Red Velvet Cookie Cups Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir Cookie Cup ingredients until soft dough forms. Shape into 36 (1 1/4-inch) balls (about 1 tablespoon each); place in ungreased mini muffin cups.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set when lightly touched in center. Cool in pan 5 minutes; press indentation into center of each with end of wooden spoon, cleaning off end with paper towel when needed. Remove from pan to cooling rack; cool completely.
• Meanwhile, in medium bowl, beat cream cheese, 2 tablespoons butter and the vanilla with electric mixer on low speed about 1 minute or until well combined. Slowly add powdered sugar, beating on low speed until well blended. Increase speed to medium; beat 1 minute.
• Spoon filling into resealable food-storage plastic bag. Snip off corner of bag. Gently insert cut corner of bag into indentation in each cookie cup. Squeeze bag to fill opening, about 2 teaspoons per cookie cup. Store covered in refrigerator.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a medium bowl with an electric mixer), cream the butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Reduce the speed to low, and add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add the food coloring and vanilla, and mix until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, sea salt and baking soda. Add half the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in the mixing bowl, draping a kitchen towel over the mixer and bowl to contain the flour cloud if desired, and mix well. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Pour the confectioners' sugar into a shallow bowl. Scoop the dough into heaping 2-tablespoon scoops (about 30 grams each) and roll into balls. Roll the dough balls in the confectioners' sugar until thickly coated all over. (You shouldn't be able to see any of the dough peeking through.)
• Transfer to the prepared baking sheets, leaving at least 2 inches of space between each cookie to allow room for the cookies to spread. Spoon the remaining confectioners' sugar from the shallow bowl into a sifter, and sift the sugar generously over the cookies until they are well covered. You want a solid layer, about 1/8-inch thick, of sugar on top for maximum crinkle effect. (If the cookies are not thickly coated, the sugar will simply be absorbed into the dough during baking.)
• Transfer the cookies to the oven, one sheet at a time, and bake until the cookies are set and the surface is crackly, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool completely on the baking sheet.