Peppermint Hershey Kiss Blossom Cookies

Peppermint Hershey Kiss Christmas blossom cookies with cake mix or homeade are an easy treat to make for the holidays. These holiday thumbprint sugar cookies are a simple enough recipe for kids to make and perfect for

Christmas Blossom Cookies

We used to make peanut butter thumbprint cookies all the time. When it comes closer to the holidays we want all things that remind us of Santa though. SO we thought outside of the box, used that base and tweaked it for the end of the year flavors. They were a huge hit!

Get out a bowl of red and green sprinkles or crushed candy canes and let’s get “rolling”, literally and figuratively. The dark or chocolate kiss on top is just the beginning of the YUM y’all.

Ingredients

• Room temperature butter and sugar
• 2 c all purpose flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Peppermint extract, if that is the flavor of thumbprint cookie recipe you want
• 1/2 c sprinkles optional
• Hersheys kisses we used these peppermint ones

If you wanted a more subtle taste you could just add the extract into the dough, and use chocolate kisses. For a lactose free version use vegan butter product or margarine as the base instead, just skip the chips.

Your dough is going to look like this when it is incorporated. Just scrape the sides of the bowl to get it all out, waste is tragic.

Cake Mix Blossom Cookies

Instead of a homemade batter you can mix together our 3 Ingredient Cake Mix Cookies, refrigerate for an hour in the fridge to stiffen that up so it doesn’t spread so much when baked and use that!! Super easy way to get a similar result and an easy way to try multiple flavors for the base too.

As for what you roll the outside in there are more than I could mention. For the holidays a few great options though would be;

1. Crushed peppermint candies
2. Red and green sprinkles or colored granulated sugar

Chocolate Peppermint Blossom Cookies

You can make the base of these any flavor you like, these are vanilla. It is easier if you just use a stand mixer to incorporate all the things. If you have ever made peanut butter blossoms before, you make the dough balls the same way. Below is a shortbread cookies to decorate that is no fail, seriously.

You can of course skip the chocolate on top all together but then they wouldn’t be Hershey Kiss cookies now would they? Tweaking it for year round you can make the dough into peanut butter cookies with dark chocolate kisses on top too.

We always make these together in the kitchen as well as our 4 ingredient Crockpot peanut clusters. Those are also super cheap to create and everyone loves them!

I have a printable recipe card at the very bottom. You can keep it handy in your recipe box or just come back again and again. We would miss you if you grabbed it and went forever. 🙁

How to Make Peppermint Thumbprint Cookies

• Start off by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare your baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Using a hand or stand mixer, beat the butter and medium speed for 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides.
  • Add the sugar and continue beating for 5 to 7 minutes or until fluffy.  
• Mix in the extracts until combined. Add the flour and beat until mixed. Using a small tablespoon cookie scoop, portion the cookie dough and shape into balls with your hands.
• Roll each ball in the colored sugar if desired. Place on the cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the cookies are puffed and the edges are set.
• After removing the cookies from the oven, press one kiss into the center of each cookie. Transfer on to a wire rack and allow the cookies to cool completely.
• Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week or refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.

The chocolates will look like they are melting but do not touch them and they will get solid again in the correct shape as they cool. Let kids get involved in this last step. Have them unwrap each one (so you don’t have to do it) and in exchange they get to press each one in.

How to save leftover homemade cookies

You do want to keep these, and Christmas fudge, in a dry room temperature area, and not stacked on top of one another. Best way to do this is in a shallow container with a lid that snaps tight and is as air tight as possible. The more air you can keep out the better they will be. Don’t put into your fridge or they will dry out.

To add moisture you can actually put half of a piece of bread into that container. Believe it or not just sitting in there will keep the cookies moist a lot longer. They will stay tender 2-3 days. If you won’t finish them in that time you can freeze, but it isn’t as recommended as the texture will change when defrosted.

What’s the best way to freeze cookies?

For best results you want them to be completely cooled. Then use plastic wrap to wrap each one individually. Line an airtight container with foil or use a freezer bag to add them in in one layer, do not overlap.

They will freeze for up to 3 months this way. This way you can take one or two out at a time and thaw on the countertop. Just note that the kiss will likely change shape a bit when coming to temp and may be a bit white too if it gets a bit of freezer burn.