Description
Delight in these festive Candy Cane Kiss Cookies, featuring a soft peppermint-flavored dough coated in sugar and topped with a classic Hershey’s Candy Cane Kiss for the perfect holiday treat.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1¼ cup white sugar divided
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp peppermint extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tsp milk
- ½ cup crushed candy canes
Topping
- 28 Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses
Instructions
- Prepare Baking Sheets: Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside to ensure your cookies don’t stick during baking.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: Using a handheld mixer on medium-low speed, cream together the softened butter and 1 cup of white sugar until the mixture becomes fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Mix in the egg, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract, continuing to beat for another 1 minute until fully combined.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, stir together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt until evenly mixed.
- Mix Dough: Add the flour mixture, milk, and crushed candy canes to the wet ingredients and beat just until incorporated, approximately 30 seconds, to avoid overmixing.
- Form Cookie Balls: Scoop dough by tablespoonfuls and roll each into smooth balls using your hands.
- Coat with Sugar: Roll each cookie dough ball in the remaining ¼ cup of sugar to evenly coat the outside.
- Chill Dough: Place the coated cookie balls about 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets and refrigerate flat for 2 hours to chill and firm up before baking.
- Preheat Oven: While the dough chills, preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Bake Cookies: Bake the chilled cookies for 10 minutes or until the center is set and the edges are lightly golden.
- Add the Kiss Topping: Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes, then gently press an unwrapped Hershey’s Candy Cane Kiss into the center of each warm cookie to melt slightly.
Notes
- For crispier cookies, bake an additional 1-2 minutes but watch carefully to avoid burning.
- Store leftovers at room temperature in an airtight container to maintain freshness for up to 7 days.
- Crushing candy canes finely helps distribute the peppermint flavor evenly throughout the dough.
- If peppermint extract is unavailable, substitute with a small amount of vanilla extract and crushed peppermint candies for flavor.
