Red Hot Cookies: these Valentine’s Day Cookies start with a soft chewy sugar cookie that is loaded with crushed Red Hot Candies to create a speckled appearance.
As y’all know, I am a big fan of Valentine’s Day. Well really, to be fair, I am just a fan of all holidays.
I am not a fan of Valentine’s Day in the traditional sense of big romantic gestures and expensive gifts.
But I am a fan in the way of adorable themed desserts, surprise boxes of candy and a little gift for our Valentines – the kiddos.
And that is exactly where these adorable Red Hot Cookies come in!
We have a few little Valentine’s Day traditions around our house.
The girls always help me pack up their valentines for their classmates and teachers the night before.
And Valentine’s Day morning always starts with pancakes topped with whip cream and heart sprinkles for the girls.
If Jorge is home (he travels a lot for work), we usually make a nice dinner at home that night with a good dessert.
And after we get the kids in bed, I get to pick the rom-com we watch in bed in our pajamas.
Usually I fall back on a classic, either Sweet Home Alabama or The Proposal.
The base for these Red Hot Cookies is a soft and chewy sugar cookie that is perfect filled with just about anything.
Leave it as is, load it with sprinkles or add chopped up candies – like red hots.
Then, like any good homemade crinkle cookie, we roll the dough around in powdered sugar before baking.
The finished cookie is adorably speckled with festive red hot candies creating a fun Valentine’s Day cookie.
If you want to double down on the cinnamon flavor in these Red Hot Crinkle cookies, you can add a little cinnamon extract.
I made them both ways, exactly as shown in the recipe and with added cinnamon extract.
I preferred them best without the cinnamon extract, but they are definitely good both ways!
You can also double the amount of crushed red hots, if you really want to taste mainly red hots.
One of the best parts of making these cookies? Anger management.
To crush the red hots, you place them in a ziplock bag and go to town with a rolling pin.
The girls got a massive kick out of slamming down the rolling pin on those poor little red hots.
I’m not sure which one my girls love more, getting to break things or eating cookies. 😉
These Red Hot Cookies are the perfect combination of sweet chewy sugar cookie and spicy red hot bites.
They are the perfect Valentine’s Day Cookies start with their adorable red speckled appearance.
Make sure and leave a review below if you try them!
Red Hot Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ cup Red Hots, crushed
- ½ cup powdered sugar
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla extract, mixing until combined. Add flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time, mixing until completely combined. Stir in crushed red hots until evenly distributed (either by hand or with the stand mixer).
- Place powdered sugar in a medium-sized bowl. Roll one heaping tablespoon of dough into a ball and coat in powdered sugar. Place on prepared baking sheet, leaving about 1-inch for spreading.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, until centers are set. The cookies will not look browned or cooked, but they are (they will finish cooking while cooling on the cookie sheet).
- Remove from oven and let cookies rest on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
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Just found this recipe and it sounds delicious. As I was looking over the recipe I noticed that the cookie balls were rolled in powdered sugar. That sounds good too. I may just try rolling the balls in a cinnamon and sugar mixture like I do with my favorite Snickerdoodles. Or both, probably dusting the balls with the PS. ** Thanks for sharing this recipe. **
I would love the red hot cookie recipe. I can not g I t the web link to open
how do you get the recipe for red hot cookies?
Just below the video click on red hot sugar cookies. It will take you to the recipe
Can you use regular sugar and powdered sugar?
I am NOT a fan of Valentine’s Day….so much sadness for me in the month of February. My mom was a huge fan of red hots, and because of her, we always had them around. In her memory, I will make these ❤ It will be 1 year the day after Valentine’s that we lost her….thank you, Jessica, for this recipe.
I’m so sorry for your loss Terry, sending so much love your way. Hopefully these cookies will help you feel a little closer to her that day. ❤
Thank you for your kind words, Jessica ❤
What a creative cookie! I have to try them out!
Looks heavenly! I’m literally drooling over this goodness, really love to try this!
I would love to make these for my family. Can you suggest a gluten free substitute? Would the measurement be the same?
These cookies are absolutely amazing! So craving these!
Oh yeah, I’m all about these red hot cookies!
My oldest loves anything that’s hot! I’ve never heard of these before and can’t wait to surprise him with them!
These look like so much fun! I cannot wait to try !!
I love red hots! These are such a great, unexpected treat! So perfect for the holiday.
The link to the recipe for the Dixie Crystal webpage is broken. Here’s the link: https://www.dixiecyrstals.com/recipes/red-hot-cookies?utm_source=The%20Novice%20Chef&utm_medium=Blog%20%2B%20Social&utm_campaign=Red%20Hot%20Cookies
The link wasn’t broken for me, perhaps they’ve fixed it? However, I wish there was a print. Everytime I print one of Jessica’s recipes, it always messes up at the top. Does it do this to you also?