Are you looking for an cookie recipe that combines a perfect crunch with melt-in-your-mouth flavor? These Peppermint Kiss Cookies are the best! Perfect size for enjoying a sweet dessert this holiday season.
If you're a fan of Christmas cookies, make sure to check out my Snow Globe Cookies as well. Be sure to find all my easy Cookie Recipes at one place. 
Now that holiday season is officially here, the time is now to start baking. These Shortbread Cookies are divine, and you don't want to miss out on my Favorite Christmas Cookies either.
If you got leftover Sugar Cookies, convert them into Cookie Truffles!
There's a very high possibility that I'll be eating my way through desserts daily from here on out.
Lets give thoughts of desserts a break for a second and check this Roasted Half Chicken recipe out! Enjoy a vibrant Grinch Dip post dinner!
Taste and Texture of these Kiss Cookies:
- Sweet and crunchy from sprinkles
- Minty and refreshing from Peppermint kisses
- Soft and Buttery cookie crumb
RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
You only require a handful of basic baking ingredients to make these cookies. I have incorporated Holiday Sprinkles and Kisses for Holiday Cheer and I suggest you do it too!
- Butter - Make sure that it's softened to room temperature. This is key to make a perfect cookie dough.
- Sugar - Adds just the right amount of sweetness to these cookies.
- Vanilla extract - A staple in any cookie recipe. Don't skip it, it adds a lot of flavor to these cookies.
- All-purpose flour - The binding agent for all ingredients.
- Nonpareil sprinkles - I use holiday colored sprinkles but any are fine. You can even skip the sprinkles if you aren't a fan. Sanding sugar would be a great substitution here as well.
- Hershey's Holiday Candy Cane Kisses - These are only available during the holiday months and are so good. (I always get an extra bag or two and put them in the freezer in case I want to make this recipe later, too!)
HOW TO MAKE CANDY CANE COOKIES
Preheat the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the kisses in the freezer to chill. Now get the sprinkles poured and ready in a bowl.
Beat wet ingredients together. Mix together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Use a hand/stand mixer to get it nice and creamy. Then add in eggs (one at a time), vanilla. salt and leavener and beat those in too.
Add flour. While mixing at a low speed, slowly add in the flour.
Make the cookie balls. Roll the cookie dough into 1-inch shape balls.
Place the sprinkled cookie dough balls on a lined cookie sheet. Pop the sheet in refrigerator for at least two hours.
Bake. Place the cookie sheet in oven and bake for 11-12 minutes in a pre-heated oven. Take out of oven and rest them for a minute or two. Then press down one of the candy cane kisses in the middle. Don't press too deeply, just enough so it sticks.
Let the cookies cool. Make sure to let the cookies stand for 5 minutes on the baking sheet to cool. Then cool them further down on a wire rack.
Chilling Cookie Dough:
If you realize that your dough is too sticky to handle, form mounds out of it. Pop them in freezer for about 10 minutes. Alternatively you can chill them in the fridge for 30-40 minutes, or until they are no longer sticky to touch.
Now make cookie balls, cover them in sprinkles and place them on a parchment lined baking tray. Chill the balls for at least 2 hours in refrigerator before baking.
If you wish to bake cookies the next day, chill the dough in a bowl overnight, covering it tightly. When ready to bake, take the dough out of refrigerator and let it rest on counter top for around ½ hour.
The dough will now be ready to handle. Make dough balls, roll them in sprinkles and quickly chill them in freezer as the oven pre-heats.
How do you keep Hershey's kisses from melting?
Freeze Kisses Candy as the cookies bake. Frozen candy won't melt on the cookies as they are cooling.
You can also cool your cookies in a cool environment to prevent kisses from melting. Stick baked tray of cookies in refrigerator/freezer as they cool. That way your kisses won't melt.
To keep these sprinkled holiday cookies fresh, you're going to want to keep them stored in an airtight container for later. They don't have to be kept in the fridge, either.
Why are my kiss cookies flat?
- Make sure you haven't added too little flour in the dough. Always measure your dough to keep the guess work out. A kitchen scale will be your best friend here undoubtedly!
- Cookie dough must be chilled enough to prevent spreading and flattening.
- After you have rolled your cookie in sprinkles, arrange cookies on baking tray and pop them in freezer till oven preheats. This will help cookies keep their shape and bake thick.
QUICK TIPS FOR BEST COOKIES:
- Make sure that you roll the dough into balls using your hands. You can scoop out the amount of dough with an ice cream scoop but then use your hands and roll them into a ball.
- Be patient and let these cookies cool down. Since they're hot, the adding the kisses to the center will melt them but they'll still hold their shape. You need to let them cool down all the way before moving them or the kisses will melt down and become messy.
Once the edges are starting to turn slightly light golden, this is your cue that the cookie are done. The cookies are then ready to be taken out of the oven.
I also notice that once you can start to smell the cookies, this is an indicator that they're very close to being done as well.
Absolutely! This is a simple way to use this cookie recipe all year long. There are so many fun flavors of Hershey's kisses that you can literally make a different tasting cookie anytime that you want.
Switch Christmas Sprinkles with other colors for different holidays. Or you can use Rainbow Non Pareils too!
MORE EASY DESSERT RECIPES:
If you liked this Holiday cookie recipe, give it a star review. Also, tell me in the comments below, how did this turn out for you! And don’t forget to share your creations with me on Instagram at #greedyeatsblog And lets be friends on Pinterest and Facebook too! 🙂
Recipe
Peppermint Kiss Cookies
Equipment
- Hand/stand Mixer
- Cookie Sheets
Ingredients
- 1 cup Butter (softened to room temp)
- 1 and ½ cups sugar
- 2 large Eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 3 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
To Decorate:
- ½ cup non pareil sprinkles
- 1 bag Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses
Instructions
- Prepare kisses and sprinkles. Place kisses in the freezer to firm them up and get super chilled. Also get the sprinkles poured and ready in a bowl.
- Beat wet ingredients. In a large mixing bowl using a stand mixer/hand mixer, beat together butter and sugar on medium speed until it gets light and fluffy. About 2 minutes. Now add eggs, one at a time and mix them well till combined. Add and mix in vanilla extract, salt and baking powder too.
- Add flour. While mixing at a low speed, slowly incorporate in the flour, one cup at a time. Add flour at low speed and increase speed between each addition. Mix till no flour is visible in the dough.
- Make the cookie balls. Using a cookie scoop, scoop dough into 1 inch mounds and roll into balls.
- Cover dough balls in sprinkles. Roll the cookie dough balls in sprinkles and make sure that they are covered entirely.
- Place the sprinkled dough balls on the cookie sheet. Make sure to line the sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat. Chill the dough balls in the refrigerator for about 2 hours. You can place balls around ½ inch apart while they are chilling.
- Bake in the oven. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350℉. Meanwhile take dough balls out of refrigerator and space them 2 inches apart so that cookies get enough room to spread while baking. Bake for 11-12 minutes. Take out of the oven and press down one of the candy cane kisses in the middle after a minute or two. Don't press too deeply, just enough so it sticks.
- Let the cookies cool. Make sure to let the cookies stand for 5 minutes on the baking sheet to cool. Once that time has passed, you can move them to a cooling rack. Let them cool down all the way and allow the kiss the set well before storing.
Notes
Storing Information:
To keep these sprinkled holiday cookies fresh, you're going to want to keep them stored in an airtight container for later. They don't have to be kept in the refrigerator.How do you keep Hershey's kisses from melting?
These two tips work best here-- Freeze your Hershey's kisses in the freezer unwrapped for about half an hour and then press them on slightly cooled cookies. It will prevent kisses from melting.
- After you put kisses on baked cookies, stick the cookies in freezer for a few minutes to prevent kisses from melting.
Thena Franssen
Wow! These are awesome. These are the best to make for the holiday season and I can't wait to try your recipe!
Abida
Amazing recipe associated with candy. I loved it. The recipe is really worthy of getting 5 stars
Kelly Bolen
OMG! These look and sound amazing! Pinning for later!
Blair Villanueva
OMG, these candy cane cookies look adorable! If these are now on my table, I would just stare at them until it melts! They are so beautiful just to eat. You did a good job.
Manali Oza
This is such a cute looking cookie, Perfect for Christmas. Loved this recipe. Keep on sharing more.
Dani Torr
I made these and added a teaspoon of baking powder since I was afraid that they would come out flat (I'm not much of a baker so I took preventative measures:) They turned out fantastic and yummy!!