24 Red Velvet Recipes, Because There’s No Such Thing as Too Much Cream Cheese Frosting

When Valentine’s Day (or any old date night) rolls around, we lean on the elegant crowd-pleaser that is red velvet cake. But is this iconic confection nothing more than red-dyed chocolate cake? The answer is no: It’s much less chocolatey than say, devil’s food cake, since it typically only gets a few tablespoons of cocoa powder for flavor. It also tends to have a notable tang, thanks to the addition of vinegar and/or buttermilk. And of course, it wouldn’t be red velvet cake without a few vibrant drops of red food coloring and a decadent layer of cream cheese frosting. Read on for 24 red velvet recipes that prove there’s no shortage of ways to indulge in the timeless dessert.

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1. Red Velvet Cake

Before we get to other creative riffs, let’s start with the O.G. We love this traditional recipe because it calls for both white vinegar and buttermilk.

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2. Easy Red Velvet Pancakes

Dessert for breakfast? Don’t mind if we do. These come together in a flash, thanks to boxed red velvet cake mix. As delightful as these flapjacks are, don’t get it twisted: The four-ingredient cream cheese icing is the real star.

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3. Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

The light-as-air filling is truly revelatory. It contains tangy cream cheese and rich butter, but Marshmallow Fluff is the secret to its nostalgic sweetness.

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4. Red Velvet Lava Cakes

Just the finale for your date night menu. The recipe makes two tiny cakes, so you won’t have to worry about testing your willpower around leftovers.

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5. Red Velvet Cocktail

Cake-flavored vodka is a thing. A sweet, glorious thing. Grenadine takes over for red food dye on the color front.

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6. Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies

We’re betting Santa Claus will be blown away when he finds these snow-topped delights by the tree.

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7. Red Velvet Cheesecake

A fraction of the frosting, ten times the tang. Chocolate cream sandwich cookies in the crust also up the cocoa-laced ante.

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8. Red Velvet Oreo Brownies

You won’t find any cream cheese in these handhelds. Instead, they’re topped with cookies-and-cream frosting and thick chocolate ganache.

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9. Red Velvet Donuts

Wow everyone at brunch with these baked, sprinkle-clad beauties. Feel free to top them with drizzles of both basic glaze and chocolate icing.

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10. Red Velvet Macarons

Yup, we’ll be gifting these to everyone on our Christmas list. Roll the outsides of the macarons in mini chocolate chips for extra crunch.

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11. Deep, Dark and Rosy Red Velvet Cupcakes

A few dashes of rose water in the cream cheese frosting and bittersweet chocolate cupcakes gives the dessert a fragrant, floral makeover.

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12. Oreo Red Velvet Ice Cream

Don’t feel like using red food coloring? Freeze-dried raspberries will offer both tart, fruity flavor and a pink hue to the ice cream.

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13. Nutella-Stuffed Red Velvet Cookies

Fact: Nutella makes *everything* better, and these gooey cookies are no exception. We wouldn’t blame you for going double duty with a smear of cream cheese frosting.

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14. Red Velvet Seven Layer Bars

A red velvet cookie crust meets heaps of condensed milk, shredded coconut, two types of chocolate chips and chopped pecans.

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15. Gluten-Free Red Velvet Cake

The cake natural color is made possible by beet purée and powder. Chalk the gluten-free recipe up to ivory teff (a mild grain), sweet rice and oat flours.

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16. Red Velvet Cake Smoothie

The healthiest red velvet cake of all time, in liquid form. We’re talking bananas, beets, dates and a generous amount of cocoa powder.

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17. Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

These marbled stunners require less than an hour of your time. We’ll be eating our brownie warm with a scoop of chocolate ice cream, thank you very much.

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18. Red Velvet Thumbprints with Marshmallow Frosting

We have a feeling your kids are going to love licking the marshmallowy crowns off these cookies, just as much as they’ll like poking their thumbs into the dough.

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19. Red Velvet Marble Cake

Swirls of cream cheese-spiked vanilla cake and red-dyed chocolate cake make a delectable base for tangy cream cheese glaze.

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20. Red Velvet Cookies

You know those soft-baked supermarket cookies dressed in an uber-thick layer of frosting that are impossible to quit? These 30-minute gems taste just like that.

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21. 3-Ingredient Red Velvet Truffles

You won’t even have to turn on the stove to pull off these poppables—just melt the white chocolate coating in the microwave.

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22. Gooey Red Velvet S’mores Bars

A pile of melty toasted marshmallows tastes good on just about everything. But on a brownie with a graham cracker crust? That’s plain divine.

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23. Cream Cheese Stuffed Red Velvet Cookies

Instead of topping the cookies with cream cheese frosting, the tangy pièce de résistance is baked into them.

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24. Red Velvet Cake Hot Chocolate

Psst: There’s a surprise at the bottom of every mug, so start sipping. (OK, we’ll spill: It’s a round of freshly baked red velvet cake.)

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