Chocolate Peppermint Kiss Cookies are perfect for the holidays season! They combine rich chocolate and peppermint flavors together, which makes them heavenly delicious! These cookies are crunchy from the outside, soft from the inside. They are decorated with beautiful creamy peppermint kisses in the center!
Chocolate Peppermint Kiss Cookies are easy to make and are a great option for a Christmas cookie exchange, holiday cookie gift boxes, Christmas goodie plates and cookie giveaways. But if you want to make them during other seasons, you’ll need to plan ahead and store some of those pretty Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses in your pantry. As these candy cane kisses are especially decorated for Christmas, thus, are sold only during the holiday’s period.
For other easy and simple cookie recipes, try my Chocolate Peppermint Cookies, festive Grinch Cookies, beautiful Stained Glass Cookies and these easy Marble Cookies!
Why This Recipe Works
- Easy – this is an easy cookie recipe which makes it a perfect activity to do with children.
- Simple – all ingredients required for this recipe are simple, which you can find in any pantry. The only thing that you’ll probably need to buy is the Hershey Kisses.
- Chocolatey – who doesn’t love rich double chocolate cookies?! For this recipe you’ll need unsweetened cacao powder and melted chocolate chips to get the rich chocolaty flavor!
- Festive – the cookies will get you in the holiday spirit as soon as you start baking them and the combo chocolate and peppermint flavors start to blend. Simply amazing!
Ingredients for Chocolate Peppermint Kiss Cookies
Here’s what you need to make these tasty cookies:
- Dry ingredients: All purpose flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt.
- Butter: Use unsalted softened butter for this recipe.
- Sugar: Use granulated sugar and brown sugar to get the desired soft texture of these cookies.
- Egg: Use an egg that’s at room temperature. As this will allow it to incorporate better in the cookie dough.
- Vanilla: Use a good quality pure vanilla extract. It can also be substituted with peppermint extract if you prefer.
- Semi sweet chocolate chips and Candy Cane Kisses.
How To Make Chocolate Peppermint Kiss Cookies
- Prep your oven: Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Line sheet pans with silicone liners or parchment paper.
- Mix the dry: Start by sifting the flour, baking powder, cacao powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
- Mix the wet: In a separate large bowl, using a mixer, cream together the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy – about 2 minutes on medium-high speed. Then, add the egg and vanilla extract. Mix just until smooth and combined.
- Add the chocolate: Melt the chocolate chips and add to the wet ingredients. Beat until well combined.
- Make the dough: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Beat on low just until no large lumps of dry ingredients remain.
- Scoop and Roll: Scoop out dough using a small cookie scoop and roll using your palms to create even balls. Then, roll each ball in granulated sugar and place on the parchment lined baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.
- Bake: Bake for 9 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through the cooking time. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 3-5 minutes on the baking tray.
- Add Kisses: Unwrap the Candy Cane Kisses. Press one peppermint chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie. This will make the cookie crack a little, but that’s totally fine. Allow to cool completely then serve this deliciousness. Enjoy!
Tips For Making Chocolate Peppermint Kiss Cookies
- Vanilla extract can be substituted with peppermint extract. But make sure to use peppermint and not mint extract.
- Chocolate chips can be substituted with chocolate chunks.
- You can find Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses only during the holiday’s season. So if you wish to make this recipe during other seasons, you need to plan ahead and buy a few bags of candy cane kisses to store in your pantry.
- If cookie dough gets warm while rolling it into cookie dough balls, it’s better to chill the dough before continuing working with it.
- Using a cookie scoop ensures uniform cookies every time you make them.
- Feel free to add any of your favorite additions to the cookie dough, such as hazelnuts, walnuts, espresso or coffee powder.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can store the cookies after allowing them to cool on a cooling rack to room temperature. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
You can safely freeze cooked cookies after letting them cool completely. Put them in freezer-safe bags or containers for up to 2 months. Thaw them out at room temperature and enjoy!
Alternatively, you can freeze the dough after scooping them into balls and placing on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Like this they will be ready to bake. Let them freeze for half an hour before transferring them to a freezer safe bag or containers.
You can freeze them up to 2 months. Bake as usual, but add a few additional minutes to the total baking time.
Recommended Tools
Here’s what I use and recommend to bake these amazing cookies:
- Sheet pan or baking sheet: I use half size Nordicware sheet to bake cookies and roast veggies. They are durable and never rust. They allow food to cook evenly and are easy to clean.
- Stand mixer: I’ve been using this KitchenAid hand mixer for many years now and I’d recommend it as a reliable kitchen equipment. It has 9 speeds and a soft start feature to help preventing ingredients from splattering.
- Silicone spatula: this is my favorite spatula that I always use.
- Mixing bowls: I love using these Pyrex glass bowls. They are transparent which allows you to see through all the ingredients and how they’re being mixed. The bowls come in different sizes and nest one into another to save space.
- A cookie scoop: I use this cookie scoop to ensure uniform cookies.
- Measuring cups and spoons: these are my favorite ones that I use in my kitchen every day.
More Festive Recipes You’ll Love
- Grinch Cookies
- Condensed Milk Fudge
- White Chocolate Fudge
- Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake
- Instant Pot Cheesecake
- Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Marble Cookies
- Stained Glass Cookies
- Mocha Chocolate Truffles
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Chocolate Peppermint Kiss Cookies
Equipment
- Sheet pan or baking sheet
- Silicone spatula
- Mixing bowls
- A cookie scoop
Ingredients
- 1¾ cup (210g) all-purpose flour
- 1¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ cup (25g) unsweetend cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (113g) butter 1 stick – softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar Plus, a little more for rolling cookies into
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips melted
- 32 Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Line sheet pans with silicone liners or parchment paper.
- Start by sifting the flour, baking powder, cacao powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, using a mixer, cream together the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy – about 2 minutes on medium-high speed. Then, add the egg and vanilla extract. Mix just until smooth and combined.
- Melt the chocolate chips and add to the wet ingredients. Beat until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Beat on low just until no large lumps of dry ingredients remain.
- Scoop out dough using a small cookie scoop and roll using your palms to create even balls. Then, roll each ball in granulated sugar and place on the parchment lined baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 9 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through the cooking time. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 3-5 minutes on the baking tray.
- Unwrap the Candy Cane Kisses. Press one peppermint chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie. This will make the cookie crack a little, but that's totally fine. Allow to cool completely then serve this deliciousness. Enjoy!
Notes
- Vanilla extract can be substituted with peppermint extract. But make sure to use peppermint and not mint extract.
- Chocolate chips can be substituted with chocolate chunks.
- You can find Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses only during the holiday’s season. So if you wish to make this recipe during other seasons, you need to plan ahead and buy a few bags of candy cane kisses to store in your pantry.
- If cookie dough gets warm while rolling it into cookie dough balls, it’s better to chill the dough before continuing working with it.
- Using a cookie scoop ensures uniform cookies every time you make them.
- Feel free to add any of your favorite additions to the cookie dough, such as hazelnuts, walnuts, espresso or coffee powder.
Nutrition
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.
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Comments & Reviews
Michele says
was so easy! follow the directions with the timing. they are so good!