recipe box Wednesday

First things first, the winner of the Yogi Tea Give away (based on a blind random drawing) : Tracy Lane!  Congratulations!  You will soon be enjoying the soothing benefits of Yogi tea.

With Valentine's Day quickly approaching, it's time for a sweet treat for Recipe Box Wednesday.

Lately I have been craving Red Velvet.  I never did get around to making the cupcakes I promised myself on my blogiversary, but at Super Target's bakery last week I spied Red Velvet sandwich cookies!  Oh my, they were yummy.  So I have been searching for a red velvet cookie recipe, and found one from Paula Deen.

One of the nice things about internet recipes is they often have reviews, which can make a good recipe even better.   Here is the recipe, and I have made the adjustments to it that I found in the most helpful reviews.

RED VELVET SANDWICH COOKIES

Ingredients


1 1/3 cups + 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tablespoons buttermilk

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon red food coloring



For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 stick butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time. Then beat in the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and red food coloring. Once combined, add the dry ingredients to wet. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Onto a parchment lined sheet tray, drop batter using a Tablespoon or small ice cream scoop, forming 1-inch round circles.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, until baked through. Cookies should be cake-like and light. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.

Spread the cream cheese frosting between 2 cooled cookies.

I plan to give these a shot this weekend, for Valentine's Day!  I even found this lovely photo on the web to share, my goal is to have mine look this good.  If you don't want to start from scratch, the recipe that accompanied the photo below starts with a cake mix, and can be found on http://www.orangetruffle.com/
 

 
If you make either of them, let me know what you think!