Ingredients
Scale
- 1 & 1/2 cups (180g) all-purpose flour, spoon and leveled
- 1/4 cup (20g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon instant milk powder
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick / 115g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, or any neutral flavored oil
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed brown sugar, light or dark
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1 to 2 teaspoons red liquid-gel food coloring *see notes
- 3 ounces (85g) block cream cheese
- 6 tablespoons (90g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 & 1/2 cups (195g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, milk powder, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to combine. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine butter, oil, and brown and granulated sugars. Whisk together until smooth.
- Whisk in the egg and vanilla to combine. Add in vinegar and as much food coloring as you need to reach your desired color and mix to combine. The color is going to be VERY bright at this point and will deepen after you add the dry ingredients. You can see a photo in the post above what my cookie dough looked like with the food coloring added before and after mixing in the dry ingredients.
- Add the dry ingredients and fold together until you get a thick cookie dough. It will be quite sticky! Use a large (3 to 4 tablespoon) sized cookie scoop to scoop out large portions of dough onto your parchment lined baking sheets, leaving about 3 inches of space between each cookie on the sheet.
- Bake the cookies in the center of your preheated 350°F oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until puffed and spread out. The bottom edges should be a very light golden brown as well!
- Cool the cookies for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet. Transfer onto a wire rack and set aside to cool completely to room temperature before frosting.
- In a medium bowl, cream together cream cheese and butter until lump free and smooth.
- Add vanilla and powdered sugar and mix until smooth. If the frosting is too soft, pop it into the fridge for 30 to 60 minutes, or until firmed up to your desired consistency.
- Pipe or spread your frosting onto the cooled cookies. If you have a wonky looking cookie (usually from the last bit of cookie dough) crumble it up and sprinkle on top of the frosted cookies for added decoration!