These Candy Cane Kiss Cookies pack all the fun of the holidays into one bite! Soft, chocolatey, and topped with a peppermint candy that melts just slightly into the warm cookie. Bright, festive, soft, and chewy, they add a perfect pop of color and flavor. They’re simple to make, great for gifting, and disappear fast from any cookie plate.
I started with Sara’s Cadbury Egg Cookie Dough, which is really just a great recipe for chocolate cookies. A little peppermint extract, a sprinkle of chocolate chips, and a peppermint kiss finish these off and make them irresistible!
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- Butter flavored shortening – I sometimes like the combo of shortening and butter because you get flavor and tenderness from the butter, and some structure and softness from the shortening. If you’d rather not use shortening, or don’t have it on hand, you can definitely make this recipe will all butter as well.
- Butter
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Peppermint extract
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Flour
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Chocolate chips – This recipe calls for dark chocolate chips, but you can use whatever you have on hand!
- Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses – These are kind of the star of the show here! But if you’d like to experiment, go ahead and try these cookies with other flavors of kisses, just leave out the peppermint extract or replace it with another extract or flavoring oil of your choice.
Instructions
- Start by placing some brown and white sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl. Add some softened butter and butter-flavored shortening and cream together for a few minutes until light and fluffy. Add some vanilla, peppermint extract, and eggs and mix until thoroughly 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 them to stand for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
- Allow to cool completely, long enough for the Kiss to harden.
Storing and Other Tips
- Store finished cookies in an airtight container at room temperature and enjoy within days for best results.
- 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Definitely! I understand not everyone likes to bake with shortening. I sometimes think of it as a cheat-code because a little bit helps the cookies have a really great shape and a little more lift. They also stay softer, longer! But you certainly can use all butter as well. Just make sure you do the chilling step and know that you might get just a little more spread (ie flatter cookies).
Make these cookies a day ahead of time if needed. Store on the counter in an airtight container until ready to serve. While I have not personally tried freezing these, most cookies freeze pretty well as long as they are sealed well.
Yes. Make the dough and store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours before baking. For best results, let it sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes before scooping and baking.
You don’t have to, just expect a flatter cookie. Refrigerating the dough helps it hold it’s shape when baked.
Candy Cane Kiss Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter-flavored shortening
- ½ cup real butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ½ cup flour lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled with a knife
- 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 12 ounces dark chocolate chips (1 bag)
- 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.
Notes
- Store finished cookies in an airtight container at room temperature and enjoy within days for best results.
- These cookies 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.
Questions & Reviews
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.