Caramel Chocolate Kiss Cookies

So Price and I are having some issues lately. It all boils down to the impulses I have related to buying tons of candy for cookies and other treats and his impulses to eat every candy that comes into the house. I can barely care that we have baskets full of candies like m&m’s, peanut butter cups, and kisses at arms reach. But for Price and his sweet tooth it’s pure torture. So he stares longingly at the bags and bags of candy that hang around until I get a chance to incorporate them into some baking. And he knows that if he eats that candy before I get around to baking… trouble. ha!

 

When I got around to making these I thought he was going to do some cart wheels in the living room. Or maybe a Carl Edward’s like back flip off the sofa. I have to put him to work every now and then so I got Pricer involved to squish the kisses into the just baked cookies.  And then in a blink he was trying a freshly baked cookie. They are best warm from the oven since the center caramel is soft and melty. To enjoy that after they have cooled just pop them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.

 

 

I adapted the Cookie Trio recipe to create the cookie base part. I browsed all of the different cookie recipes on Hershey’s to figure out the recipe to use with the Caramel Kisses. I wanted to keep things simple so I kept with a chocolate base to pair well with the chocolate and chocolate candy. The result are a pop-able bite sized cookie that is perfect for  the holidays, cookie swaps, and bake sales.

Caramel Chocolate Kiss Cookies

Makes 48 cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine , softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 1  egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 48  Hershey’s caramel kisses, unwrapped

Process

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.
3. Cream together the butter, shortening and sugar.  Add in the egg and vanilla extract. Gradually beat the flour mixture into butter mixture.
4. Divide the dough mixture into 4 equal portions. Then from each portion create 12 1-inch balls. Place each ball on the parchment lined baking sheets.
5. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until cookies are just set. Remove from oven and immediately press a chocolate kiss into the center of the cookie. Cool 1 minute prior to removing to cool on a wire rack.