Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies

 You know it's going to be a wonderful Valentine's Day when these beauties show up at the front desk of your internship. The ladies in reception called and left me a message on my work cell phone and told me that I had a package and it "needed to be picked up today, if at all possible". I knew something was fishy, because I hadn't given any of my work information to people who'd be shipping something to me. So, I was wondering if I might be getting something special. And I was right!

A dozen beautiful roses, in a beautiful mix of colors. I was pretty happy and I got so many jealous looks and comments from others in the office. I love that my man keeps me on toes with all sorts of surprises and ways to show me that he loves me. He sure knows how to make a gal feel like a million bucks!

So, we spent a nice Valentine's evening snuggled up on the couch with an assortment of French cheeses and a baguette, while watching Real Steel. Perfect little night for us. And I've been watching my roses bloom bigger and fuller each day this week. I love it. 

So what other special thing did I do to celebrate Valentine's day/week? I made some scrumptious Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies. It was a bit of a laborious process, but well worth every second as these are what I believe the BEST cookies I've ever had. I'm not kidding. I love me some red velvet and I love me some cheesecake, so naturally these are my dream cookies. I'm confident you will love them too. Make them as soon as possible, you haven't a moment to lose!

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies
(adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod)

Ingredients:
For the cookies:
1 box red velvet cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)

2 tbs. all-purpose flour

2 large eggs

1/2 cup canola oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the cheesecake filling:

4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the white chocolate drizzle:

1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips, melted
1 tsp. canola oil

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together cake mix, flour, eggs, oil, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap. The dough will be oily. Refrigerate for at least two hours.
2. To make the cheesecake filling, using a mixer, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Using a teaspoon, scoop out cheesecake filling and place on a wax paper lined sheet pan. Continue scooping out cheesecake filling into teaspoon balls until you have 12. Place pan in the freezer and freeze for at least two hours (overnight if you can).
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. To assemble the cookies, take about 1/4 cup of red velvet cookie dough and flatten in your hands. Place a teaspoon of cheesecake filling in the center and wrap the cookie dough around the filling. Gently roll into a ball and place on greased baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the cookies begin to crackle. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Remove from baking sheet to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.
4. Melt the white chocolate chips and oil in a microwave safe bowl or over a double-boiler. Drizzle the white chocolate over the cooled cookies. Let the cookies set until the chocolate hardens. Serve and enjoy!

Notes:
- These cookies are large and will spread, so make sure to give them plenty of space to do so on your baking sheets (I put about 4 cookies on each pan). 
-Depending on the humidity of where you live (thank you Florida) you may have to add a bit more flour to the cookie dough mixture so the dough is not too soft. I'd say a tbs. or more should do the trick.
-As these cookies are super soft, it's best to store them in the refrigerator.