Red Velvet Marshmallow Crinkles
Day 2 of the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies Series
On the second day of Christmas, I'd like to give you something amazing. A cookie concocted out of cocoa and sugar, fluffy and soft and stuffed with white chocolate and the oozy goodness of marshmallow.
These festive crinkles are colored red to assume the cheer of the season, their surfaces cracked with powdered sugar dusting as if they've just been sprinkled with lightly falling snow.
And they are easy. No complicated ingredients or methods. Just a little extra time in the fridge to set the dough before baking and poof- pillows of red velvet cookie that'll entrance. A few notes about this recipe:
1. Be aware that because of the cocoa content, you'll need to use quite a lot of red food coloring to get that festive color. Or a concentrated food color gel, which works much better than standard food coloring.
2. White chocolate. Let's talk about it. It's amazing- smooth, buttery. But when you're buying white chocolate chips, be warned. They often have literally not a drop of white chocolate in them. Look at the package. If it says "White Baking Chips" then your white chocolate chips are just a bunch of sugar, vanilla flavoring, partially hydrogenated oils, and emulsifiers. There are just a few brands that you can count on, and Whole Foods is one of them. Their 365 organic line has White Chocolate Chunks which are 24% cacao and perfect for this recipe.
3. Want oozy gooey goodness like my pictures. This requires a little extra work on your part. You need to get the dough really cold, make sure there is only a very light dome of dough on top of the marshmallow, and bake for 8 minutes in a convection oven at 350. As soon as they are done, whisk them outside in the cold to cool off (or your fridge/freezer). The quicker they cool down, the better the marshmallow condenses instead of dissipating into the surrounding dough.
These Red Velvet Crinkles are an adaption of a recipe courtesy of another blog I swear by, Cooking Classy. This food-based site runs recipes that sound fancy, but are easily fashioned from staples in your pantry. A great resource to have in your back pocket when the in-laws drop in for an unexpected visit.
We begin with a smorgasbord of common cookie ingredients. Flour, sugar, cocoa. Did you know Red Velvet is really just a cocoa based flavor with red food coloring. Yep. Nothing fancy, friends.
That dough is sticky. And that's okay. It's gonna need to chill for awhile until you can scoop it properly. This cookie is practically cake in the best possible way.
Pop a little marshmallow onto each dollop of dough, seal with a bit more dough, roll in powdered sugar and bake. You don't have to have a convection oven setting, but it'll help get these gooey oozy in the middle.
You know. If that's your thing.
Enjoy these holiday beauties that taste a bit like Christmas and campfire all rolled into one. Red Velvet Crinkles so decadent, you can stick a fork in them and pretend they're cake. Come on- tis' the season and all that. Indulge. A lot. And stay tuned for our next featured recipe in the holiday cookie series. Mwah!
Red Velvet Marshmallow Crinkles
Ingredients (adapted from Cooking Classy):
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder*
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 Tbsp milk or buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla
2 tsp lemon juice
5 tsp red food coloring
1 cup marshmallows
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup powdered sugar
Directions:
In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt for 30 seconds, set aside. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter and granulated sugar until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs 1 at a time, blending until combined after each addition. Mix in milk, vanilla bean paste, lemon juice and red food coloring. With mixer set on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Stir in white chocolate chips. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill 2 hours or until firm enough to shape into balls.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, preferably on convection setting. Pour powdered sugar into a bowl. Remove dough from refrigerator, scoop dough out and with buttered hands, shape into medium balls (about 2 1/2 Tbsp each). Press a marshmallow into the center of each ball, then cover with a thin dome of dough. Roll cookie dough balls into powdered sugar and evenly coat. Transfer to Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheets and flatten slightly, then bake in preheated oven 13 - 14 minutes or 8 minutes for convection. Put outside or in fridge to cool quickly, then allow to rest on cookie sheet several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.