Red velvet thumbprint cookies mark Day 4 of my Advent holiday delights. The bright red hue of these festive cookies makes them a standout for any holiday cookie contest, but it’s their chocolatey flavor combined with white chocolate-sweetened cream cheese that makes them a real contender. The creamy center melds with the moist cookie making each bite a winter’s dream.
Day 4- Red Velvet Thumbprint Cookies
Difficulty: Piece of Cake!
I managed to wake up at 7 am to whip up a batch (and I made it to work on time!). I wanted to make them this morning so that I could bring them to work. Someone asked me yesterday, “Where are all of these goodies going?” I answered truthfully, “To fatten up my colleagues.” A plate full of cookies this morning promptly disappeared, as my colleagues raved on and on about how delicious they were.

The cookie part of this recipe is very straightforward, although the dough is stickier and wetter than the dough in the snickerdoodle cookies. I used the back of a wooden spoon to make the initial “thumbprints.” Then, once the cookies were baked and had slightly cooled, I used my “thumbprint” (really, my knuckles) to further indent the cookies.





The icing is simply melted white chocolate mixed with softened cream cheese. Make sure your chocolate doesn’t get too hot or it will burn! Also, make sure your cream cheese is very soft so that you can easily mix them. I used a rubber spatula and continuously folded the cream cheese into the melted chocolate until it was completely incorporated. I then used a piping bag (you can use a Ziploc bag if you don’t have one) to pipe the cream cheese filling into the indentions, which I topped with a white chocolate chip.

This recipe was inspired from Southern Living magazine, although I altered it slightly by reducing the amount of food coloring since I really despise food coloring! They even made a video showing each step. Happy Baking!
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon red liquid food coloring
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Parchment paper
- 2 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature
- 1/4 cup white chocolate chips, melted according to package directions and cooled
- Garnish: white chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Beat softened butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy, about three minutes. Add egg and food coloring; beat 30 seconds.
- Sift flour with next 2 ingredients in a small bowl. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating at low speed until combined. Stir in vanilla.
- Shape dough into 1-inch balls, and place 1 inch apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Press the end of a wooden spoon into each ball, forming an indentation.
- Bake at 325°F for 10 to 15 minutes or until cookies are fragrant and dry. While cookies are still warm, press indentations again. Cool cookies completely on a wire rack (about 30 minutes).
- Stir together cream cheese and melted white chocolate in a small bowl. Fill centers of cookies with cream cheese mixture. Top each cookie with a single white chocolate chip
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