Christmas Cherry Kiss Cookies

 

image courtesy of taste of h*me website

This is truly one of my very fave Christmas cookies.  I also tend to make them around Valentine's Day if I didn't get to them in December.  This year, so far, I have made them for a party and I tweaked the recipe but I wasn't happy with the way they came out so I'm going to give you the original recipe and I will make more for my family party with the following recipe.  (The one I made for our small group party:  I added in pure orange extract in place of the maraschino cherries....I found that I prefer the original recipe found below).  

CHERRY KISS COOKIES

 1 1/2 sticks of  Earth Balance butter, softened 

(or you can use full fat cow milk butter...do not use margarine!! 

the cookies will come out flat)

1 c. confectioners sugar

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 tsp maraschino cherry juice

(tip:  use the juice from the jar of maraschino cherries!)

1/2 tsp almond extract or pure vanilla extract

(We prefer the vanilla)

6 drops of red food coloring (optional)

2 1/4 c. whole wheat white flour

(or regular white flour)

1/2 c. chopped maraschino cherries

one bag of chocolate cherry hershey kisses

(of dark chocolate hershey kisses)

• Preheat oven  to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine the butter, sugar, and salt.  Beat on medium until well blended. 
• Add in the cherry juice, extract and food coloring.  Beat well.
• Slowly add in the flour, stirring or beating on low until dough comes together and is well mixed.   I have found over hte years that at this point, I prefer using a wooden spoon to really get that food coloring mixed in. 
• Stir in the cherries.  Mix gently.
• Shape the dough into balls and place about an inch apart on a greased baking sheet (or line with parchment paper for easier clean up!)
• Bake for 8-10 minutes or until bottoms are beginning to turn light brown.  In my oven the cookies only take 8 minutes. (gas oven)
• Immediately press one hershey kiss into center of ball....the dough will crack around the edges a little bit..that's ok!!  Just lightly press the kiss into dough.
• Cool for 5 minutes then transfer to a platter or other container.  Make sure cookies are totally cool before putting into a glass or ceramic cookie jar. 

TIPS:  While the cookies are baking, unwrap the kisses!!   That way they are all ready to pop onto the cookie. 

Note:  I have tried adding peppermint, orange or almond  extract to these and they weren't a hit. In my family, the preferred extract is vanilla. You experiment with what flavors your own family prefers!

These are especially tasty with a steaming mug of hot cocoa or coffee. 

They look especially pretty on a cookie platter with a variety of different cookies. They also make nice gifts for colleagues or neighbors. 

ENJOY!!

ps As with all the posts under the faithfixes label, you do have permission to download and print out this recipe. The copyright doesn't apply to the recipes!