Red Velvet Thumbprint Cookies with Cream Cheese

These festive cookies combine rich red velvet flavor with creamy cream cheese centers. Rolled in holiday sprinkles for a perfect Christmas cookie.

Let me share these showstopping red velvet cookies that always steal the spotlight at holiday parties! Imagine soft red velvet cookies filled with creamy cheesecake goodness and rolled in sparkly sugar. I perfected this recipe after lots of testing and now they’re my most requested Christmas cookie. Plus that cream cheese filling? Pure heaven!

Why These Are Special

These aren’t your regular thumbprint cookies they combine two classics red velvet cake and cheesecake in one perfect bite! The cookies stay soft like little cakes and that tangy cream cheese filling balances out the sweetness just right. Best part? They look fancy but they’re actually pretty simple to make even beginners can nail these.

Round Up These Ingredients

For The Cookies:
Soft butter real unsalted stuff
Regular sugar for sweetness
On fresh egg room temp works best
Good vanilla the real deal
Red gel food color for that perfect hue
Regular flour nothing fancy
Cocoa powder unsweetened please
Baking basics soda and salt
For That Amazing Filling:
Cream cheese nice and soft
Powdered sugar sifted no lumps
More vanilla because why not
The Sparkly Finish:
Holiday sanding sugar red and green make them festive!

Let’s Start Baking

Make That Dough: Beat your butter and sugar until it’s super fluffy takes about 3 minutes. Mix in egg vanilla and that red food color until it’s bright and beautiful. Sift in those dry ingredients mix just until they come together.
Chill Time: Wrap up that dough pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes. Makes it way easier to handle trust me!
Filling Magic: While that’s chilling mix up your cream cheese filling. Just blend everything until it’s smooth and creamy stick it in the fridge too.
Shape Em Up: Roll dough into balls coat them in that sparkly sugar. Press your thumb in each one making a perfect little nest for the filling.
Bake Time: 350°F for about 11 minutes edges should be set but centers still soft. Let them cool a bit before filling those thumbprints with cream cheese goodness.