Pumpkin Kiss Cookies

I'm back! Sorry it has taken me so long to post something I got so wrapped up in everything that I didn't even have a spare second to breathe! But I had all today to whip up something delicious, and not only do I have one recipe for you, I've got two!

The holiday season is my absolute favorite thing in the world! I love it even more than chocolate itself (I know it's a sin)! Anyone who knows me knows that I live by christmas. So in order to kickstart the fall and the beginning of the holiday season I made pumpkin everything!

These Pumpkin Kiss Cookies are surprisingly delicious, I say surprising because I don't really like pumpkin pie spice hershey kisses all that much. I saw this recipe and really wanted to make it, so I got the hershey kisses and when I tried one of them they were really sweet. But something happens when you put these little kisses in a cookie and they magically taste amazing!

Don't let these cookies fool you, they may be tiny but they pack a punch! I have to say I'm a huge fan of the original Hershey Kiss cookies and now I am a huge fan of the pumpkin version. So welcome in the season with these goodies, it's a little bit of fall in every bite.

Ingredients: makes about 20-25 cookies: 

recipe barely adapted from here

3/4 cup icing sugar

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 a large egg (whisk one egg in a small bowl, then divide equally in half and only use one alf)

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup finely chopped Pumpkin Spice flavored Hershey's Kisses (about 10 Kisses)

granulated sugar for coating

additional unwrapped Pumpkin Spice Kisses - about 25

Preheat oven to 350°F. Make room in either the refrigerator or freezer for your cookie sheet. Place the 25 or so unwrapped Kisses you’ll be using for topping the cookies in the freezer so that they won’t melt as quickly when added to the hot cookies later.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine icing sugar, butter, vanilla, and egg. Beat at medium speed, scraping the bowl often, until creamy (about 2-3 minutes).

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the electric mixture in two additions, mixing well after each addition, until well blended. Stir in chopped Kisses. If the Kisses are too soft to chop, put them in the freezer until they’re firm enough to chop into small pieces, then add to the batter.

Shape the dough into 3/4-inch to 1-inch balls. Pour some granulated sugar in a shallow bowl or plate and roll the balls in the sugar to coat them on all sides. Place the balls one inch apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until set.

While the cookies are baking, remove your Kisses from the freezer and unwrap them. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, gently press a Kiss onto the center of each cookie. The cookies will crack a little around the edges so use your fingers to hold the cookie together as you press the Kiss on top. Immediately transfer the cookie sheet (with cookies) to the freezer (preferred) or refrigerator so that the Kisses won’t start melting and will hold their shape.

Remove from freezer once Kisses are set, and store in a covered container at room temperature. Enjoy!