Oh my goodness, people...it`s really almost over. 2014 has only a handful of weeks left! Christmas music has been playing on the radio since before Thanksgiving! I feel like Thanksgiving is almost the forgotten holiday with all the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping craziness. Nevertheless, if you`re in the US, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday, full of food and thankfulness. I had a great time with family and I definitely had more than 1 food baby this weekend! Haha~
Whether or not you celebrate Christmas as a religion or as a festive holiday, it`s sort of the time of giving. And, it`s GREAT to give cookies. Especially homemade cookies...you see where I`m getting at, don`t cha?
`Tis the season to eat cookies, fa la la la la, la la la la la~
I have a wonderfully, awesome, and appropriately red-colored cookies for you today. Red velvet cookies studded with chocolate truffles and swirls of cream cheese! I hope you hear the merrily jingles of bells in your head as you think and bake these cookies. :)
If you have any cookie swaps, cookie exchanges, or want to gift cookies, these would be perfect! They`re so festive and fun! I will add that they are dangerously addictive though. I totally ate way too many than what I allotted myself.
BTW - I`m entering these cookies in Shelly's and Kristan's Creative Cooke contest!!
Red Velvet Truffle Cheesecake Cookies
Ingredients:
-
8 tablespoons (½ cup) unsalted butter
-
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
-
1 teaspoon baking soda
-
¼ teaspoon sea salt
-
1/3 cup cocoa powder
-
¾ cup brown sugar
-
¼ cup granulated sugar
-
1 large egg
-
1 large egg yolk
-
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-
¼ teaspoon distilled white vinegar
-
1 teaspoon red food coloring
-
3 oz. cream cheese, softened + 1 teaspoon sugar
-
chocolate
truffles, chopped in pieces
-
½ cup chocolate chips
Directions:
1.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line
baking sheet(s) with baking mat or parchment paper.
2.
In a small saucepan, brown your butter: Over medium heat, melt the
butter. Whisking occasionally, let the butter turn into an amber color. It will
foam. Once it subsides and brown specks appears at the bottom of the pan, it
will begin to have a nutty aroma. Once butter turns a light golden brown color,
transfer to a medium bowl to cool. (I
stick it in the freezer to make it cool faster--about 5-10 minutes, whisking
every 3-5 minutes.)
3.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa
powder. Set aside.
4.
In a bowl with an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, combine
together the sugars.
5.
Add the brown butter. Combine well.
6.
Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and white vinegar. Mix.
7.
Add the red food coloring and mix until incorporated.
8.
Mix in the flour mixture until combined.
9.
Fold in half the truffles and chocolate chips.
10.
In a small bowl, mix together softened cream cheese and 1 teaspoon of
granulated sugar.
11.
Fold in cream cheese and the rest of the truffles and chocolate. (Do not
fully combine in the cream cheese. You should still see streaks.)
12.
Using a cookie scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheet, about 2
minutes apart each.
13.
Bake for 11-15 minutes, or until edges are slightly golden.
14.
Let cookies cool slightly on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing
to cool completely on cooling rack.
*Notes:
I used truffles from this
recipe. You can also substitute for store bought chocolate candy truffles, in which
you chop into small pieces, or use only chocolate chips.
