Red Velvet Sugar Cookies

Valentines Day seems to be an excuse to make things as girly, sparkly, and almost gaudy. And it's okay. I love it. You could dump a whole pound of sparkle sprinkles and it's totally acceptable. So for Saige's preschool class we made some red heart shaped cookies, a huge bowl of buttercream icing and about 15 pounds of sprinkles, sparkle gel and icing for them to decorate till their valentine hearts content.

As I was making the dough, Frank from Gygi's, brought in a bottle of red velvet emulsion that had the lid broken off. I thought for a few seconds, maybe even a little bit longer but blame it on my head cold that I was fighting- man sinus infections are evil, but knew this would be a perfect time to try it out.

Keep in mind, the previously stated sinus infection made it so I couldn't taste a thing!! Terrible thing on a day where I had 4 cooking classes and couldn't taste a single thing made.
So I couldn't taste the strength of the flavor in the cookies but the emulsion made amazing red color which is so hard to obtain and according to Julie, one of my lifesavers- who volunteers and comes and does dishes and help out at the classes, the flavor was pretty good. I think in the future I will add some of this:

It's probably the best tasting cocoa powder ever made, and it does have a red hue so I bet it would add to the color. But if you are okay with not having it super chocolatey flavor keep it straight.
So we mixed it up, placed it in the fridge and a couple of hours and pulled it out, with fridge rack marks and all.

Let it sit for a few minutes to soften back up, trying to roll it out and it being still very cold will only make you angry and want to throw it. So just get set up while its warming up.

This really doesn't need a whole lot of flour to keep it from sticking but lightly flour the counter and the rolling pin. And roll it out pretty thick. That's the secret, thick dough will give you thick soft cookies. I tend to over roll so they aren't always the same thickness but try to get them all uniform.

Doesn't that just scream "I love you, I want to give you my love in the form of a cookie!" yep. It does.

Bake them for about 8-10 minutes, watching carefully. You don't want these cookies to brown, so check it often, keep track of your time and take them out when you think they are almost done. You will thank me when your cookie stays soft and not crunchy.

And even throw a paper straw on there before you bake them ( I placed the uncooked dough over the straw and lightly pressed it down onto the straw and baked like normal). So 30 medium heart cookies and 10 large heart cookies on a stick (for Milo to hand out for his valentines) we had red velvet sugar cookies.

Saige wanted to make homemade lollipops, but being sick I didn't have it in me. So we bought some of my favorite bags, used a cute little saying and handed out 3 blow pops for everyone. 3 manufactured pops make up for 1 homemade, right?
This was fun, a spin on the traditional sugar cookie, which makes me want to try the other emulsions we sell. So stay tunes for more emulsion fun. Until then enjoy Valentine girl, who could never be too Valentiney
























And I have to admit, I didn't take a picture of the way Milo's cookies turned out. The frosting smeared, I was frustrated and glad that that it was going to preschoolers. They won't care.

Here is the recipe for the cookies, they really are lovely sugar cookies, just keep in mind, roll them out thick. You will have a soft cookie if you do! Enjoy!

Sugar Cookie Recipe:
1 1/2 c sugar
1 c melted butter
1 tsp vanilla ( for the Red Velvet Cookies, I sub'd the vanilla for the Red Velvet Emulsion, and added about 2 teaspoons, maybe a little more, until I got a good color.)
2 eggs
1 c sour cream

Combine in a separate bowl:
5 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

In a large mixer, add dry ingredients mixture to the wet mix. Mix until all combined. Take dough out and make a ball and wrap into plastic wrap and store in the fridge for 2-3 hours, or even overnight.

When dough is firm, roll out a portion of dough on a floured surface. Roll out thick, really thick. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 9-10 minutes. Bake until firm when touched but color has not changed. You DO NOT want brown edges.