Description
These Red Velvet Valentine’s Day Bear Cookies are adorable, chewy, and infused with rich cocoa flavor and vibrant red color. Perfect for a festive treat, these cookies are decorated with melted white and dark chocolate to create charming bear faces, making them a delightful gift or dessert for Valentine’s Day. The recipe includes a resting phase to hydrate the flour, resulting in a tender texture, and offers vegan adaptation tips for dietary preferences.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup (180 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 tbsp (14 g) cocoa powder, sifted
- ½ tsp (2 g) baking soda
- ½ tsp (2 g) baking powder
- ½ tsp (3 g) salt
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (55 g) light or dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 tsp (4 g) vanilla extract
- 1 tsp (5 g) white vinegar
- 1 large egg (about 50 g)
- red food coloring, amount to desired intensity
Decoration for Face
- 1 tbsp (15 g) melted milk or dark chocolate
- 3 tbsp (44.36 g) melted white chocolate
- oil-based food coloring (pink/red), for coloring white chocolate
Instructions
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients – flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt – until combined evenly.
- Cream Wet Ingredients: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer/whisk), mix melted and cooled butter with granulated and brown sugars on medium speed until fully combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Add Wet Flavorings: Add vanilla extract, white vinegar, egg, and red food coloring to the butter-sugar mixture. Mix again until smooth and uniform in color.
- Combine Wet and Dry: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir just until combined. Add more red food coloring if a deeper color is desired.
- Chill Dough: Cover the dough and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. This resting allows the flour to hydrate and the butter to firm up, resulting in a chewier cookie and easier handling.
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Trays: Set your oven to 325°F (163°C). Line two baking trays with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Shape Cookies: Use a small cookie scoop (approx. 1 ½ tablespoons) to form cookie dough balls. Place about 16 dough balls on the trays spaced about 3 inches apart. For the bear ears, split about 1 teaspoon of dough into two equal parts, roll them into small balls, and place them on top of each larger dough ball.
- Bake Cookies: Bake in the preheated oven for 9-11 minutes or until the edges are set and centers still appear slightly puffy. Slight underbaking yields chewier cookies.
- Cool Cookies: Allow cookies to cool on the baking tray for 5-10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Decorate Bear Faces: Using a piping bag, toothpick, or cookie scribe, decorate the cookies. Draw the snouts and ears with melted white chocolate, tinting some with pink or red oil-based food coloring for blush. If chocolate seizes when adding color, stir in neutral oil tablespoon by tablespoon until smooth. Use melted milk or dark chocolate to pipe eyes and noses.
- Enjoy: Serve or store the finished cookies. They keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
Notes
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week to maintain freshness.
- To make vegan, replace butter with a high-quality vegan butter and use vegan chocolate. Omit the egg and if the dough is too crumbly, gradually add 1-4 tablespoons of plant-based milk until the dough is thick but scoopable.
- Use oil-based food coloring for tinting chocolate to avoid seizing; if chocolate does seize, add neutral oil gradually to smooth it out.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 130 kcal
- Sugar: 10 g
- Sodium: 110 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 25 mg
