Red Velvet Snowballs
2½ cups flour or 2½ cups ATK flour + ½ & 1/8 tsp xanthan gum or 1½ cups Bob’s Red Mill GF flour + 1 cup Trader Joe’s GF flour + ½ & 1/8 tsp xanthan gum
¼ cup GF cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp kosher salt
¾ cup unsalted butter
1½ cup powdered sugar or 1½ cup sugar free 1:1 powdered sugar (like Swerve)
1 tbsp red food coloring
1 tsp GF vanilla
1 tsp white vinegar
½-1 cup powdered sugar or ½-1 cup sugar free 1:1 powdered sugar substitute (like Swerve) to roll cookies in
Whisk together flour, xanthan gum, cocoa, baking powder & salt.
Beat butter & 1½ cup powdered sugar on medium speed until smooth, about 1-2 minutes.
Turn mixer to low speed & gradually add flour mixture, beat just until incorporated, about 1-2 minutes.
Add food coloring, vanilla, & vinegar at low speed until mixed in.
Increase to medium speed & beat until crumbly & holds together when pinched, about 15-20 seconds.
Shape into balls (about 1 heaping tbsp) & place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Freeze for 10 minutes.
Bake at 350° for 14-16 minutes (may take up to 20 minutes. The bottom can get pretty brown, so I place the baking sheet inside another baking sheet, which seems to help. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if the inside is done, so I just break one in half to check.
Cool baking sheet on wire rack for 5 minutes.
Roll warm cookies in powdered sugar or sugar free powdered sugar substitute until coated. Return to baking sheet to cool. Roll again in powdered sugar after completely cool.
Notes:
If you are a fan of red velvet cake, you will probably like these cookies! They don’t taste exactly the same as the cake, but very similar.
I use Hershey’s cocoa powder. It doesn’t say GF on the container, but their website says it is GF.
If you have not worked with red food coloring before, here’s a couple tips. It stains everything! Fingers, some counter tops, plastic utensils, clothes, etc. To avoid splatter, mix it into the dough by hand or use the lowest speed on your mixer, until it gets blended in.
These cookies hold their shape & don’t spread, so you can put them pretty close together on the baking sheet.