These cookies are special. I mean, all cookies are special, but these are special (like Rory Gilmore). We originally posted these 4 years ago and it was kind of funny to read through what was going on in my life at the time–it was our first Christmas in our new house…I was turning 30. It’s now our 5th Christmas in this house and I am no longer about turn 30, but I still remember making these cookies for the first time, going back and forth between baking and texting my friend Laura about why I was skipping our church Christmas party (who needs Christmas potlucks when you have chocolate and peppermint cookies? That’s why.)
These have become a staple in our family, a favorite treat we deliver to teachers, friends, and neighbors, something my kids request for class treats. This is one of those recipes that has kind of become part of our family story, which makes me love them even more.
We’re participating in a cookie swap with some of our favorite blogger friends, so I thought  I’d give one of my favorite recipes a makeover (as fun as it was to read through my memories, it was not fun to see my old pictures. I know, I know, we should appreciate the growth process, see all the things I’ve learned along the way. One of the things I’ve learned is that some pictures are best remained unseen, like the old pictures of this recipe and my 6th grade yearbook photo.)
I started with Sara’s Cadbury Egg Cookie Dough, which is really just a great recipe for chocolate cookies. Start with some softened butter and butter-flavored shortening…
Place the brown and white sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl.
Add some butter-flavored shortening and some softened butter.
Cream together for 1-2 minutes on medium-high speed or until light and fluffy. Add some vanilla…
peppermint extract, and eggs and mix until combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the baking powder, baking soda, salt, flour,
and cocoa powder.
Add to the butter/sugar mixture and mix until combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.
To prevent cookies from flattening out, refrigerate dough for 30-60 minutes. Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto an ungreased baking sheet (or parchment paper-lined baking sheets).
Bake until just set, but centers are still soft, about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 1-2 minutes. Use a metal spatula to transfer cookies to cooling rack. Top each cookie with an unwrapped Candy Cane Kiss.
Allow to cool completely, long enough for the Kiss to harden. If necessary, after the cookies have cooled, they can be placed in the refrigerator or freezer to re-solidify the Kiss.
Allow them to stand for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack. These puppies need a few hours for the kiss to become solid again, but if you need to hurry things along, wait until the cookies themselves have cooled and then transfer them to your refrigerator or freezer and they’ll be set up in no time.
These are perfect for holiday gift-giving because they’re easy, festive, a little different, and hold up well to packaging:
(Click here for these ADORABLE and customizable gift tags.)
Candy Cane Kiss Cookies
Recipe by Our Best Bites
Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter-flavored shortening
1/2 c. real butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
optional: 1 tsp peppermint extract
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 c. flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled with a knife
1/4 c. + 2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 12 ounce bag dark chocolate chips
48 Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses, unwrapped (one 10 ounce bag)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Cream together softened butter, shortening, brown sugar, and white sugar for 1-2 minutes on medium-high speed or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined. In a separate bowl, combine the baking powder, baking soda, salt, flour, and cocoa powder. Add to the butter/sugar mixture and mix until combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.
To prevent cookies from flattening out, refrigerate dough for 30-60 minutes. Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake until just set, but centers are still soft, about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 1-2 minutes. Use a metal spatula to transfer cookies to cooling rack. Top each cookie with an unwrapped Candy Cane Kiss. Allow to cool completely, long enough for the Kiss to harden. If necessary, after the cookies have cooled, they can be placed in the refrigerator or freezer to re-solidify the Kiss.
Yield: 4 dozen cookies
Need a unique gift? Make your friends do the baking! Details here.
I do not like dark chocolate- would milk chocolate work in these cookies? They look YUMMY!
ooops. Guess I should have read all the comments. Saw up above that they freeze well! I'll report back how they came out with the Andes peppermint crunch pieces
How do these freeze? They sound scrumptious and I was going to use the Andes Peppermint baking pieces instead of the kiss. But I am wondering if you've frozen them and then thawed for cookie trays.
Thanks! 🙂
Michelle- we generally us salted butter unless we specifically call for unsalted. But either will work just fine 🙂
Would you recommend using unsalted sweet cream butter or salted butter?
Can't wait to make these!
This recipe is amazing! Its perfect for my fiance in the military. I want to send some holiday cheer his way while he is away from the ones he loves. Thanks! =]
these were a humungous hit at my office christmas party! I made them with my own choc. chip recipe, fudged to make them double chocolate, then I put the tray outside on the porch (-7C) to set up. 10 minutes later I had perfect cookies for gifting!
These are sooooo good. And pretty! Everyone that I made them for, loved them!!! Thanks for the recipe! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Angela, I totally hear you on selling it in smaller containers, haha! Try adding about 1 tsp. of baking powder to a cup of warm water. If it fizzes, it's still good; if it doesn't, you need a new can. Try adding 1 tsp. baking soda to some vinegar and same thing–if it reacts, it's still good.
Try those things and if your stuff is still good, send me a pic to general (at) ourbestbites (dot) com and we'll figure this out… 🙂
how do I send a pic? I don't know if you can tell very well in the pic though….
Define fresh LOL. They aren't ancient, but I didn't buy them yesterday… it's hard to have them super fresh cuz I am always just using a little bit at a time… why don't they sell that stuff in itty bitty portions? geezh!
Angela–Any chance you could send us a picture? Did they spread out way too much? Did they ever puff up? That'll give me a better idea of how to help you.
That said…how fresh are your baking soda and baking powder?
PS. I got my kisses and dark chocolate chips at Kroger:)
Hey there,
I made these and my husband said they "surpassed his expectations!!" They were delish!! However, they were super flat:( Any suggestions as to why that happened or how I can get them to now look like I sat on them?
Angela
Hi, Cole! This freeze really well, so feel free to make them any time and just freeze them after they cool! 🙂
How do these freeze? I would like to make them now, freeze them and then give them to friends in 2 weeks. Will they still be good?
Thanks,
Cole, 14 years old.
I made these and used the Candy Cane Kisses, but I also used the Chocolate Mint Truffle Kisses on some, soooo good!! :]
What a stunning holiday recipe! Would you like to submit it to my contest to win a cookbook? Just wanting to share the holiday cheer (and exposure to your blog) Would love for you to win 🙂 http://ow.ly/3j61M
Colten and Melissa–These are definitely best with the shortening AND butter–the shortening for texture and butter for flavor. But they won't be awful if you use all shortening. 🙂
Can you use regular shortening and not butter?
These look so great and I want to make them for my cookie exchange tonight!
I have never seen these kisses & now it is essential that I go find them. Adorable cookies!
LOVE these! I couldn't find the candy cane Kisses so used Andes mints instead. Tastes freaking awesome, even if they don't have the festive red-and-white thing going on. Did you know Cadbury finally wised-up and has CHRISTMAS colored chocolate balls now?! I'm getting a bag of those to use the next time I make these cookies. And I'll use the Andes mints again, too. This recipe is efinitely a keeper!
Made these this morning and they are yummy! Just thought I'd share a few tips I found out along the way:
I did refrigerate my kisses and they still melted down and especially when moving them to the cooling rack. Oh well, still yummy!
Also, I found that they are ready to come out when they have a crackled looking surface but the cracks are still moist inside, just over 10 minutes for my AZ kitchen.
Thanks for the recipe!
Margot–I just got the Hershey's Special Dark chocolate chips at Walmart. No worries if you're having a hard time finding them, just substitute semi-sweet.
Hope that helps! 🙂
I haven't seen dark chocolate chips anywhere! Is this a fruitless search? Are these actually semi-sweet? Help me!
These look amazing! Can't wait to make a batch or two, or three! YUM!
What a great website. Can't wait to try the recipes. The crafts are enticing as well. Keep up the great work!
Those look so yummy!
Made them today! Soooooo good!
I just pulled these little babies out of the oven. Amazing! Everyone I know is about to get them for Christmas gifts. Thank you so much for sharing. And, if I were to win today's awesome giveaway, they'll get those cookies in a super cute gift box! Yippee.
Karin–Hahaha, good question! 🙂 I usually save about a dozen for my family and then bring the rest to school/church/work/neighbors. It's seriously a great way to make friends, lol!
Kelli–Oh, my gosh, how FUNNY! I'm sure our paths totally did cross at some point (although Sara's the one who did horticulture).
Natalie–I really recommend using shortening. I know there's concern about trans-fat, but I believe Crisco is now free of trans-fats. Using Crisco really improves the texture; if you're really opposed to it, you could use a really high-quality margarine like Smart Balance.
Naomi–I believe the boxes came from Target, but I can't be 100% sure. 🙂