From cookies to cupcakes to donuts, there are so many fantastic options. I’m pretty sure most people look to red velvet around Valentine’s Day, hoping to make something sweet and romantic. But these recipes are great year-round! The key to getting the right flavor profile is to use unsweetened cocoa and buttermilk. And when adding your food coloring, the gel kind works the best. It’s so much more concentrated, and you won’t need to use a lot. I like to make red velvet desserts not only for their fantastic flavor, but for their incredible color. These recipes make any dessert table shine and are such an easy way to impress. But enough talk because I know you’re hungry. Let’s dig into this list of 25 red velvet desserts, so you can start planning your grocery run.
1. Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
I just had to begin this list with the star of the show. Classic, gorgeous, tender, sweet, and swoon-worthy, everyone loves red velvet cake. There’s just no denying how effective the deep red looks with the clean white of the frosting. You can cover the whole cake or leave the edges naked, and it will look great no matter what. When making this cake, always use gel food coloring to prevent the texture of the batter from changing, and don’t try to substitute the buttermilk. You’ll need it for flavor and moisture!
2. The Best Red Velvet Bars
Once baked, this recipe is like a thick cookie mixed with a brownie. Plus, it’s red! What’s not to love? Starting with a boxed mix will keep your prep-time short, and you’ll be adjusting the extras to get that thick consistency. I love the white chocolate scattered throughout this recipe. To be sure it’s as good as possible, always use good quality chocolate. White chocolate especially can be finicky, and the cheaper stuff doesn’t melt quite right.
3. Red Velvet Waffles Recipe
So, I actually do make these on Valentine’s Day. They’re just too perfect not to! If you’re a fan of waffles, these will make a great addition to your breakfast routine. The recipe is similar to the cake recipe and calls for cocoa, buttermilk, and gel food coloring. You can whip up a batch in less than 15 minutes.
4. 4-Ingredient Red Velvet Swirl Fudge
This recipe is sweet, creamy, and the end result is just beautiful. The swirl of white through the red makes the whole thing pop. To get that great contrast, you’ll make two recipes. But it’s not as labor-intensive as it sounds. All you’ll need to do is have your two bowls of chocolate ready and divide the hot milk between the two. There’s no need to make two separate batches.
5. Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies
Given the mild cocoa notes, you’ll get from a good red velvet recipe, it’s not surprising that it pairs so well with chocolate. Though I love the look of white chocolate, there’s no denying the taste of real chocolate chips. As a bonus, using dark chocolate will enhance the cocoa in the dough to make the whole cookie taste richer.
6. Red Velvet Ice Cream Sandwiches
Looking for the perfect dessert for your next July 4th BBQ? Look no further. It’s not essential to make these into a star shape, but how could you not? I promise it’s worth the trip to the dollar store to buy the cookie cutter. Since you’ll need to roll these cookies relatively thin, I suggest putting the dough between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll it to your desired thickness, and then chill before cutting. If you want to save on time, you can run a pizza cutter along the dough to make the perfect little squares, and that way, you’ll have less leftover dough to have to re-roll.
7. Red Velvet Trifle
I’ve written a whole round-up singing the praises of trifle in all its shapes and flavors. If you’ve been afraid to try making it because you think it’s too complicated, check out that post! There are so many simple recipes to follow, and you won’t even need a big trifle dish. That being said, the beauty of a trifle is in its presentation, and they look simply stunning when presented in a tall glass bowl. Alternatively, you can make mini-trifles in mason jars. Back to the recipe at hand! Feel free to use your favorite red velvet cake recipe, but I won’t blame you for reaching for that boxed mix. Between that and the instant pudding, you can have this ready to serve in less than an hour. Although, if you really wanted to impress, you could make a batch of those red velvet cookies and scatter them across the top.
8. Red Velvet Cheesecake Swirl Brownies
There is not a word in that title I don’t like. Red velvet, and cheesecake, and a brownie? Where do we start? Of course, this won’t be like the typical fudge brownie you’re used to. But it will have the texture, which is the best part, anyway. And again, the contrast of the white cheesecake with the red velvet just makes me so happy. Color is so important in food, and these will draw everyone’s attention.
9. Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls
This is one recipe I used to make in the week leading up to Valentine’s Day when I worked in a bakery, and it was always a hit! They’re fluffy and have just enough chocolate flavor to complement the cinnamon. Plus, both red velvet and cinnamon rolls are best served with some kind of cream cheese frosting. Unfortunately, there’s no getting around the 9-hour prep time for this recipe. If you want a real, authentic cinnamon roll, your dough needs to rest.
10. Red Velvet Cookie Cake
When I was a kid, I used to always request a cookie cake for my birthday. As much as I love cake, there’s just something so hard to resist about a thick slice of cookie cake. Bring this to any gathering, and you’ll be the talk of the town for weeks to come. Be prepared to share the recipe! You’ll notice many of the ingredients are similar to a chocolate chip cookie, such as the mix of sugars and cornstarch to ensure you’ll get the softest crumb.
11. Red Velvet Skillet Cookie
I’ve been on a real skillet dessert kick recently, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. I’m firmly on the cast-iron bandwagon and may have a problem with ordering too many. I won’t tell if you won’t? Why do I love them so much? Well, they give you even heat, they’re naturally non-stick, they look fabulous, and you can throw them in the oven without a second thought. As for making cookies, they’re almost perfect. The cast-iron will distribute the heat across the whole cookie, baking it from the bottom and the top, leaving you with the perfect crispy edge while leaving the middle gooey and delicious. The only downside is, you’ll have to eat them right away, or they’ll continue to cook from the residual heat and lose the chewy texture. It’s a hard job, but someone’s gotta do it!
12. Red Velvet Ice Cream
I’ve seen recipes like this before that are essentially vanilla ice cream with a touch of cocoa and some red food coloring. Fine, but disappointing. I love this recipe because it starts with cheesecake-like ice cream, using cream cheese and sour cream to make the base. Once you have that chilled and in the ice cream maker, you’ll need some cake. I like to cut and freeze half of mine. After the ice cream is ready, fold through the iced red velvet cake, leaving the frozen chunks here and there while the rest mixes in perfectly.
13. Red Velvet Whoopie Pies
I like to think of whoopie pies as homegrown macarons. They’re both colorful, flavorful, and super cute, but these take a lot less practice! The cakey cookies are soft and tender but hold their shape so well. Just be sure to let the cakes cool completely before adding the frosting, or the pies will melt.
14. Red Velvet Hot Chocolate Recipe
This sweet and silky smooth drink is the perfect alternative to a cup of cocoa. Don’t get me wrong, I love hot chocolate. But after a few months of dark and cold, it’s nice to have something bright. Full disclosure: this recipe is sweet. It has lots of creamy white chocolate and some extra sugar for good measure.
15. Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
Crinkle cookies are some of my favorite recipes, especially when you make them with darker cookie doughs and get that fantastic white contrast. (I promise this is the last time I’ll talk about the contrasting colors!) The natural fractures in the dough when the cookies cook are so random and look so imperfectly perfect. Nobody has to know how easy it is to achieve!
16. Mini-Red Velvet Cheesecakes
This recipe uses a tender red velvet cookie base with just enough cheesecake filling to make this one sweet dessert. I like to make mini-cheesecakes in cupcake liners because it makes serving so easy. But another option would be to bake in a baking dish and slice into squares.
17. Red Velvet S’mores Bars
It might seem like a lot is going on here, but this recipe comes together in a snap if you use boxed mixes. The base is a full batch of fudge brownies. Some recipes will put graham crackers as the base, but I love that this recipe puts them in the middle. This lets them soak in some moisture and prevents them from becoming too hard.
18. Red Velvet Donuts
My love for donuts is no secret. Yes, the main reasons are the flavor and versatility. But it’s also how they look. I just think they’re the cutest dessert out there! Mini or large, glazed or frosted, nothing makes me smile like a display of donuts. Red velvet donuts are just one more example of why donuts are perfect. Between the moist crumb, cream cheese glaze, and crumbs on top, these are borderline dangerous to have around.
19. Red Velvet Seven-Layer Bars
How did I not know about red velvet Oreos? What rock have I been living under? Needless to say, I went to the store mid-sentence to buy a pack. This recipe is a red velvet lover’s dream. Between the Oreos, cake layer, and Dove chocolate, these are decadent. Oh, and there’s some chopped-up cupcakes in there too because, well, why not?
20. Red Velvet Cream Cheese Muffins
I usually make muffins as a quick little morning snack. Blueberry is my go-to, but banana chocolate chips are my favorite. I don’t care what anyone says; it has banana, and that makes it breakfast food. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be getting away with eating these for breakfast. They do make an excellent afternoon snack, though.
21. Red Velvet Cupcakes
If you’ve ever made red velvet from scratch and been disappointed in the taste or texture, I feel you. Some recipes just don’t work. This is not one of those recipes. By adding the butter to the dry and mixing it to a light crumb, you’ll avoid over-mixing the wet with the dry. The batter should be quick thick, and using an ice cream scoop is the cleanest way to fill your cupcake liners.
22. Red Velvet Popcorn
I’ve made a lot of popcorn over the years, but never red velvet. Surprisingly, it’s pretty darn easy. This would make a great recipe for popcorn pops. Once you have everything mixed, you’ll just need to work it around a paper straw and cover it with some plastic. They make great gifts. For the popcorn, all you’ll need is to mix ready-made popcorn with melted white chocolate and toss in red velvet cake crumbs. You can even let it dry and pour it into cute bags if you don’t want to handle it too much.
23. Easy Red Velvet Loaf Cake
Red velvet cake is typically made with buttercream, which practically guarantees a moist crumb. So it makes sense that you would use this fool-proof cake for a loaf. The recipe calls for plain flour, which is just all-purpose. The Brits use plain flour and self-raising flour, whereas we tend to stick with all-purpose. I think this would look even better with some chocolate shavings over the top.
24. Red Velvet Cake Truffles
I made these over the holidays and gave them as gifts to my partner’s family. They were such a hit; I had to make extra on Christmas day! Cake pops have been on the scene for a while now, and I never stopped making them. They’re easy, tasty, moist, last a while, and are so versatile. These look extra cute when you dip half in milk chocolate and half in white chocolate. Or, I like to just freeze my cake balls and then stripe them with lots of chocolate. It’s faster, less messy, and leaves a great texture.
25. Red Velvet Cake Pops Recipe
The key to making cake pops is to get the right ratio of cake to frosting. I like mine to be firm but super moist. The key to getting the best texture is to over-do it just a little with the frosting, scoop your portions with an ice cream scoop and then freeze them. You can roll them and dip them once they’ve hardened, and as they soften, they’ll already be covered in chocolate. Click on a star to rate it!
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