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
Ooohhhh Kate. These look so delicious…and the peppermint bark rice krispy treats…what to make first?! I usually just comment about how good everything tastes, but I wanted to add that your photography at OBB is always gorgeous and the site is so pleasing to look at it makes me want to spend all night looking up recipes! 🙂 Speaking of recipes, going to make some of your guys’ yummy guiltless alfredo sauce right now. 🙂 Thanks again!! 🙂
I think I need to move into your ward…
Oooh, I’m a peppermint chocolate freak too! These look amazing and are so cute. Unfortunately my husband isn’t a big fan of peppermint and I just made candy cane cookies the other day, but perhaps I could make half the batch with the peppermint extract and peppermint kisses, and the other half with vanilla and hugs. Then everyone would be happy 😀
Turned out perfectly and are absolutely delicious! The added peppermint extract just made it divine. Thank you!
Just found red, green, and white Cadbury eggs at the store! So excited to try these.
I wish you could buy the Hersheys Cand Cane Kisses all year. I know a lot of people who would buy them. I think they are losing money by only having them around the holidays.
Ang–your butter should be soft enough that you can press into it, but there should be some resistance. Also, when you're creaming your butter and sugar, you may notice that the sugar is starting to dissolve into the butter. That is when it's been creamed too long–you want to have distinct sugar granules in the butter.
These cookies are AMAZING! I finally tried them out for a Christmas party and we just couldn't get enough. This will definitely be a staple cookie recipe in our house.
Mine were incredibly delicious but also flat. How can you tell if your butter is too soft or has been creamed too long (I didn't know that was a possible issue…)?
I made 8 dz of these today and they were unbelievable. I didn't have peppermint extract so I left it out and I used semi sweet chocolate chips. Not only were the cookies delicious but they came out beautifully – love the cute candy cane kiss on the top! They were a big hit with my family and with those we shared them with.