Sinfully Good Red Velvet Cookies - 21 Days Til Valentine's Day

Greetings friends and neighbors.  I have been absent for a couple of days due to an AT&T issue that shut our internet and cable down.  Seems there was a server problem in Atlanta and it caused outages all throughout the southeastern United States.  If you think you are not dependent on the internet, think again.  I look up so many things in a day's time its unbelievable.  Then again, perhaps I spend way too much time on the world wide web.  How did I discover this?  By all of the things I accomplished here at home during the two days without service.  Perhaps it's time to reevaluate my minor addiction.

We are now 21 days away from Valentine's Day.  It is rolling up in a hurry don't you think?  Do you make things for your sweetheart, family or friends?  Or, do you just run out and grab some run of the mill manufactured card and maybe some candy or flowers?  I am not knocking your choice whatever it may be.  Thoughtfulness is the name of the game when it comes to the big red heart day.  If you start planning now, you can do something original or hand made which shows you put in just a little more thought or effort into expressing your love and appreciation for your special someones.  Perhaps you can make a special dinner, hand made card, or gift.

How about baking some lovely cookies that are devilishly delicious?  How about some sinfully good red velvet cookies?  Huh?  How about it?  These are divine and so easy to make.  This recipe came from Food.com.  Here is what you need:

1 8 ounce block of cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature (1 stick)
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 18 ounce box red velvet cake mix
confectioner's sugar for rolling and dusting

Directions:

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Beat in the egg.  Beat in the vanilla extract.  Add the cake mix and beat until thoroughly incorporated.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to firm up the mix so that you can roll the batter into balls.  

After the batter has chilled, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in confectioner's sugar.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 12 minutes.  The cookies should remain soft and gooey.  Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioner's sugar.

My thought was to add some white chocolate chips to the batter for a little extra something something.  Doesn't that sound just fine?   Either way, these cookies are sooooooo good and the beautiful red and white is perfect for Valentine's day.

(A little FYI, your hands will be very red from the food coloring in the batter after rolling all the balls.  Don't be alarmed, just scrub them really well with a good soap or dishwashing liquid.  It does come off and does not leave your hands stained.)

Now is the time to start your plans.  Aldi's still had some of their seasonal red velvet cake mixes today and I am partial to theirs, but there are other brands available.  You might want to make a test batch before the big day so you will get to eat some of them.   I'm just sayin'.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

"Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope."

-- Maya Angelou