Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl using a whisk. Break up visible cocoa lumps so the dry mixture has an even color and the leaveners distribute throughout.

Cream the room-temperature butter with the granulated and brown sugars in a large mixer bowl at medium speed for about 2 minutes. Look for a creamy, slightly lighter mixture as beating incorporates air into the butter.

Work in the eggs individually, allowing each to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. The mixture should look cohesive rather than showing streaks of unbeaten egg.

Mix in the vanilla, lemon juice, and red gel food coloring. Check that the wet mixture has a uniform red color before proceeding.

With the mixer on low, add the dry mixture gradually and stop as soon as it incorporates, then blend in the milk briefly at low speed and fold in the white chocolate chips. The finished dough should be thick and soft, with no dry flour pockets and chips distributed throughout.

Cover the dough and refrigerate it for 2 hours. Chilling firms the butter and changes the soft dough into a scoopable consistency similar to firm fudge.

Heat the oven to 350°F and cover two baking sheets with parchment paper. The lined sheets provide a release surface for the delicate, sugar-coated cookies.

Put each rolling sugar in its own shallow bowl, lightly coat a medium cookie scoop with nonstick spray, and portion the dough into 1 1/2-inch balls weighing approximately 30 grams each. Consistent portions help the cookies spread and bake at a similar rate.

Coat each ball in granulated sugar first, then apply a generous powdered sugar coating and arrange the balls 2 inches apart on the prepared sheets. The outside should look chalky white, with enough space around each portion for expansion.

Bake for 12 minutes, turning the pans halfway through, and optionally tap the sheets sharply once or twice after baking to flatten the cookies slightly. Remove them when the tops have puffed and cracked and the edges have set, while the centers still look soft.

Leave the cookies on their baking sheets for 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack, then place them in an airtight container once completely cool. The brief sheet rest helps the soft cookies hold together during transfer, while complete cooling prevents trapped warmth from dampening the coating.