Hershey’s Kiss Cookies

Yum

It’s a tradition almost as old as Christmas– making classic Hershey’s Kiss Christmas cookies, AKA Peanut Blossoms.  I can remember even as a child helping to make these cookies with my Mom in the kitchen– and feeling so important that I got the special job of unwrapping (and stealing!) the little chocolate kisses.

The recipe that I have always used is on a handwritten recipe card that I copied from my Mom, who copied it from her mom.  The current recipe on Hershey’s website differs from this one, so I can only assume that they have “healthied up” the old classic. But don’t worry– this is the good one. 😉

What are we waiting for?  Let’s do this!

Hershey’s Kiss Cookies

(Recipe originally from Hershey)

Ingredients:

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 eggs, room temperature

1/4 cup whole milk

2 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 (10 oz.) packages Hershey’s Kisses

Directions:

Cream together softened butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Beat in peanut butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla.  Mix in baking soda and salt, and then slowly add flour until combined.  Roll tsp. sized balls of dough in sugar and bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes, just until slightly golden on the edges.  Remove from oven and immediately press a kiss into each. Allow to rest for several minutes before removing cookies to cooling racks to finish cooling.

Now, in pictures! 🙂

Now my darlings let’s see how well you pay attention to my cookie sermons on here.  What do I ALWAYS say?  *cups hand to ear.

“Cold Ingredients are the Enemy of Good Cookies.”

Yesssss. You’re so smart. I love working with you.  When your butter and eggs are cold . . . your cookies will be like a frigid relative at a party– tiny and scrunched in the corner with a frown, clutching a small plate of crudites.  HOWEVER.  Cookies that are made with room temperature butter and eggs will be warm, welcoming, and beautiful.  Well, something like that.

I get my cold ingredients out of the fridge about 1/2 hour before I plan to bake. That way, by the time I have doled out goldfish crackers, signed for a UPS delivery and wondered why the heck they wear shorts in the winter, answered a robo call from the school to remind me to turn in fundraiser money, and changed the baby’s diaper, washed my hands, and then refilled the juice cups . . . my ingredients are ready to go.

Use your mixer to cream together your (room temperature!  yay!) butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

Next mix in your creamy peanut butter, milk, eggs (also room temperature!), and vanilla until well mixed.  I like to stop the mixer halfway through mixing and scrape down the sides of the bowl. That will make sure that all the ingredients are playing nice and getting along. 😉

Mix in your baking soda and salt, and then slowly mix in the all purpose flour.  Now here’s the fun part.

1.  Get the kids to unwrap the kisses.  Make sure you salvage at least a few from hungry mouths.  😉
2. Get yourself a teaspoon cookie scoop.  You want your “dough balls” to be a just little bit bigger than a grape. This will seem way small, but if you want those perfect little cookies, you don’t need too much dough.
3. When you portion out your teaspoons of cookie dough, roll the dough balls in sugar and place them on a silpat lined baking sheet.

Bake your cookies at 375 for 10-12 minutes, just until they are set and golden brown on the edges.  Use an oven thermometer to make sure that your oven isn’t lying to you.  Because let me tell you . . . 350 will make the cookies spread.  Don’t ask me how I know this.

When your cookies are finished baking, take the cookie sheets out of the oven and immediately press a kiss into the center of each one.  Let the cookies rest a few minutes before moving them to cooling racks and letting them finish cooling.

Of course, there’s no law against taking one cookie, warm from the oven, and eating it while the chocolate is melted and ooey gooey.  Pour yourself a nice big cup of milk and enjoy the fruits of your labor.  Laugh with your kids and congratulate yourself on starting the Christmas cookie making tradition all over again.

You did it. And I’m just so proud of you.

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