These festive Red Velvet Thumbprint Cookies exemplify the holiday spirit. With vibrantly colored dough and a sweet and tangy cream cheese filling, traditional red velvet cake transforms into perfectly bite-sized cookies. The real magic lies within Wilton Christmas Nonpareils Sprinkles and Wilton Color Right Concentrated Food Coloring, bringing you an ultra-concentrated formula that won’t change the consistency of your cookie dough. With 8 different colors and a color mixing guide, you can create this beautiful red and beyond. Use the QuickCount chart to find the perfect color combinations or create your own custom color palettes. Finally, a food coloring that removes the guesswork and actually gives the color that you imagined!
Red Velvet Thumbprint Cookies
Makes about 28 cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg (50 grams), room temperature
- 1 teaspoon (5 grams) Wilton Color Right Performance Red Food Coloring (36 drops)
- 1 teaspoon (4 grams) vanilla extract
- 2¼ cups (281 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons (10 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (1.5 grams) kosher salt
- Cream Cheese Filling (recipe follows)
- Garnish: Wilton Red, White, and Green Nonpareils
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until creamy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Add egg, beating well. Beat in food coloring and vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating until combined. Using a 1½-tablespoon spring loaded scoop, scoop dough (26 grams each), and roll into smooth balls (about 1¼ inches). Place at least 1½ inches apart on prepared pans. Using the back of a rounded ½ teaspoon dipped in flour as needed, gently make an indentation in center of each ball.
- Bake until tops look dry, 8 to 10 minutes. Press down centers again, and bake for 1 to 2 minutes more (to dry out center). Let cool on pans completely.
- Place Cream Cheese Filling in a pastry bag fitted with Wilton 1M piping tip. Pipe filling into center of each cookie. Sprinkle with nonpareils, if desired. Serve immediately. Refrigerate in an airtight container (nonpareils may bleed into icing).
Notes
Make Ahead
It is best to pipe the filling and sprinkle with nonpareils right before serving. The nonpareils do not stick to the filling once it has been completely chilled (filling gets dry/firms as it chills). The nonpareils started to bleed within 1½ to 2 hours of being sprinkled on the filling. Prep ahead would only be the cookies, and they can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
It is best to pipe the filling and sprinkle with nonpareils right before serving. The nonpareils do not stick to the filling once it has been completely chilled (filling gets dry/firms as it chills). The nonpareils started to bleed within 1½ to 2 hours of being sprinkled on the filling. Prep ahead would only be the cookies, and they can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Cream Cheese Filling
Makes about 1½ cups
Ingredients
- 4 ounces (113 grams) cream cheese, softened
- ¼ cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ teaspoon (2 grams) vanilla extract
- 2 cups (240 grams) confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium-low speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low, and gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating until combined. Increase mixer speed to medium, and beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.
To help you create your own Red Velvet Thumbprint Cookies, we’re teaming up with Wilton to give away 5 prize packages valued at $73 each, including a Mega Sprinkle Traditional 4 Pack, Mega Sprinkle Winter 4 Pack, Red Cookie Icing, Green Cookie Icing, White Cookie Icing, Meringue Powder 4 oz, Multi-Cookie Cutter Sheet, Cookie Decorating Set, The Really Big Spatula, Holiday Parchment Mega Roll 100 Ft, Navy Blue Cookie Sheet with Gold Cooling Grid Set, Stainless Steel Small Cookie Scoop, Recipe Right Non-Stick Cooling Grid, and a copy of The Cookie Collection ($26.95), our cookbook packed with hundreds of cookie recipes! Don’t miss our giveaway on IGTV which closes on November 20th, 2002, at 10:59 p.m. EST!
Never really like “red” food, red velvet cake etc) but will give these a try. Thanks for encouraging me to try ‘red’ food once again. mhh