Chocolate Peppermint Kiss Cookies
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These peppermint kiss cookies are easy to make and the chocolate and peppermint combination is a holiday classic!
Can we just talk about these kisses for a minute? They are Hershey’s Holiday Candy Cane kisses and they are marvelous. I was skeptical at first, thinking they might be overly sweet. They are sweet but I was totally won over by the little crispy bits of peppermint candy in each bite.
Have you ever had those melt away mints that come in pastel colors with the little white “candies” on the bottoms of them? I’m sure they have a name; they are served at parties and weddings frequently. They’re totally addicting and these kisses taste just like them. I’m hooked. Pair them with a rich chocolate cookie and I’m a happy camper.
About These Cookies
I start with the same cookie base as chocolate cherry thumbprints because really, it is just that good, rich and chocolatey. It doesn’t take any fancy ingredients. It’s a pretty simple cookie which uses basic pantry ingredients.
Paired with the creamy deliciousness of the candy kisses–you’ll want to send these cookies away on gift platters to friends and family, just to get them out of the house.
If you’re a chocolate with mint fan, be sure to try these peppermint chocolate sugar cookies, too.
I’ll run through the recipe here and give you extra tips to help out. As always, you’ll find the printable recipe card near the bottom of the post with measurements, instructions, and nutrition information.
What You’ll Need
- All-Purpose Flour: I haven’t tested these with whole wheat flour but I’m pretty sure that would work too. It may be a bit heartier in flavor.
- Cocoa Powder: Unsweetened cocoa powder is found in the baking aisle of the grocery store. It is high in antioxidants. If it contains hard lumps, press it through a fine strainer before adding it to the flour mixture.
- Salt: Just a pinch of fine salt keeps the cookies from tasting flat.
- Unsalted Butter: Make sure the butter is softened, or at room temperature. If all you have is salted butter, omit the salt in the recipe.
- Sugar: Use regular granulated white sugar that is normally used for baking.
- Egg: You’ll need one large egg.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: To add flavor.
- Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses: Each 10 oz. bag contains 70-75 kisses. Depending on how large you make your cookies, you’ll need 40-45. The remaining kisses are a bonus for you to eat or share!
How To Make This Recipe
Begin by unwrapping the candies. If you have helper elves, this is a good job for little fingers. Expect a few candies to disappear though.
Get the oven preheating and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
Mix together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium sized bowl. In a larger bowl, combine the butter and 1 cup of the sugar. Save the other half cup to roll the cookie dough balls in.
When the butter and sugar mixture is fluffy and light, add the egg and vanilla extract. Beat until combined, then slowly add the flour mixture. Mix just until blended together.
Form balls of dough, about one inch in diameter, and roll the balls in the remaining sugar. The sugar will give the cookies a happy little sparkle. Bake the cookies until they look set but not moist, about eight minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and immediately press a candy kiss lightly into the center of each cookie. Don’t press too hard! There should be a cookie base under the candy.
Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet before transferring them to an airtight container.
Make It Your Own
Hershey’s Kisses come in lots of different flavors and all of them are great on this chocolate cookie base.
Storage Tips
Cookies will keep at room temperature as long as it is fairly cool for up to one week. They’ll keep in the freezer for at least one month.
Note about these Chocolate Peppermint Kiss Cookies
After some feedback that these did not turn out well, I re-tested the recipe a couple of different ways. They turn out perfectly for me the way they are written. They are not mushy and they don’t spread too much (they barely spread at all until you put the kiss in). They are a soft, brownie-like cookie.
The dough should be thick but easy to handle and not overly sticky. Make sure you note that the sugar is divided. One cup goes into the dough, and the remaining half cup is used for rolling.
I’m happy to answer any questions or troubleshoot if you contact me.
I did make one change in the recipe. In the original recipe, I added the kisses 5 minutes into the baking time and returned to the oven for another 3 minutes. Although this does work, the top of the kiss turns a light brown color. I like the appearance of the cookies better when the kisses are added at the end.
Make sure that you have the kisses unwrapped and ready to go so you can put them on top of the cookies immediately after they come out of the oven. Once the cookies have cooled and firmed up, it is difficult to add the candy kiss.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 pkg. (10 oz.) package Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses (with foil wrapping removed)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare baking sheets by lining with parchment paper or silicone sheets.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder and salt.
- Using an electric mixer and a large bowl (or a stand mixer), beat butter and 1 cup of sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Turn mixer to low and gradually add flour mixture until combined.
- Put the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar in a small bowl. Form dough into approximately 1-inch balls and then roll in sugar to coat. Place one inch apart on prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 8 minutes or until cookies are set but still look moist. Remove from the oven and lightly press in candy cane kisses into the center of each cookie.
- Cool completely on the cookie sheets on wire racks before removing to an airtight container to store.
Notes
- Make sure that you have the kisses unwrapped and ready to go so you can put them on top of the cookies immediately after they come out of the oven.
- Yield depends on size of cookies.
- If desired, substitute a different type of Hershey’s Kisses.
- Each 10 oz. bag of candy kisses contains 70-75 kisses (so you’ll have extra to eat!).
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Paige says
Wow!! I don’t usually comment, but with the few that they didn’t turn out for and their negative reviews, I almost did not try making these fabulous treats! They are especially yummy right out of the oven when the chocolate is melty. These will now be added to my must make for Christmas cookie recipe file! LOVE these!! :)
Rachel Gurk says
Ahh thank you! This recipe gives me such a headache every holiday season because it turns out perfectly every time I test it… but people still seem to have problems with it. I’m so happy it was a success for you! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review!
Anne says
Warning! Highly addictive. Yummmmmmy. Works perfectly except I also add kiss on top after cooled a bit as they melt too much. Doesn’t matter, still delicious.
Rachel Gurk says
So glad you liked them! They are super addictive!
Arianna says
Don’t try to roll them right after let them sit for a few minutes and I had to cook them for 11 minutes
Rachel Gurk says
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
Tanya says
Rachel,
These look divine. I am so excited to try them but concerned with such mixed reviews. People can be so harsh sometimes! Maybe if you post a video, others will have the same success you’ve been having and will be able to enjoy these decadent cookies. What is the consistency of the dough suppose to be like before rolling into balls. Thank you for taking the time to answer all the comments. You obviously do care and pay attention to the consumers.
Tanya
Rachel Gurk says
A video for this recipe is a great idea, thank you for the suggestion, and for the kind words. I really appreciate it. It drives me crazy that people don’t have 100% success with this recipe because I’ve tested it so many times and I cannot for the life of me figure out what’s going wrong for people.
Kate says
My whole family loved these. They’re really dense and moist, like a brownie. I prefer to wait a but before adding the kiss though- otherwise it melts a lot -which isn’t necessarily bad, it just looks different.
Will definitely make again! Question – do they freeze well?
Rachel Gurk says
I’m so glad you liked them! I’m not sure I’ve ever tried freezing these, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. They might get slightly more dry after thawing, but I think it should be okay.
Susan says
These cookies are easy to make and so good! They taste like a brownie with a soft peppermint on top. The recipe works exactly as written.
Rachel Gurk says
So glad you liked them and the recipe worked for you! I appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment!
Melissa says
Really amazing recipe. Not sure why so many had problems with it. I tried it with the candy cane Hersey and sugar cookie Hersey both a hit!! No baking soda needed. Thanks again for this treat
Rachel Gurk says
I’m so glad you liked them! This one is such a mystery to me too, I’ve tested them so many times and they always turn out great!
Katherine says
I made these cookies for the first time last night. The dough came together nicely and was easy to handle. I followed the cooking time exactly, and placed the kisses in the cookies immediately after taking them out of the oven. I did not have any issues with melting. The dough came out a little bit underdone, but that might because I used a little too much in each cookie. I thought I made 1 inch balls, but they may have been a little larger because the recipe yielded only 22 cookies. I am going to try again and make them slightly smaller. Overall a tasty cookie.
Rachel Gurk says
I’m glad you liked them! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. :)
Richard Yamaguchi says
Recipe didn’t work for us??!! I bake a lot and was very excited to try this for my coworkers and family… sad face !!@
Rachel Gurk says
I’ve tested this recipe so many times! I’m sorry it didn’t work for you…did you follow the recipe exactly as written?
Lisa says
Cookies came out just like in the pic. Not sure why there are so many people complaining about the recipe. Worked great for me.
Rachel Gurk says
I’m glad to hear they were a success for you! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
Abbie says
These did not turn out well for me—the kisses melted all over my cookies. I cannot imagine the original instruction to put back into the oven with the kiss!! Found another recipe that has you put the tray of cookies into the freezer immediately after setting the kiss on top so I am going to try these again using that method.
Rachel Gurk says
I hope it worked out for you! I make them as directed in the recipe and they turn out great but I know a lot of people have really different experiences with this recipe.
Nancy Hanna says
I loved this recipe! Everyone raved. The cookies are like little brownies. So good. Thanks!
Rachel Gurk says
I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment! Merry Christmas!
Rebecca Mosher says
Is the tablespoon of vanilla accurate in the recipe?
Rachel Gurk says
I love vanilla, but you can cut down to a teaspoon if you’d like!
Amanda says
I made these for our cookie exchange at work and they turned out absolutely delicious! *drooool* Thank you so much! I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out soft and chocolate-ie and minty :)
Rachel Gurk says
So glad to hear it! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
Baking Elf says
In the midst of Christmas cookie baking madness. Just mixed up a batch of these. Got the first try I the oven and realized I had not added leavening. Oops. Wait. Did the recipe call for leavening. No. What the? Ignored recipe. Added 1/2 t of baking soda and 1// t baking powder. All is well now. Then I went and had a look at the comments. Dude. Rachel. LISTEN TO YOUR READERS! This recipe needs work. Add leavening to it. Stop telling us your cookies come out perfect and everyone is making mistakes. And Happy Christmas :-)
Rachel Gurk says
Hi Baking Elf,
I am indeed listening to my readers…feedback from my readers is of utmost importance to me, which is what leads me to test these cookies every single year. I tested them four different ways this year (chilled, not chilled, rolled in sugar, not rolled in sugar. They DO turn out perfectly for me (as well as many of my readers), every single time! I love the fudgy texture of them without leavening but of course you are free to make them any way you’d like.
Brittany says
There’s plenty of positive reviews full of people who have had no issues. She’s tested them multiple ways. I’ve made these several times without any issues either and there’s a bunch of comments that say the same thing. The recipe is fine. She has listened to them because she’s tested the recipe in multiple different scenarios. If it failed for you it’s likely human error ♀️
Rachel Gurk says
Appreciate the support.