Red Velvet Cheeseball Food

RED VELVET CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Make the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix the cookie crumbs, melted butter, sugar and salt in a bowl. Press into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Put the pan on a baking sheet and bake until set, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely.
• Make the filling: Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until smooth, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the flour, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Transfer 2 cups batter to a bowl; stir in the cocoa powder and food coloring. Pour the red batter into the crust, then pour the white batter on top. Using a spoon, pull some of the red batter up from the bottom of the cake and swirl. Bake until the edges are set but the center is still wobbly, about 1 hour, 20 minutes.
• Turn off the oven but keep the cake inside to cool, 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan (don't remove the springform side), then transfer to a rack to cool. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before slicing.

CHEESECAKE-STUFFED RED VELVET COOKIES

Steps:

• Make the filling: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Beat the cream cheese, granulated sugar, sour cream and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the filling at a time onto the parchment so that you have 12 dollops. Freeze until solid, about 2 hours.
• Make the cookies: Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Whisk together the granulated sugar, butter, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla and eggs in another bowl. Fold the flour mixture into the sugar mixture with a rubber spatula until smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes (it will still be soft).
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Coat your hands generously with confectioners' sugar and scoop a heaping tablespoon of the cookie dough into your hand. Put one of the frozen cream cheese dollops in the middle of the dough and place another tablespoon of the dough on top of the cream cheese. Shape the dough around it to completely enclose the cream cheese, and then roll to coat in the confectioners' sugar. Repeat with the remaining dough and cream cheese, coating your hands in confectioners' sugar as needed.
• Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake until the cookies are firm around the edges and can be easily lifted with a spatula, 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the trays for 10 minutes, and then transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

RED VELVET CHEESEBALL

Steps:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add in the red velvet cake mix, the brown sugar and the powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and combined.
• Turn the mixture out onto a piece of plastic wrap.
• Wrap up into a ball and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
• Put the chocolate chips on a plate or in a shallow dish. Remove the cheese ball from the refrigerator and unwrap. Roll in the chocolate chips. (This might get messy!)
• Place on a serving plate and serve with cookies or graham crackers.

RED VELVET CHEESEBALL

Steps:

• Mix together first 4 ingredients.
• Roll into a ball using plastic wrap; let set in fridge for 1 hour.
• Remove wrap from cheeseball, and roll in mini chocolate chips.
• Serve with vanilla wafers or graham crackers.