Hidden Candy Cane Kiss Cookies

One of my favourite holiday cookie recipes that I discovered last year was Recipe Girl’s Candy Cane Kiss Cookies – they look so cute with the red and white swirled Kiss in the middle, and the chopped up Kisses throughout the cookie give it an amazing peppermint flavour. This year, I decided to switch them up a little by hiding the Kiss inside the cookie. Though it hides the pretty swirls, it adds an element of surprise when you bite into the cookies and discover a delicious Candy Cane Kiss inside! 

These are the perfect holiday cookie because they’re nice and small, taste like a festive candy cane, and have a pretty sparkle from rolling them in sugar. I think I might like this version better than the original, mostly because they’re easier to make (because you don’t have to worry about the middle of the cookie baking all the way through, which I tend to have problems with) and they’re easier to store (without having to worry about the Kisses on top melting or breaking), but also because they’re just so different from the average cookie, and much more fun to eat!

I’ve already made these twice this season – once for Ryan’s coworkers and once for a cookie swap at school, which was today (though sadly, I overbaked them a little this time) – and I’ll probably make them again closer to Christmas!

Hidden Candy Cane Kiss Cookies

Adapted from Recipe Girl

Makes about 30 cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 a large egg (whisk one egg in a small bowl, then divide equally in half and only use one half)

3/4 cup icing sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup finely chopped Candy Cane Hershey's Kisses (about 10 Kisses)

~2 tablespoons granulated sugar

About 30 additional, unwrapped Candy Cane Kisses

*Note that you should only need to buy one 200g bag of Candy Cane Kisses for this recipe, as a bag contains about 45 Kisses and you need about 40 for this recipe.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine icing sugar, butter, vanilla, and egg. Beat at medium speed, scraping the bowl often, until creamy (about 2-3 minutes).

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the electric mixture in two additions, mixing well after each addition, until well blended. Stir in chopped Kisses.

Scoop about 1 tablespoon of dough and press a Candy Cane Kiss into the middle of the ball of dough, molding the dough around the Kiss so that it’s completely covered by the dough. Try to smooth out any lumps; if the cookie looks lumpy before baking, it will look lumpy after being baked! Repeat with remaining dough; you should end up with about 30 cookies.

Pour granulated sugar into a shallow bowl and gently roll each cookie in the sugar to coat. Place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes, then cool on a wire rack. To make things go quicker, I form 15 cookies first, put them in the oven, and while they’re baking I form the other 15 cookies.

I'm submitting these cookies to the Holiday Recipe Exchange. Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by OXO.