guessing they are close to the same ingredients, but I’m not positive. If you try it, let me know!
@Deborah, i just tried it with my red velvet cupcake mix and they are delicious. they seem to be a little more cakey than yours appear to be, but still super soft and yummy.
Glad I came across your blog! These turned out awesome! Made a double batch for my Moms Group – can’t wait to bring them tomorrow!
@Cait, I’m so glad that you liked them!
YUM! These look and sounds amazing. I’m totally picking up a box of cake mix today!
Just wondering how many cookies this makes? I am going to make them for my daughter’s class for Valentine’s day and want to be sure I have enough. They look delicious!
@Jenn, the recipe makes 2 dozen cookies. Hope they enjoy them!
I make these but drizzle melted white chocolate on them. Adds so much. Try the chocolate ones too:)
mine turned out basically like cake (but in cookie size).. hmm, not sure what i did wrong…
@murray, I’m not sure, either. They should be soft, and almost gooey. Wish I could help you!
Is it okay if we leave the batter in the fridge overnight? Also, you said to roll the batter balls on powdered sugar before baking – will the powdered sugar melt when it’s baking? Thanks!
@Nadia, I haven’t tried them with refrigerating the batter, so I’m not sure if they would work or not. And some of the powdered sugar will soak into the cookies, but as you can see from my pictures, most of it remains on the outside of the cookies.
@Deborah, I’ve finally made these cookies and let me tell you, they are AMAZING! I noticed that if you baked it too long, it will give you more of a cake texture, but if you don’t over-bake, it will have the perfect gooey texture. So I guess it depends on your oven as well. I baked mine for 10 minutes and they were perfect. 🙂
These look delicious. Do all supermarkets have the red velvet cake mix? I don’t know if I’ve ever seen it.
@rachel, you should be able to find red velvet cake mix at any supermarket – just with the other cake mixes. I’ve never had a hard time finding it (except around Valentine’s day when they sell out quickly!)
@Deborah, Thanks for replying so quickly. I just got back from Target and SCORE! I found them. I’m trying them tonight! I’ll let you know how they come out. Kind of excited. ;o)
Thanks for this recipe! I followed it perfectly, but mine, too, came out more cake-y/dense than gooey. I’m wondering if cake mix brand matters (I used Duncan Hines). Also, I wondered if a 2nd egg would have helped moisten them up a little and bring in more gooey-ness. Paula Deen’s gooey butter filling has two eggs. Hmmm…Any thoughts?
@Jenny S., I wonder why they were cakey for you!?! I almost wonder if it has something to do with oven temperature/time baked. But a second egg might help as well.
@Jenny S., Funny, I just made these too. They were yum, but definitely on the cakey side. Perhaps I should have baked it a bit longer?!? Will give them a try again.
@rachel, Ok so I’ve tried to bake it using different time for different batches and it turned out that when I bake it for 12 minutes, the cookies turned out to be cakey. I tried to bake it for 9-10 minutes, at first it definitely looked like it’s not done yet, so I let them cooled all the way and there you go, I got the gooey texture. It was even more perfect when I ate it the next day. Hope this helps.
@Nadia, Thank you! I was guessing that the cakey texture was coming from cooking too long – I’m glad you did the experiment for me!
@Nadia, incoprorate more and and bake at a 15 degrees lower baking temp.
Hi, my husband is deployed and loves red velvet cake. Do you think these will survive in the mail for 2 weeks if sealed tight?
@Jenna, I can’t say for sure, since I know we ate all of ours well before 2 weeks were over!! I’m guessing that they’d hold up as well as most cookies, though.
hey there, so i’ve made these twice now, and when i roll the dough in powered sugar, it always just bakes “in” and disappears. so i’ve been just dusting them when they come out of the oven with the sugar. they come out just as pretty!
Do these freeze well?
@Cassy, I have never tried freezing them, so I’m not sure. Sorry!
Why is it that the red looks so appetizing!
All due respect, but Paula Deen did not come up with the gooey butter cookie. My grandma’s been making them for Christmas since long before anyone ever heard of Paula.
That being said, this recipe looks outstanding.
Made these tonight and they were awesome. Even though I messed up and only put 1/2 stick butter in them. The dough was really sticky , so I coated my hands with butter, it did not affect the taste.
They are very pretty also with the sugar cracked on the top.
Can white chocolate chips be put in these??
@Sue, I haven’t tried, but I’m guessing it would work!
Just made these and they’re great! Look just like your picture and taste fantastic. My powdered sugar melted in the oven so the cookies didn’t have that powdered sugar layer on top but the cookies were still good. Next time I’ll cover them in more powdered sugar instead of a light dusting.
Ok…. Loved these… But did anyone have a problem with them staining teeth red? Maybe it was just my cake mix (I used duff’s red velvet cake mix … As in duff from food network) and felt so bad all my guests looked like vampires! This little set back didn’t stop us from devouring an entire batch! 🙂
@Alyssa, oh my goodness – I haven’t heard of that happening!! 🙂 I’m guessing it was the cake mix, because I didn’t have that problem.
Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. I’m baking my second batch and they are taste heavenly!
Hi! Do you know if these would work with GF red velvet cake mix? Thanks!
I thought they were good. Hubby said not sweet enough though. I may next time try adding a tsp or 2 of sugar while creaming the cream cheese and butter. Love the recipe though, nice and easy. You just have to prepare early because of the refrigerator time
Hi, love this recipe, will be trying them out, hope to achieve the same look as the pic above. How do we store these cookies, in an airtight container over the shelf, or in the refrigerator, because the cookies contain cream cheese.
@Sabeen, I don’t remember how I stored them, but I’m thinking it was just in an airtight container. I know they didn’t last long, though!! If you want to be safe, you could definitely store them in the fridge and let them come to room temperature when you are ready to eat them.
Thanks a lot though for this lovely recipe!!!!!!
Does the recipe call for unsalted or salted butter? Or does it really matter? Trying to make these for a few friends for Valentine’s (and I’d like them to be perfect lol). Thanks.
@AJ, I always use unsalted butter, but I’m sure salted would work as well.
HA@Deborah, Thank youfor responding so fast! I’m making them tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Thanks a lot for the prompt reply…. Love ur recipes….
Could I freeze these cookies and how many weeks could I freeze them for?
@Lindsay, I haven’t tried freezing them, so I’m not sure how they would hold up.
LOVE these…thank you SO much! Just finished making a batch and the entire family loves them!
I’ve been making cake mix cookies since I received the recipe card from Tupperware over 20 years ago. Easiest, most versatile way to bake cookies.
Do think these would freeze well?
I haven’t tried freezing them, but I’m guessing they would freeze well.
Just made these for a work party tomorrow, do I need to refrigerate them over night? They are AMAZING! Can’t wait for everyone to try them.
I have never refrigerated them, but you definitely could. I would just make sure they come to room temperature before serving.
Just finished a batch of these. I used a PC red velvet cake mix and the cookies turned out great! Only con would be having to roll each little sticky ball of dough in icing sugar. They look gorgeous when they are done, though, and taste great!
I made a double batch and gave them as part of Christmas gift bags. They were very good! I think I overdid them by a minute or 2 causing them to be cakey. (Still delicious though) I can’t wait to try them again. Only issue I had was a little trouble mixing the batter, it was very thick… I ended up using just over a box and a half of cake mix in a double batch.
I’m so glad you liked them! Yes, they do get cakey if they are cooked too long, but you are right – still delicious!
I made a batch and they turned out well! Thanks for sharing! <3
can we make our own cake mix because here its not available if yes please recipe
Hi Mona, I haven’t tried these with a homemade cake mix, so I’m not sure how they would work out. Sorry!