4th of July Cookies

A bite taken from vanilla frosting and red velvet base of this 4th of July Cookie.

5 from 4 votes

These 4th of July Cookies have a soft and chewy red velvet cookie base that's filled with blue sprinkles. They are then topped with a fluffy cream cheese frosting and more festive sprinkles! With a stunning deep red hue, these red velvet cream cheese cookies are the most gorgeous little holiday treats and they taste just like mini red velvet cakes! If that wasn't enough, they're gluten free, nut free, eggless and can easily be vegan! They’re a must try for you red velvet lovers!

Prep Time20

Cook Time14

Chill Time2 30

Total Time3 4

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan

Servings: large cookies

Calories: 413kcal

Author: Lee

Ingredients

For the Cookies

¼ cup milk
¼ tablespoon white vinegar
1.5 cups gluten free flour (I use a 1:1 gluten free multipurpose flour with xanthan gum already in it)
¼ cup cocoa powder (I use Dutch or Natural Unsweetened)
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup unsalted butter or vegan baking stick, room temperature
1 ¼ cups dark brown sugar , packed
2 heaping tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon unsulphured molasses
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon Red Food Coloring (I use McCormick. You may need less if you’re using a gel or paste)
¼ cup blue sprinkles

For the Frosting

2 cups confectioners' sugar
½ cup unsalted butter or vegan baking stick, room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese , room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
pinch kosher salt

For the Topping

red and blue sprinkles

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the Cookies

Measure out ¼ cup milk. Add in ¼ tablespoon of white vinegar. If you don’t have ¼ tablespoon just fill up ½ tablespoon about half way full. It doesn’t have to be 100 percent exact. Stir and let sit for 5-10 min. Stir again. It may look slightly chunky and that’s normal.
In a large bowl, whisk together the 1.5 cups gluten free flour, the ¼ cup cocoa powder, the 1 teaspoon baking soda and the ½ teaspoon kosher salt.
In a small bowl, using a spoon, mix together the 2 heaping tablespoons cornstarch and 3 tablespoons water until thin and watery. It will be thick and tacky at first.
In a large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or using a hand held mixer, beat the ½ cup room temperature butter or vegan baking stick and the 1 ¼ cups dark brown sugar until soft and creamy. About 2-3 minutes.
Slowly beat in the cornstarch water, the homemade buttermilk, 1 tablespoon molasses, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon red food coloring until fully combined. It will appear chunky. That’s normal.
Still on low speed, beat the gluten free flour mixture into the wet ingredients, a little at a time until just combined.
Once combined, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and using the spatula, fold in ¼ cup of the blue sprinkles. You can use more if you'd like but I just wanted a few pops of blue here and there.
The batter will be very wet and sticky. Don’t try to take it out of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for at least 2.5 hours. It needs to chill that long otherwise the cookies will spread all over the place.
After 2.5 hours, preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Take the dough out of the fridge and use an ice cream scoop or a large cookie scoop to make large cookies. (I use a 2 ounce cookie scoop). It makes 12 scoops.
The red velvet cookie dough will be quite sticky and may stick to your hands if they're warm. If this happens, rinse your hands and then shake off any excess water. You want them slightly wet but not dripping wet. This will help prevent the dough from sticking.
If the dough balls need some reshaping, simply use your slightly wet hands to make the dough ball tops smooth. You can see my video for how I do this.
Place dough balls about 3-4 inches apart on the parchment lined baking sheet. Bake the cookies at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 14-15 minutes.
Store extra dough balls in the fridge while the rest are baking if they don't all fit. I only bake 6 at a time.
Immediately reshape the cookies when they come out of the oven by using a spatula to push them into a circle shape and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 min before transferring to a cooling rack. If you don't do this, the cookies will break apart into a giant mess.
Let the cookies cool completely before adding the buttercream, otherwise the frosting will turn into a liquid mess.

For the Frosting

In a small bowl, using a spatula, or in the bowl of an electric mixer, mix together the ½ cup of butter, 4 ounces of cream cheese, 2 cups of confectioners' sugar, 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract and 1 pinch of kosher salt until the frosting is smooth and creamy.
(If the frosting is too liquidy, add more confectioners’ sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency. It should be thick enough to stay put on the cookies and not run off. If the cream cheese buttercream appears too thick, add a little water ¼ teaspoon at a time. Make sure your butter isn't too soft. It should be room temperature, not softened.)
Using an icing spatula or a butter knife, frost the tops of the cooled cookies. Don't go all the way to the edge of the cookie. Make sure you can see the pretty cookie on the edges.
Top the cookies with red and blue sprinkles while the frosting is still wet, so the sprinkles stick.

Video

Notes

For smaller cookies: Use a small cookie scoop and bake at same temperature for 12-13 min. Make sure to keep dough in the fridge in-between baking the batches.

Vegan: Use a dairy free gluten free flour, vegan sugar, vegan baking sticks, a non dairy milk, vegan red food coloring, vegan sprinkles and vegan cream cheese.

All Purpose Flour: I cannot test this due to celiac disease, but use 1 ½ packed cups of regular flour (252 grams) and packed cups of cocoa powder (29 grams). Still chill the dough.

Storing: Once the frosting hardens, keep extra cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days in a single layer. Do not stack.

Freezing: Wrap dough balls in plastic wrap and then pop it in a zip top bag. Freeze for up to 30 days.

Nutrition: The info below is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.

Nutrition