These red velvet crinkle cookies are soft, fudgy, and ridiculously easy thanks to a box of cake mix. Roll them in plenty of powdered sugar and they bake up deep red with those dramatic snowy cracks that scream I know what I'm doing!
They're perfect for Christmas cookie trays, Valentine's Day, or any random Tuesday when a plain chocolate cookie simply isn't being theatrical enough.
Table of Contents
This post may contain affiliate links. If you grab something through them, I earn a small commission-at no extra cost to you-and I appreciate it more than good coffee.
🥰 Is this red velvet crinkle cookie recipe for you?
It is if you want:
- Soft, chewy centers with lightly crisp edges and plenty of chocolatey red velvet flavor.
- Five simple ingredients because nobody needs a 14-item shopping list to make a cookie.
- Easy cake mix cookies that look considerably fancier than the amount of work involved.
- Big, glittery, snowy crinkles from a double roll in granulated and powdered sugar.
- A cookie with range that's just as happy on a Christmas cookie tray as it is showing off for Valentine's Day.
🧾 Ingredients
You only need 5 simple ingredients for these red velvet cake mix crinkle cookies, and one of them is a box of cake mix doing most of the work like the overachiever it is.
- Red velvet cake mix - The shortcut that handles the flour, cocoa, leavening, and dramatic red velvet business in one tidy little box. Use a standard 15.25-ounce mix.
- Eggs - Two large eggs give the cookies structure while keeping the centers soft and fudgy instead of dry and cakey.
- Butter - Melted butter adds richness and better flavor than oil. Let it cool slightly before mixing so we don't accidentally introduce the eggs to their breakfast destiny.
- Powdered sugar - The snowdrift. Be generous here! A thick coating gives you those gorgeous bright-white cracks against the deep red cookie.
- Granulated sugar - The sneaky little trick that makes the powdered sugar behave. Rolling the dough in granulated sugar first helps keep that snowy coating from melting into the cookies as they bake.
📖 Recipe
Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies with Cake Mix
Print Pin Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 15.25 ounces red velvet cake mix
- ⅓ cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup granulated sugar, for rolling
- ½ cup powdered sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or spray lightly with no stick spray.
- Whisk the cooled melted butter and eggs together in a medium bowl until well mixed.
- Add the red velvet cake mix and stir until a thick, stiff dough forms.
- Cover and chill for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the dough is firm enough to roll easily.
- Shape the chilled dough into 1-inch balls.
- Roll each ball lightly in granulated sugar, then generously in powdered sugar. Don't be stingy with the powdered sugar. A thick coating gives the cookies their pretty crinkled finish.
- Arrange the cookies about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the edges are set and the centers still look slightly soft.
- Cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Use parchment rather than greasing the baking sheet. Extra grease can encourage spreading, and these little divas already have enough going on.
- Let the melted butter cool slightly before mixing. Warm is fine. Hot is how we accidentally wander into scrambled-egg territory.
- Roll in granulated sugar first, then powdered sugar. That first coating helps keep the powdered sugar from melting into the dough as the cookies bake.
- Don't overbake. Take the cookies out when the edges are set but the centers still look slightly soft. They'll finish setting as they cool.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
Love this recipe?
Subscribe to the free membership group and never miss another recipe!
😱 What can go wrong (and how to fix it)
🍪 The powdered sugar disappeared.
You were probably a little too polite with it. Roll the dough in granulated sugar first, then really coat it in powdered sugar. We are looking for snowdrift, not light dusting.
🍪 The cookies didn't crinkle.
Make sure the oven is completely preheated and don't flatten the dough balls. The outside needs to set while the inside expands, creating those gorgeous cracks.
🍪 The dough is sticking to everything.
It's too warm. Chill it for another 10 to 15 minutes. If your hands are warm, work quickly and put the dough back in the refrigerator between batches.
🍪 The cookies spread into red velvet pancakes.
The dough was likely too warm, or the melted butter was still hot when you mixed it in. Let the butter cool slightly and give the dough its full chilling time before rolling. If you have time - pop them in the freezer for 5 minutes before rolling in the sugars.
🍪 The cookies are dry instead of soft and fudgy.
They've been overbaked. Pull them when the edges are set but the centers still look slightly soft. They'll continue to bake on the hot cookie sheet for a couple of minutes.
🍪 The powdered sugar looks yellowish or patchy after baking.
Again, more powdered sugar. Seriously. Coat those little suckers until you wonder whether you've gone too far, then add just a bit more. This is not a quiet-luxury cookie.
🍽 More cookie recipes
🏡 These red velvet crinkle cookies are proof that five ingredients and a box of cake mix can produce a cookie with entirely too much confidence. They're soft and fudgy inside, snowy and crinkled outside, and pretty enough for Christmas or Valentine's Day without requiring advanced degrees in pastry arts.
Make a batch, pour yourself some coffee, and enjoy the fact that nobody needs to know how ridiculously easy they were. And, If this starts a cookie situation at your house, I've got plenty more easy cookie recipes to keep it going.
Comments
No Comments