Preheat the oven to 375 for at least 15 minutes. Melt 5 TB butter or margarine and let it cool. Stir it into one box of dry red-velvet cake mix. I prefer Duncan Hines brand but it probably doesn't matter. Be sure that the butter's cooled a bit before you add 2 eggs and the zest of one lemon or orange. The batter will be very stiff so use a strong arm and a strong spoon to be sure all the dry mix is incorporated.
In a small bowl combine 1/2 c. powdered sugar and 1 tsp cornstarch and use a fork to mix it really well. Now, about the red hands.....
Helpful hint: use plastic medical or food-grade thin gloves to roll the dough...the mix isn't intended by the manufacturer to be handled and there's lots of red food coloring in it that you won't want to wear on your hands for a day or two. Spraying your hands with Pam might help but just did not completely prevent the staining for me.
Wearing the gloves -- or not -- spray the palms of the gloves very lightly with Pam and roll the dough into balls. The original recipe said it makes "24 small". If you want tea-party-sized, one-bite cookies, go for it and you may have 24. I always make mine larger, and only get about 12-15 cookies. That's why I always double the recipe to end up with about 3 dozen average-sized cookies.
Drop each ball in the bowl of sugar mix* and coat them well before placing on an ungreased cookie sheet to bake. The time is dependent upon the size. For those teeny ones, figure about 9 minutes, and maybe 11 or 12 for the biggest ones. Take them out when they are almost solid but still at the point when you question the center's condition just a bit...is it time or not?... take them out. Leave them on the sheet for about a minute to settle slightly, then remove to racks or newspaper to cool completely. They freeze well and stay soft in sealed containers or baggies. The powdered sugar stays on better when there's a layer of plastic or parchment between them.
* If you double the recipe, you won't need to double the sugar mixture.
