Red Velvet Chocolate Chunk Cookies

5 from 6 votes

Made without artificial food dye, these incredibly soft and delicious Red Velvet Chocolate Chunk Cookies are made with beet puree and cocoa powder.

Prep Time20

Cook Time9

Total Time29

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: cookies

Preheat oven to 400° F.
To make the beet puree, wrap the whole beet tightly in foil and cook in oven for at least an hour until soft. When cool enough to handle, remove skins. Combine with the minimum amount of buttermilk in blender to create a smooth puree.
In small bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
In the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attached, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until well blended. Add beet puree and vanilla; mix well and then scrape sides. Mix in egg, mixing well. Add flour mixture, and beat slowly to incorporate, then faster to blend well. Stir in chocolate chunks.
Drop batter in 2-tablespoon portions about 2 inches apart onto lined baking sheets.
Bake in preheated oven until edges of cookies are brown, about 9 minutes.
Let cookies cool on pan about 5 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks with a spatula. Serve warm or cool. Store in airtight container, or freeze for longer storage.

Cooking tips and recipe notes:

My standard cookies are rich and chewy. The addition of the beet puree makes these much more cake like.
It might be difficult to tell if they're done because of the deep, rich color. 9 minutes in the preheated oven when using a metal baking sheet and a silpat liner was perfect.
Because the cookies are so soft when you take them out of the oven, be sure to allow them to sit on the hot baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Never over crowd your cookies - give them room to expand.
Use two baking sheets if you want to speed up the baking process since they have to sit on the sheet once you take them out of the oven.