Happy Juneteenth! What a wonderful day to celebrate! The abolishing of slavery in the United States.  I must admit that one good thing that came out of this pandemic for me, was having the time to read more and become more aware of what is happening not just in my back yard but around the world.  Although predominantly, June 19th is celebrated in the US, it is also celebrated in other countries. In reading I learned that red is a symbolic color for the celebration as it is “a symbol for ingenuity and resilience in bondage” (NYT). But it also symbolizes the blood shed by African slaves in their capture and treatment. The pan-African flag for Juneteenth also contains green – for prosperity, and black, for it’s soil.  There were a lot of recipes not only on sites where this one came from but others as well.  This is a cookie recipe that keeps the theme. It is a Red Velvet cookie with white chocolate chips. The original came from a site called “Dish it with Tisha”. Tisha started her blog in 2018 (check it out “dishitwithtisha.com”) and I only discovered her blog through a publication in Food 52.

This is a simple easy to do recipe – my favorite kind! I always think cooking/baking should be fun and not be considered a chore. This recipe lives up to that. Simple instructions, everyday ingredients! I didn’t achieve the brilliant red in my cookies in the original recipe. I use gel dyes and the quantity makes a difference (duh). I know this and while the recipe called for 1 tbsp, I used a half and resulted in the color shown below. Still my heart is in this recipe so for all intents and purposes – consider it red please.  

Before we all get back to normal, and living gets in the way of us forging a life, let’s not forget about the George Floyd’s or the 215 bodies of children found in a massive grave site at an Indigenous Residential schools (much closer to home). Okay – I’m off my soap box! Make these delicious cookies to have on their own, with a coffee and with the allowable number of friends we are allowed to have at this stage. Make anything “red” today and celebrate!  Wear a mask, wash your hands, get vaccinated and above all be safe. As always – enjoy!

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
2 tbsp buttermilk or yogurt or sour cream
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
2 tbsp espresso powder
1/4 cup coco powder
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsps vanilla extract
1 tbsp red food coloring – start with less than the quantity specified and adjust the color
1 large egg
¼ cup citrus sugar (or plain sugar) 
½ cup light brown sugar
White chocolate – chopped to make 1 ½ cups worth (it’s chocolate, live a little – it’s okay if you are over)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350f and line a couple of cookie sheets with parchment – set aside
In a small bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, salt, and baking soda – set aside
In another small bowl or measuring cup, whisk the food coloring, egg, buttermilk and extract – set aside
In a medium sized bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars
Add the egg mixture and flour mixture to the bowl and mix until well incorporated – scrape down the bowl as necessary
Add ¾ of the white chocolate pieces and mix until well incorporated with the dough
Using a tablespoon or scoop, portion out the dough – I used a tablespoon (give or take) to scoop out portions of dough – I got about 27 cookies from the batch
Press the dough balls into the remaining chocolate pieces, place on a baking tray and flatten slightly using your impeccably clean fingers/palm
Bake for 12 minutes rotating the pans at 6 minutes – depending on how big/small you make the cookies, don’t forget to adjust the time up or down. If the cookie can move without breaking up when you test it, it is done. This yields a delicious soft cookie with a slightly crunchy exterior – YUM!!!

Suggestions and/or changes
If you prefer, use chopped dark chocolate or even a combination
Use sliced almonds instead of chocolate
Instead of scooping the dough into balls, I rolled it into a log and cut about 1” pieces – the dough is wonderfully thick and will let you do that without refrigeration between making and baking