Description
These Candy Cane Kiss Cookies combine classic sugar cookie dough with festive peppermint flavor, coated in colorful sprinkles and topped with candy cane flavored Hershey’s Kisses. Perfect for holiday celebrations, these soft cookies are chilled before baking to maintain their shape and feature a delightful peppermint twist.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups + 1 Tablespoon (260g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- 10 Tablespoons (142g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
Coating and Topping
- 1/2 cup (about 90g) nonpareil sprinkles
- 32–36 candy cane flavor Hershey’s Kisses, unwrapped
Instructions
- Mix Dry Ingredients: Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl until combined. Set aside.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large bowl using a hand-held or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until creamy and combined, about 3 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract and beat until combined, about 1 minute, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Combine Dry and Wet Ingredients: Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until fully combined. The dough will be very thick.
- Form Dough Balls and Coat with Sprinkles: Roll dough into balls, about 1 scant Tablespoon each (about 20g). Roll each dough ball generously in the sprinkles. If sprinkles don’t stick, press dough balls into sprinkles on a plate or add 1 teaspoon water to dough to increase stickiness.
- Chill Dough Balls: Place sprinkled dough balls on a baking sheet or plate and chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to 1 day. Cover if chilling longer than 1 hour.
- Preheat Oven: Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C) while dough is chilling.
- Bake Cookies: Place chilled dough balls about 2 inches apart on lined baking sheets. Bake for 12 minutes or until edges appear set but centers still look slightly under-baked. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes.
- Set Candy Cane Kisses: Press a Hershey’s Kiss into the center of each cookie. Using a thin spatula, immediately transfer the cookies to plates gently and place them in the freezer for 10 minutes to quickly set the candy.
- Serve: Remove from freezer and serve. Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- You can prepare the dough balls coated in sprinkles and chill them up to 1 day before baking.
- Unbaked sprinkle-coated dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months; bake frozen dough balls adding 1 extra minute to baking time.
- Baked cookies also freeze well for up to 3 months.
- If you can’t find candy cane-flavored Hershey’s Kisses, regular chocolate or other flavored Kisses work as well.
- Peppermint extract can be omitted or replaced with almond extract for a classic sugar cookie flavor.
- Recommended sprinkles are nonpareils, sanding sugar, or regular jimmies-style sprinkles.
- For a chocolate variation, try rolling chocolate peppermint thumbprints dough balls in sugar or sprinkles and bake as directed.
- Use silicone baking mats or parchment paper on baking sheets to prevent sticking.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 120 kcal
- Sugar: 10 g
- Sodium: 60 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2.5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 15 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 1.2 g
- Cholesterol: 25 mg
