Description
Celebrate Valentine’s Day with these adorable and chewy Red Velvet Bear Cookies. Featuring a rich red velvet dough enriched with cocoa and a blend of brown and granulated sugars, these cookies have a tender crumb with a slight chewiness. Decorated with melted white and dark chocolate to create cute bear faces, these cookies are perfect for gifting or sharing with loved ones. The recipe includes tips for making the dough vegan and ensures a fun baking experience with a festive outcome.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup (180 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 tbsp (14 g) cocoa powder, sifted
- ½ tsp (2 g) baking soda
- ½ tsp (2 g) baking powder
- ½ tsp (3 g) salt
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (55 g) light or dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 tsp (4 g) vanilla extract
- 1 tsp (5 g) white vinegar
- 1 large egg
- red food coloring, as needed
Decoration for Face
- 1 tbsp (15 g) melted milk or dark chocolate
- 3 tbsp (44.36 g) melted white chocolate
- oil-based food coloring (pink/red), for tinting white chocolate
Instructions
- Combine Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until evenly blended.
- Mix Wet Ingredients: Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the melted and cooled butter with granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until well combined. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to ensure uniform mixing. Add vanilla extract, white vinegar, egg, and red food coloring; continue mixing until the mixture is smooth and consistent.
- Add Dry Ingredients: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir until just combined. Add more red food coloring if a deeper red color is desired.
- Rest the Dough: Cover the dough and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes to hydrate the flour and firm the butter, improving dough handling and cookie chewiness.
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Baking Sheets: Heat oven to 325°F (163°C) and line two baking trays with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- Shape Cookies: Using a small cookie scoop (about 1 ½ tablespoons), form dough balls for the cookie bodies and place them spaced approximately 3 inches apart on the prepared trays. Use about 1 teaspoon of dough per ear, divide into two pieces, roll into balls, and place atop the cookie bodies to form bear ears.
- Bake: Bake for 9-11 minutes until cookie edges are set and centers remain slightly puffy. For chewier cookies, slightly underbake within this time range.
- Cool: Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Decorate Bear Faces: Use melted white chocolate to pipe snouts and ears, tinting some with pink or red oil-based food coloring for blush accents. If chocolate seizes, stir in a teaspoon of neutral oil until smooth. Use melted milk or dark chocolate to pipe eyes and noses using a piping bag, toothpick, or cookie scribe.
- Serve and Enjoy: Allow chocolate decorations to set before serving these charming red velvet bear cookies made for Valentine’s Day.
Notes
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
- To make vegan, substitute the butter with high-quality vegan butter and use vegan chocolate. Omit the egg, and if the dough is crumbly, add 1-4 tablespoons of alternative plant-based milk gradually until dough consistency is thick but scoopable.
- Using oil-based food coloring helps prevent the melted chocolate from seizing when tinting.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 140 kcal
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 110 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2.5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 25 mg
