Food Recipes

Red Velvet & Green Tea Cheesecake Cookies

Red Velvet and Green Tea Cheesecake Cookies

Tis the season for holiday baking! The team at Fresh Direct was gracious enough to ask me to participate in their #FD12DaysofCookies campaign. Even though I don’t consider myself a baker, I wanted to come up with something really festive for my Christmas cookie entry, so I dreamed up these Red Velvet and Green Tea Cheesecake cookies. I attempted to make thick, gooey cookies in the style of Levain Bakery and followed Broma Bakery’s recipe for Levain Copycat cookies. I split the dough in half and turned one half into red velvet by adding cocoa powder and red food color, and turned the other half into green tea with matcha powder, mixing in white chocolate chips and then dolloping some cheesecake filling on the top of each cookie, with all of the ingredients sourced from Fresh Direct.

Overall the cookies turned out very tasty, though not as gooey as a typical Levain cookie as my white chocolate chips didn’t melt as expected (I think I may have taken the cookies out too early!), but the addition of the cheesecake filling definitely made up for the lack of melted chocolate by creating a creamy, tangy center. While this recipe used a lot of mixing bowls and a fair amount of arm strength (no standing mixer for me, so hello arm workout!) the effort was definitely worth being able to have these fun, festive, and delicious Christmas cookies. Happy baking and happy holidays!

Red Velvet & Green Tea Cheesecake Cookies

Prep Time:

Cook Time:

Red Velvet & Green Tea Cheesecake Cookies

These thick red velvet and green tea cookies are topped with cheesecake filling for an indulgent way to celebrate Christmas

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all purpose flour, divided
  • 1 tsp. baking powder, divided
  • 1/4 tsp. baking soda, divided
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt, divided
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 tbsp. cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp. red foor color
  • 1 1/2 tbsp. matcha green tea powder
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract, divided
  • 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 2 cups white chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. Line a large baking sheet with a silicon mat or parchment paper. Set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix together 1/2 of the flour, baking soda, powder, salt, and cocoa powder for your red velvet cookie dough. Set aside.
  3. Lightly beat 1 egg in a small bowl and add the red food color. Set aside.
  4. In another medium bowl, mix together 1/2 of the flour, baking soda, powder, salt, and matcha green tea powder for your green tea cookie dough. Set aside.
  5. Lightly beat 1 egg in a small bowl. Set aside.
  6. In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until it comes together in one lump, about 1 minute (you can also do this by hand). Add in the brown sugar and 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and beat for another 1-2 minutes, or until the sugar dissolves into the butter. Divide the butter mixture in half, and set aside half of the butter mixture in another medium bowl.
  7. Mix in the red-colored egg and a 1/2 tsp. of the vanilla with the butter mixture and beat until mixed (the batter will be lumpy). Gradually add in the cocoa powder-flour mixture to create your red velvet cookie dough, beating until a little flour remains. Fold in the white chocolate chips with a rubber spatula.
  8. Take the other half of the butter mixture and mix in the other egg and 1/2 tsp. of the vanilla with the butter mixture and beat until mixed (the batter will be lumpy). Gradually add in the matcha powder-flour mixture to create your green tea cookie dough, beating until a little flour remains. Fold in the white chocolate chips with a rubber spatula.
  9. Combine the softened cream cheese, remaining 1 tsp. of vanilla, and 1/4 cup of granulated sugar until smooth.
  10. Divide each set of dough into 6-10 even pieces, depending on how large you want your cookies. Shape the dough roughly into a ball, but do not roll it.
  11. Place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing at least 1 inch apart.
  12. Use your finger to make an indentation in the top of each cookie, and use a knife or piping bag to fill the each indentation with the cream cheese mixture.
  13. Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes but up to 12 hours before baking.
  14. Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake cookies for 18-22 minutes, until the outside of the cookies are hardened but the cookies are still soft inside. When in doubt, take your cookies out early. The cookies will continue to cook as they cool.

Notes

Adapted from Broma Bakery

If you make this recipe, I'd love to see the final product. Tag your photos on Instagram with #indulgentrecipes and @indulgenteats so I can see them!

https://indulgenteats.com/2015/12/23/red-velvet-green-tea-cheesecake-cookies/

Jen Balisi

Jen Balisi is a New Yorker turned expat, indulging in the best dining, home-cooked recipes, and travel destinations in Hong Kong and around the world.

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5 Comments

  1. […] What to Do: Get the full recipe on Moderate Indulgence. […]

  2. happyfeasting says:

    How many cookies did this recipe yield? They look delicious – I might make a batch of my own this week 🙂

    1. I was able to make 18 cookies. It really depends on how big you want the cookies to be! Just divide each set of dough evenly to the size you want.

      1. happyfeasting says:

        Thanks! 🙂

  3. […] year participating in FreshDirect‘s #12DayofCookies campaign (last year I made super festive red velvet and green tea cookies). This time around, I was inspired by this freezing cold weather to do a play on hot cocoa by […]

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