 I couldn’t fight it anymore. It’s almost Valentine’s Day and I just have the urge to make everything edible red, pink or heart-shaped. We are getting into the fun holiday season where we are supposed to make food festive!
This will be our third Valentine’s Day on this blog, and I am excited to share our very first Red Velvet recipe. I really wanted to try a red velvet recipe because I really wanted to try that old natural beet trick!
If I just turned you off, don’t go running yet. These cookies only contain a tiny bit of beet juice and a bit of natural red food coloring to help supplement. The thing with this recipe is that you can certainly use a lot of beet juice if that’s more your style. I added the option to please everyone! But if you are not as brave using beets, supplement with a natural red food dye and these will turn out fabulously!
I have a thing for cookie sandwiches because they are like chewy cupcakes! But are way easier to pack and store. Â A frosted center to bite into makes them so appealing! These cookies are for red velvet fans and healthy eaters alike – these are dairy free and naturally sweetened! Yet they still contain everything we love about them – a soft chocolate flavor and a delicious cream cheese frosting! Coconut butter added to the actual cookies makes them sweet, soft and totally divine. Enjoy!
Healthy Red Velvet Whoopie Pies  (dairy free option)
Print Recipe
Red Velvet Cookies:
3/4 cup Soy Free Earth Balance Butter or regular Organic Butter
1/2 cup Coconut Butter or Vegan Cream Cheese
1 1/3 cup Coconut Sugar
2 Large Organic Eggs plus 1 Egg Yoke
2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
2 cups Wheat Flour
1/2 cup Rice Flour
1/3 cup Cocoa Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
3 Tablespoons Water or Beet Juice
For Red Coloring: 1 teaspoon Beet Juice and 1 teaspoon Natural Red Food Coloring OR 2-3 teaspoons Natural Food Coloring
Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream together the earth balance butter and coconut butter until smooth and fully. Add in the coconut sugar and eggs. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, soda and salt. Add the dry to the wet in 2 batches and mix until it just comes together. Add the water and the beet juice/red food coloring. You can add as much food coloring as you would like until you reach your desired red color. The dough should look like a moist play-dough. If your dough is still a little too dry, add a bit more liquid.
Scoop out dough and place in a large piping bag. Pipe out big dollops of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet (about 1 tablespoon sizes) Gently press down to flatten. Bake for 6-8 minutes, but be careful not to over bake! Allow to cool completely before frosting with the following recipe:
“Cream Cheese” Frosting: Â (If you love a lot of frosting, definitely double this recipe!)
1/3 cup Coconut Butter, softened
1/3 cup Soy Free Earth Balance Butter, softened
1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
1 2/3 cups Powdered Xylitol
1 Tablespoon Agave Inulin or neutral fiber supplement or flour of choice
In a mixing bowl, beat the earth balance butter and coconut butter for at least 2 minutes until ingredients are well blended. Add all the other ingredients and beat until smooth and it all comes together. Make sure the xylitol is powdered well so it will be smooth just like powdered sugar. You can add a bit of almond milk to reach desired consistency. Pipe or spread onto cooled cookies and top with a second cookie. Store cookie sandwiches in an airtight container in a cool place.
Yields 18-24 cookie sandwiches
NOTE:
These cookies may use some expensive ingredients but they do not contain any artificial coloring, unhealthy fats, dairy or sugar! Real ingredients make for delicious tasting cookies that are also very filling! They puff up nice and big so one or two sandwiches is enough for a serving. Hope you enjoy!
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Yvette says
Hello, can I substitute butter for the earth balance butter, and stevia for the xylitol in the filling?
Natural Sweet Recipes says
Hi Yvette, yes, you can substitute regular butter. It depends on what type of stevia you’d like to substitute the xylitol for. The xylitol adds extra “bulk” to the frosting, so liquid stevia would not work. If you find another stevia product that also contains erythritol or xylitol, that would be okay. Thanks!
Cheri says
Can you tell me how many grams of sugar and calories are in these cookies? I love them so much, I’m finding myself eating a lot of them … so I should probably know.
Natural Sweet Recipes says
Hi Cheri, I’m really glad you’re enjoying these! Depending on how big your cookies are and how much frosting you like, for 1 cookie sandwich (2 cookies and frosting) here are the stats: 100 calories, 12 grams carbs, 1 gram fiber, 8 grams sugar, 2 grams protein and 6 grams fat.
Shannon says
Hi there. These are exactly what I’m looking to make for Valentine’s Day. Do you think i could sub the whole wheat flour with Gluten Free Flour to make these gluten-free?
Annie says
Hi Shannon, Sorry, we have not tried it! Are you thinking of using Bob’s GF flour? With the right binding agent measurements, it would probably work okay. You may need a little more flour as well. Good luck if you try it! Thanks! :)
Shannon says
thanks Annie, yes I think I’ll try it with Bob’s GF flour. thanks for the tip to add a bit more. and maybe add some xantham gum maybe? I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Susan says
These look so good! And are so festive looking – I’m totally in the mood for something red velvet now :)
Maryea {happy healthy mama} says
I’m kind of in love with this recipe and I haven’t even tried it. They are beautiful and I love the ingredient list.
Annie says
Thank you!!
Lindsey Cook says
Wow a healthy version to the heavenly classic, love it! Thank you from a fellow food blogger who doesn’t bake much ;)
Jessica @ Desserts with Benefits says
So adorable! I’ve wanted to make Red Velvet Whoopie Pies for so long now but never got around to it.
I was wondering, for the natural food dye, did you use India Tree?
Kelly- Strangely enough, I don’t think I’d mind food coloring from beetles… other countries around the world eat grasshoppers and … other stuff that I shouldn’t mention on a lovely dessert blog ;) I mean, extra protein right? Haha
Annie says
Thanks! Yes, we do use Indie Tree! Love them! And that’s funny you say that about the beetles and grasshoppers. In D.C. when the cicadas were abundant, we would see many recipes in the newspaper or local news for pancakes and brownies using them!! Hard to believe, but people really do enjoy recipes like that! :)
dina says
they look great!
Annie says
Thank you, Dina!
Kelly @ hidden fruits and veggies says
I’m not normally too interested in red velvet because there’s SO much artificial coloring (or creepy colorings from beetles). This definitely sounds like a red velvet I could get behind, especially when it’s in cookie sandwich form.
Annie says
Yes! I always avoid it! But the flavors are so fantastic together, I definitely needed to know a healthier version to enjoy. ;)
Sarah@WholeAndHeavenlyOven says
Yeah! These whoopie pies look incredible! I will admit that I have not been brave to experiment with beet juice—but I am very excited to try out natural food dyes! I will definitely have to try these whoopie pies out sometime! That cream cheese filling looks simply evil. In the best possible way of course! ;)
Cyd says
I have always love red velvet the best! Would vegan cream cheese work in place of the coconut butter in the cookies and/or the icing? I love coconut butter but I don’t always have it stocked but I always have cream cheese.
Annie says
Hi Cyd, vegan cream cheese will work great in the frosting. Do not add lemon juice to it if doing that. The cream cheese in the cookies will work well. You may not need as much liquid when mixing in the liquids at the end, but it is a great substitute. Good luck if you try it! :)
Lindsey @ DishingUpHope says
These looks GREAT! I actually love beet juice; it has a sweet flavor to it and is oh-so good for you!
Annie says
Thank you, Lindsey! I’m really glad to hear you love beet juice! You could definitely color these cookies with just juice then and love them! Not everyone loves the flavor, so I was nervous to totally try it all the way. :) Thanks for commenting.