Stuffed Red Velvet Cookies

AKA Inside out Red Velvet Cookies!

I love oatmeal cookies, so when I saw these stuffed red velvet cookies from The Oatmeal Cookie Guy, I had to try them. I wanted to make something else in addition to the so called blondies I made for the bake sale. These were perfect since it was a Go Red theme and Valentine’s day was just around the corner. Let me tell you, these cookies had rave reviews! I seriously am my own worse critic. I thought they weren’t that great until I heard from my coworkers how great they were.

I started out rolling and stuffing the dough like the original post states (link below), then I changed it to the way I make my pb banana filled chocolate chip cookie. In the end the technique ended up being a mix of the two, where I flattened the top layer of the cookie on top and rolled it a little.

At first I read 3 teaspoons of food coloring, and I thought, fine, I have enough. However, the recipe calls for 3 Tablespoons! I also don’t have liquid food coloring in my pantry (except for black), so I used gel food coloring. I didn’t use as much as the recipe called for anyway. I could have used more, but I didn’t need it to be overly red. I followed the recipe exactly, and I thought it was a little dry, so next time, I will add more milk.

Also, there’s only one picture because I only have 2 hands, and they were tied while shaping the dough.

Stuffed Red Velvet Cookies
Source: The Oatmeal Cookie Blog
Yield: about 2 dozen cookies (I got 15…mine were a tad big - I used my cookie scoop)

Ingredients:
Filling:
6 ounces room-temperature cream cheese
1/3 heaping cup toasted, chopped pecans
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cookie batter:
1 stick butter
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
3 tablespoons red food coloring (I had gel food coloring, I used about 2 teaspoons)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon milk (I used fat free)
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
1 1/2 cups finely ground oatmeal
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Toast the pecans then roughly chop them. Grind the oatmeal in the food processor until fine.

2. Add all the filling ingredients to a small bowl and mix with a spatula until well blended. Let the mixture cool and solidify in the freezer until step 8.

3. Preheat oven to 350ºF.

4. In your Kitchen Aid or a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.

5. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, food coloring, vanilla, milk, and vinegar, then add to the butter mixture. Mix together until smooth.

6. In another large mixing bowl, combine the oatmeal, flour, baking soda, and salt. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the mixer. Mix until evenly combined.

7. Shape dough into balls—about 2 tablespoons each. (Make dough this size if you are stuffing the way the original post states – see link. Otherwise, dough balls at half that size will work with my technique.)

8. Remove the filling mixture from the freezer and stuff each dough ball with 1 teaspoon of the mixture. (To stuff, I flatten 1 tablespoon of dough. Spoon 1 teaspoon of filling on top of the dough. Place another flattened piece of dough on top, sealing any cracks.) Put the stuffed dough balls in the freezer for 5 minutes to firm up. (I put it in the fridge)

9. Place chilled dough balls about 2 inches apart on Silpat- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.

10. Bake at 350ºF for 10-12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are firm. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.

Store cookies in the fridge until serving. I stored it in my fridge overnight, took it to work and let it sit on the counter for people to take. When you take it right out of the fridge, it will be hard, but once out for a couple of minutes, it’s perfect.