Organic Red Velvet Cookies
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Learn how to make organic Red Velvet Cookies with natural red velvet food coloring. These nostalgic cookies are free of artificial colors, naturally eggless, and use up sourdough discard for a perfectly cakey cookie with cream cheese frosting!
If you’re looking for more Valentine’s Day cookies, be sure to check out some of my other favorites like Eggless Chocolate Strawberry Cookies, Raspberry Truffles, or Chocolate Heart Thumbprint Cookies.
Table of Contents
Soft and cakey, these organic cookies are made with natural red velvet food coloring — just organic beets! You can easily use natural red velvet food coloring for all your red velvet desserts such as organic cookies, cakes, cupcakes, and more!
This recipe is another collab with my baking bestie, Hannah at Make It Dough! Each month we come together on a recipe that uses sourdough. These organic cookies use up sourdough discard to reduce waste. And these naturally eggless Red Velvet Cookies with cream cheese frosting also use natural red velvet food coloring for organic cookies you can feel good about sharing this Valentine’s Day!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Natural Red Velvet Food Coloring: While traditional Red Velvet Cookies use artificial dyes to get their red color, these organic Red Velvet Cookies use organic beet powder instead! This organic food dye is safe, flavorless, and is the perfect natural red velvet food coloring so you can still enjoy these iconic cookies.
Organic Cookies: While store bought Red Velvet Cookies can contain artificial colors, additives and more, these Valentine’s Day cookies are free of artificial colors and use organic ingredients!
Naturally Eggless: I wanted to create naturally eggless Red Velvet Cookies because everyone is feeling the egg shortage right now. I use a mix of sourdough discard and cream cheese to replace eggs in these organic cookies! No eggs, no problem!
Valentine’s Day Ready: These Valentine’s Day cookies are decorated for Valentine’s Day with hearts, XOXO, and other cute decorations. But you can easily skip this portion if you aren’t into decorating or just want plain Red Velvet Cookies for any occasion.
Ingredients
- Butter: I use Organic Valley Salted Butter; you can use your favorite. Just be sure the butter is softened for the cookies and the cream cheese frosting.
- Cane Sugar: I use organic cane sugar for natural sweetness. This is much less processed than traditional granulated white sugar, making it a better choice for indulging mindfully.
- Vanilla Extract: Use a high quality vanilla extract, not imitation. My favorite is Simply Organic.
- Sourdough Discard: You can use your sourdough discard straight from the fridge. If you don’t have sourdough discard, you can still make these organic cookies by mixing together 28 grams of all purpose flour and 28 grams of water, use that mixture in place of sourdough discard.
- Cream Cheese: I use Organic Valley Cream Cheese inside the cookies and in the cream cheese frosting. You can use cream cheese from a tub or in the block form, either works.
- All Purpose Flour: I use organic all purpose flour.
- Dutch Cocoa Powder: I use organic Dutch cocoa powder, which is my go to for organic cookies!
- Beet Powder: I use organic beet powder for natural red velvet food coloring. You can also use Suncore Foods Organic Red Dye, as this is also just organic beet powder.
- Baking Powder: I use baking powder in these organic cookies because there is no acid to react with and there’s Dutch cocoa powder. Be sure to check out my post the Difference Between Baking Soda and Baking Powder for more info on leavening agents.
- Salt: Use fine sea salt.
- Powdered Sugar: I use organic powdered sugar in the cream cheese frosting. Be sure your powdered sugar is sifted so its smooth and creamy.
- Strawberry Powder: I also use organic strawberry powder for decorating these organic cookies. This makes a pastel pink frosting. This part is optional, and you can just use the beet powder if that’s all you have.
- Raspberry Powder: I also use organic raspberry powder for decorating.
Tools Needed
- Scale: Always use a digital food scale for the best results.
- Stand Mixer: I use my stand mixer for ease, but you can use a hand mixer if you prefer.
- Baking Sheets: You’ll need two half sheet pans to bake these Red Velvet Cookies.
- Parchment Paper: You will need nontoxic parchment paper for these organic cookies. Because we’re frosting these a certain way, the parchment paper is incredibly necessary! If you don’t want the perfectly flat frosting for decorating and just want to frost with a butter knife, then parchment paper is not essential.
- Piping Bags: You’ll need a few piping bags to pipe the cream cheese frosting onto and also to decorate if you plan to decorate.
- Decorating Tips: I use Ateco tip #808 to pipe the cream cheese frosting onto the cookies. Then, I use Ateco tips #30, #6, and #4 for decorating.
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Step by Step Instructions
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Step 2
To make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, cane sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix on low until combined and there are no butter chunks.
Add the sourdough discard, milk, and cream cheese. Then add the flour, cocoa powder, beet powder, baking powder, and sea salt in that order. Mix on low until combined into a smooth cookie dough.
Using your hands, or a cookie scoop, form the dough into 12 balls and place on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten them so they are about 2 1/4-inches in diameter. Space evenly apart, you’ll have 6 cookies per sheet.
Step 3
Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until the tops look cracked and the edges look dry. Round them out with a cookie cutter after baking for perfectly round cookies (see video). Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheets before frosting.
Step 4
To make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix on low until combined, then speed mixer up to high and whip for 2 to 3 minutes or until it’s light and fluffy. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl part way through to ensure everything is combined.
Step 5
Reserve a small amount of frosting (a few tablespoons) in three small bowls for the decorating frosting. Transfer the remaining frosting to a piping bag with Ateco tip #808.
Pipe dollops of frosting onto each cookie. Then turn the cookies upside down and smash them against the parchment paper. Place the tray in the freezer to set the frosting. This will take about 30 minutes, the cookies should remove from the parchment paper easily without sticking.
Step 6
Add the beet powder, strawberry powder, and raspberry powder to each of the 3 bowls reserved with frosting. You can add less for more pastel colors or more for brighter colors. Mix it up. If the frosting seems dry, add a few drops of water. If you add more color, you’ll need a bit more water to make it smooth.
Step 7
Transfer the colored frosting to piping bags with Ateco tips #4, 6, and 30. I used #30 for raspberry, #6 for beet, and #4 for strawberry, but you can do it however you like.
Pipe hearts, XOXO, or other Valentine’s Day decorations on the cookies. Do this however you like!
Baker’s Tips
- Make sure your butter is soft for both the cookies and the frosting.
- You can use your sourdough discard straight from the fridge. If you don’t have sourdough discard you can still make this recipe by mixing together 28 grams of all purpose flour with 28 grams of water. Use this in its place.
- Decorating these organic cookies is totally optional. You can skip the piping and just frost them with a butter knife if you prefer.
- Because these Red Velvet Cookies have cream cheese frosting, they need to be stored in the fridge. Be sure to store in an airtight container.
FAQ’s
You can still make this recipe, even if you don’t have sourdough discard. Just mix together 28 grams of all purpose flour and 28 grams of water, use this in its place.
Yes, use vegan butter, vegan cream cheese (my favorite is Miyoko’s), and vegan milk (coconut milk is best) and these can be vegan!
Because these are made with cream cheese frosting, they need to be store in an airtight container in the fridge.
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Organic Red Velvet Cookies
Equipment
- Ateco Tip #4
Ingredients
Dough
- 113 grams salted butter (softened)
- 170 grams cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 57 grams sourdough discard
- 57 grams milk
- 57 grams cream cheese
- 191 grams all purpose flour
- 28 grams Dutch cocoa powder (sifted)
- 1 tablespoon beet powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Frosting
- 85 grams salted butter (softened)
- 85 grams cream cheese
- 212 grams powdered sugar (sifted)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon beet powder
- ½ teaspoon strawberry powder
- ½ teaspoon raspberry powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- To make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, cane sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix on low until combined and there are no butter chunks.
- Add the sourdough discard, milk, and cream cheese. Then add the flour, cocoa powder, beet powder, baking powder, and sea salt in that order. Mix on low until combined into a smooth cookie dough.
- Using your hands, or a cookie scoop, form the dough into 12 balls and place on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten them so they are about 2 1/4-inches in diameter. Space evenly apart, you’ll have 6 cookies per sheet.
- Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until the tops look cracked and the edges look dry. Round them out with a cookie cutter after baking for perfectly round cookies (see video). Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheets before frosting.
- To make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix on low until combined, then speed mixer up to high and whip for 2 to 3 minutes or until it’s light and fluffy. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl part way through to ensure everything is combined.
- Reserve a small amount of frosting (a few tablespoons) in three small bowls for the decorating frosting. Transfer the remaining frosting to a piping bag with Ateco tip #808.
- Pipe dollops of frosting onto each cookie. Then turn the cookies upside down and smash them against the parchment paper. Place the tray in the freezer to set the frosting. This will take about 30 minutes, the cookies should remove from the parchment paper easily without sticking.
- Add the beet powder, strawberry powder, and raspberry powder to each of the 3 bowls reserved with frosting. You can add less for more pastel colors or more for brighter colors. Mix it up. If the frosting seems dry, add a few drops of water. If you add more color, you’ll need a bit more water to make it smooth.
- Transfer the colored frosting to piping bags with Ateco tips #4, 6, and 30. I used #30 for raspberry, #6 for beet, and #4 for strawberry, but you can do it however you like.
- Pipe hearts, XOXO, or other Valentine’s Day decorations on the cookies. Do this however you like!
- Be sure to store cookies in an airtight container in the fridge.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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