There is nothing better than the combination of chocolate and peppermint flavors in these chocolate peppermint kiss cookies at the beginning of the holiday season. Soft rich chocolate cookies topped with Hershey's peppermint kisses make them the perfect Christmas cookies.
Let's stop and talk about these peppermint kisses for a minute. If you haven't tried these sweet Hershey's candy cane kisses yet, you should. They are creamy white chocolate with little specks of candy canes in them.
When I first saw them I thought they would be overwhelming with peppermint flavor. Boy was I wrong, they have the perfect amount.
I knew right away they would be the perfect match to go with chocolate and it had to be a cookie recipe. Another delicious cookie recipe you may want to try is these raspberry jam thumbprint cookies.
About These Cookies
Since chocolate and peppermint flavors go together like peanut butter and jelly to me. What better way to enjoy both of these flavors together than making chocolate thumbprint cookies and then placing Hershey's candy cane kisses in the center of each cookie.
These chocolate thumbprint cookies are made with simple ingredients that you more than likely have in your pantry. The cookie dough balls are rolled into sugar to give the outside of the cookie a bit of crunch.
In this post, I'll run through helpful tips and tricks that will help you make this recipe. You can find the printable recipe card with measurements, instructions, and nutritional information at the bottom of this post.
How To Make
In a separate bowl combine the all purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together. I like to shift the dry ingredients together to remove any lumps there might be in the flour and cocoa.
Since this cookie dough is a bit thicker of dough, I have found that my stand mixer with the paddle attachment works best. A hand mixer will also work, you may have to mix some of the flour mixture in by hand.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, I start out by beating room temperature butter until it's light and fluffy. Then I add in white sugar and brown sugar until these are combined. Using softened butter will help to incorporate the sugars better.
Into the sugar mixture adding one large egg at a time will help to make sure the eggs are combined well. I use vanilla extract but you could use peppermint extract for more peppermint flavor to these cookies.
Into the wet ingredients slowly start to add the flour mixture until all is combined. From time to time stop the mixer. And scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula so all the ingredients are incorporated.
To shape these peppermint kiss chocolate cookies I use a small cookie scoop. As I scoop the dough out I press the cookie scoop to the side of the bowl to pack the dough into the scoop.
Then I roll the cookie dough ball in between my hands to help form a smooth tight ball. This part you can skip, I like to roll the dough balls into sugar. This gives the chocolate peppermint kiss cookies a bit of crunch on the outside. You could also replace the white sugar with powdered sugar.
Tips
When it comes to baking cookies I find baking in the middle of the oven is best, as well as one baking sheet at a time. This will help the heat flow around the cookie sheet and create an even bake.
Although these are thumbprint cookies, mine are flatter than typical thumbprint cookies. This is because I bake them for 12 minutes and then place the peppermint kiss in the center of the cookies. And allow them to cool completely on a wire rack or parchment paper.
If you want a fluffier looking cookie bake for 8-10 minutes until they are slightly underdone. Then place a peppermint kiss on each cookie and allow them to cool completely on the cookie sheet. The cookies will continue to bake from the heat of the baking sheet.
You will want to press Hersey's candy cane kisses into the cookies while they are still warm. This way the peppermint kiss will melt into the cookie and then harden as the cookie cools. Before I start to make these cookies I will unwrap all the kisses and place them into a small bowl. That way I don't have to worry about the cookies cooling before I get the kisses in.
The best way to store these Chocolate peppermint kiss cookies is in an airtight container. They will last about a week in the airtight container. You can also freeze these cookies for up to 3 months.
It's that time of year when we are thinking about cookies for the cookie exchanges. These peppermint kiss chocolate cookies would be a great recipe to add to that cookie exchange plate or to Santa's plate.
More fun Holiday treat recipes that you may want to enjoy this Holiday season are:
Chocolate Peppermint Kiss Cookies
Rich buttery chocolate cookies with a Hersey peppermint kiss in the center of each cookie.
Ingredients
- 2 ½ Cups All Purpose Flour
- ¾ Cup Unsweetened Cocoa
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Cup Butter
- 1 Cup White Sugar
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar firmly packed
- 2 Large Eggs
- 2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 49 White Chocolate Peppermint Kisses unwrapped
- ½ Cup Sugar for rolling dough balls in
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 ℉
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Sift into a medium bowl the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
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In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars together until fluffy.
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Add one egg in at a time, mixing until combined. Add in the vanilla extract.
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Slowly add the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Adding a little at a time until all the flour is added and all ingredients are combined.
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Scoop dough out using a 1 inch cookie scoop.
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Roll the cookie dough into balls and then roll the balls into the sugar.
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Place cookie balls on a prepared cookie sheet spaced out 1 ½ inches apart.
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Bake in the preheated 350 ℉ for 12 minutes.
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Remove from oven and place a peppermint kiss on top of each cookie.
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Allow to cool on a wire cooling rack.
Recipe Notes
For fluffier looking cookies bake for 8-10 minutes so they are slightly underdone. Press peppermint kiss in the center of cookies, then allow to cool completely on the cookie sheet.
Nutritional information on this website is provided as a courtesy and for your convenience only. In addition to the USDA Food Composition Database, other online calculators are used to gather nutrition data.
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