Red Hot Cookies are deliciously soft and chewy and are made with basic sugar cookie ingredients. Mixed into these cookies are crushed cinnamon candies.

Red hot cookies stacked with a scoop of red hot candies next to the stack.

Red Hot Sugar Cookies

These cookies are made with those flavorful spicy cinnamon candies. These cookies have the soft and chewy texture and buttery flavor of sugar cookies but a pleasant crunch with the crushed red hot candies. These cookies are great for Valentine's Day and they're easy to make for the occasion!

Ingredients in Red Hot Sugar Cookies

The ingredients for these cookies are everyday simple ingredients. The list below is everything you need for this recipe. Make sure to check out the recipe card for the ingredients with their amounts as well as the baking time!

All-purpose flour - spooned & leveled
Baking Powder
Salt
Unsalted Butter - softened butter is easier to work with!
Egg
Vanilla Extract
Red Hot Candies - or cinnamon candy equivalent, finely crushed
Cornstarch - Cornstarch is used to puff up the cookies.

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How to Make Red Hot Cookies

This is a basic sugar cookie recipe with the fun mix-ins of crushed red hot cookies. Sugar cookies tend to spread so this recipe does require a chilling time of at least an hour.

It's worth the wait, though! These cookies come out puffy, tender, and chewy. Chilling cookie dough is a great way to give your cookies a lift and not flat.

To make these sugar cookies with red hot candies, the first step is to work with room temperature (softened) ingredients. The ingredients will blend together easily and this prevents the dough from being overworked.

The first step to making these red hot cookies is to cream the softened butter and the granulated sugar together until it is smooth and creamy. Once the mixture is creamy, beat in the egg and vanilla extract until it is light and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, the spooned & leveled all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and cornstarch are mixed together.

Once the dry ingredients are mixed together it is then beat into the wet ingredients until a soft cookie dough is formed.

Crushed cinnamon candies are then added to the cookie dough. To crush the candies easily, add them to a food processor and pulse them until the candies are finely crushed. You don't want whole or huge chunks of candies in your dough as it will be harder to chew and the texture will be off.

If you are using a hand mixer, once the ingredients come together it may be necessary to work the dough with your hands to get soft pliable cookie dough.

Chilling time is required for this recipe and to make things easier, scoop the cookie dough using a #40 cookie scoop (1.6 tbsp) and roll into balls. Roll the balls into granulated sugar and place them in the refrigerator to chill for one hour.

Skipping the chill time for these cookies will result in cookie spread!

Once the chilling time is up, place the cookies on a cookie sheet lined with either parchment paper or a silpat for easy removal.

Once the cookies are baked, sprinkle a little more crushed red hot candies if desired. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes before moving them to a wire cooling rack.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Easy No Chill M&M Candies Cookies

Side view of red hot cookies on wire rack.

What's Needed to Make Red Hot Cookies

Here are some accessories that make cooking baking easier! These accessories aren't just a great help for these cookies but for when making all cookies and baked goods.

📖 Recipe

Red Hot Cookies

Name: Red Hot Cookies
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 11 min
Total time: 1 h 21 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened; 3/4 cup granulated sugar; 1 egg; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled; 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 2 teaspoon cornstarch; 1/4 cup red hot candies, crushed; granulated sugar, for rolling

Red Hot Cookies are deliciously soft and chewy and are made with basic sugar cookie ingredients. Mixed into these cookies are crushed cinnamon candies.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 11 minutes

Chilling Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 21 minutes

Ingredients

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cup all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon cornstarch
¼ cup red hot candies, crushed
granulated sugar, for rolling

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°
Cream together the unsalted butter and the granulated sugar until creamy.
Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract until combined well.
In a separate bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, and cornstarch.
Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
Using a food processor, finely crush the cinnamon candies and add to the cookie dough mixture. (Reserve some crushed candies to top cookies hot out of the oven if desired.)
Roll into 2 inch balls (using a #40 cookie scoop is easier) and roll into a plate of granulated sugar.
Place the cookie dough balls in the refrigerator for 1 hour before removing and baking.
Place the chilled cookie dough balls onto a silpat or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 11 to 13 minutes.
Remove from the oven and flatten slightly with the back of a spoon.
Sprinkle with the reserved crushed candies if desired.
Store in an airtight container.