As Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, many are baking delectable treats for the special occasion. Valentine’s Day is all about love, so these Cream Cheese Stuffed Red Velvet Cookies are a phenomenal way to show your admiration for someone. 

To make this delicious batch of cookies, you’ll need 1 and ⅔ cups of all-purpose flour, ¼ cup of unsweetened, natural cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, ¼ teaspoon of salt, and ½ cup of softened, unsalted butter. You will also need ½ cup of granulated sugar, ½ cup of packed, light or dark brown sugar, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of milk, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon of red food coloring. 4 ounces of cream cheese, 1 and ¾ cups of confectioners’ sugar, 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour, and ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract is all you need for the cream cheese filling. 

For the actual recipe, you first need to make the cookie dough. To do this, whisk the cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and flour all together. Then, using a large bowl and mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, and ½ cup of granulated sugar on high speed. You can do this for about 2 minutes or  until entirely creamy and smooth. After that, add in milk, the egg, and vanilla extract and beat again for 1 minute. Mix the dry ingredients and food coloring on low speed, and then cover the dough with plastic wrap for at least 1 and a half hours. Moving onto the filling, do the same process of mixing everything- confectioners’ sugar, cream cheese, flour, and vanilla extract- in a large bowl on high speed for 3 minutes. Freeze tiny teaspoons of the filling for the same amount of time as the dough. Going back to the cream cheese frozen spoonful’s, roll them into balls and freeze again. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare two baking sheets. With the cookie dough balls, place them onto the sheets and using your thumb, press into the middle of them to create an indentation. Then place the cream cheese balls into the indent and repeat with the rest.  Finally bake for 12-13 minutes and enjoy!

These cookies are not only useful as a gift but by baking it homemade, it is so much more meaningful, rather than buying them from a store. You can give these to a significant other, a friend, parents, grandparents, or anyone who is special to you.