Vegan Red Velvet Cookies

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read the full disclosure here.

Vegan Red Velvet Cookies are lightly chocolate flavored cookies with a soft and chewy interior and a slightly crisp exterior. They are filled with rich, gooey chocolate chips.

A plate of vegan red velvet cookies with beads on the plates.

Over the last few years I’ve been asked numerous times if one of my dessert recipes can be made gluten free or vegan.  While I have experimented with some of my desserts, especially cookies, it’s not always that easy to substitute ingredients and have the recipe turn out..

So I’ve been trying more gluten free or vegan recipes so that I have them on my site for those that are looking for them.  With Valentine’s Day coming up I thought a Vegan Red Velvet Cookie was in order.

The great thing about red velvet is that it’s always in style so while I made them for a holiday, they can be served all year long.  They make a great addition to parties, celebrations, or just as an afternoon snack.

Ingredients:

  • all purpose flour
  • cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s because it is vegan)
  • baking powder (make sure it’s fresh so your cookies rise a bit)
  • salt (I just used my sea salt grinder)
  • vegan butter (I love Earth Balance buttery sticks but use whatever you have on hand)
  • brown sugar
  • granulated sugar
  • vegan milk (I used oat milk)
  • red food coloring (Americolor Gels are the best AND they are vegan)
  • vanilla extract
  • vegan chocolate chips (I find Lieber’s or Gefen to work well in cookies)

To Make the Cookies:  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.  In a large bowl cream together the vegan butter, brown sugar, and sugar.  Mix well.  Add the milk, food coloring, and vanilla extract.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until well combined.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  If your dough is sticky refrigerate for an hour, otherwise form the dough into 1-2 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet.  Bake for 9-12 minutes. 

Pin Image:  A plate of vegan red velvet cookies with beads on the plates, text title, a cutting board with ingredients on it.

The dough for these cookies is simple to make, especially if you are already vegan.  It uses pantry staples like sugar, flour, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and salt.  Then you need vegan butter and vegan milk to add to the mixture.   The only thing you may need to shop for is vegan chocolate chips.

I find that if I look in the specialty section of my regular market they generally have 1 or 2 brands of vegan chocolate chips.  If you can’t find them in your regular market they are readily available on Amazon.

What is red velvet?

Red Velvet has a light chocolate flavor with a red color that comes from food coloring.   It is also made with buttermilk and vinegar which gives it a slight tang.  Most red velvet cakes are served with a cream cheese frossting.

Do I have to chill the dough?

Honestly?   The original recipe says yes but I skipped over that part and my cookies turned out perfectly.  I didn’t find my batter to be sticky at all.  If your dough is sticky then I would refrigerate it for at least one hour.

Can I use regular food coloring from the grocery store?

You can but you will likely use the entire bottle.   I find that gel food coloring yields the best color and uses the smallest amount.  Use enough that your dough looks bright red as it will darker as it bakes.

I can’t find vegan chocolate chips, can I use a vegan chocolate bar?

Yes!  Simply chop a vegan chocolate bar into small pieces and add to the batter.  It will yield similar results to the chocolate chips.

My cookies are staying in the ball shape, what can I do?

This happened to me the first time I made this recipe.  I peaked in the oven after 5 minutes and they hadn’t changed shape at all.  If this happens to you simply remove from the oven and gently press down on the tops of all of the cookies then put them back in the oven for 5-7 minutes.  This caused my cookies to rise but not spread out and they came out looking perfect.

A bowl with red velvet cookie dough in it.

Now the issue with this dough is that if it’s sticky you will need to chill it.   If it isn’t sticky you can go ahead and bake the cookies right away. I’ve made these 3 times and I’ve only had to chill the dough one of those ties so I always go ahead and preheat the oven just in case.

I used a regular semi-sweet chocolate chip for these cookies but you can other types of chips.  White chocolate chips are always delicious with red velvet.  If you want a deeper chocolate go for dark chocolate chips.

More Red Velvet Recipes:

These cookies were fantastic.   If I didn’t know they were vegan I would never guess.  I gave them to several people to try and not one of them knew that they were vegan.

The cookies have a rich, chocolate flavor that is enhanced by the chocolate chips in them.  They turned out a deep red color which was perfect for Valentine’s Day.

A hand holding a red velvet cookie.

If you’ve tried my Vegan Red Velvet Cookies or any other recipe on Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks please take a minute to rate the recipe and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. I love hearing from you! You can FOLLOW ME on:

A plate of vegan red velvet cookies with beads on the plates.

Vegan Red Velvet Cookies

Yield: 20 cookies
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 27 minutes

Vegan Red Velvet Cookies are chocolate cookies with a soft and chewy interior and a slightly crisp exterior that are filled with rich, gooey chocolate chips.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 c. flour
  • 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 c. vegan butter
  • 1/2 c. brown sugar
  • 1/2 c. sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons plant based milk
  • 1 teaspoon red gel food coloring
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 c. vegan chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and
    salt.  Set aside. 
  3. In a large bowl cream together the vegan butter, brown sugar, and sugar.  Mix well. 
  4. Add in the plant based milk, food coloring, and vanilla extract.  Mix until well combined.
  5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. 
  6. Fold in the chocolate chips. 
  7. If your dough is sticky refrigerate for one hour. Otherwise form the dough into 1-2 inch
    balls and place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet.
  8. Bake for 10-12 minutes. The edges will be set and the top will look crackled. Leave on baking sheet for 3 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

Recipe from the Cookie Dough Diaries

A plate of Vegan Red Velvet Cookies.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *