Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Whoopie Cookies

A delicious twist on typical red velvet desserts, these red velvet chocolate chip whoopie cookies are the perfect Valentine’s Day treat. 

I can’t lie. I used to love Valentine’s Day as a kid. We always made special Valentine’s Day card holders out of shoe boxes and decorated them in art class with construction paper, markers, and stickers. Picking out the cards and treats to pass out was a big deal, and I always picked out a special card to put in the shoebox of my crush. Fast forward too many years to count, and I still love the mushiness of Valentine’s Day. 

Last week, I was mulling over a sweet Valentine’s Day treat to bake for Matt this year. He has an unstoppable sweet tooth, and these red velvet chocolate chip whoopie cookies won out. Admittedly, I considered other recipes, like chocolate-covered strawberries or heart-shaped brownies. I even considered my chocolate swoon cake, but that’s our go-to birthday cake around here.

I wanted to make something more special but that didn’t require an absurd amount of time in the kitchen, or a really complicated recipe. 

If you’ve never had a whoopie pie, they’re a misnomer of a dessert. They’re really not pies at all. They’re essentially a sandwich cookie but with a more cake-like texture. In other words, the best of both dessert worlds if you ask my husband. However, in this recipe, the texture leans more toward cookie than cake. And instead of a marshmallow based filling, I went all out with the cream cheese frosting synonymous with red velvet desserts. 

How to Make Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Whoopie Cookies

Like most of the recipes on my blog, there’s some versatility in the ingredients. For example, if you’re gluten intolerant, you can substitute Cup 4 Cup or your favorite gluten-free alternative for the all-purpose flour. Don’t want to use sugar? Substitute 2/3 cup of honey. If you don’t have heavy cream, you can substitute milk. And the cream cheese can be full-fat or the 1/3 fat variety. If you don’t want to use red food coloring, you can also substitute red beet juice. Just don’t use the pickled kind! ? I promise your whoopie pies will not taste like beets and will still have that nice, deep red coloring. To dress them up, you can drizzle melted white chocolate on the top, if desired. You will essentially bake the cookies and then sandwich the filling between two of them. Yum!

The Ingredients

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar or 2/3 cup honey 
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour or gluten-free alternative
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon hot brewed coffee
• 1 tablespoon red food coloring or beet juice
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 12 ounces regular or 1/3 less fat cream cheese
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Instructions

• Using a stand or hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar or honey together in a large bowl until creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
• Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating on low speed just until combined.
• Add coffee and red food coloring or beet juice and mix through.

• Fold in the chocolate chips, then refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
• Using a large cookie scoop or tablespoon, scoop dough and roll between your hands to make smooth ball shapes. Place dough balls on parchment paper or silicone mat covered baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.

• Bake at 350 until edges are firm, 10-12 minutes.
• Let cool on the pan for 10 more minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
• Using a stand or hand mixer, make your filling by mixing the cream cheese and powdered sugar together until smooth. Beat in heavy cream or milk to make the filling easier to spread.

• Spread a generous amount of filling onto the bottom, flat sides of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies, flat-side down.

Enjoy with a glass of milk and some special time with your Valentine!