Christmas Cookies and Confections! (Plus a Recipe)

It's that time of year again. Finals are creeping ever closer, the end of the semester is rushing nearer every second, and, of course, this means it's time to bake! Time to break out the sprinkles and chocolate and so much butter. Time to forget about the stresses that the end of the semester brings and indulge, if only momentarily, in an all out baking frenzy.

This year I did something quite different. Normally I just pound out batches and batches of the same cookie, if only for the simplicity and convenience's sake. This year, I decided to make not only a cookie, but try a few pretzel confections as well. All in all, four kinds of treats were made: Chocolate Sprinkle Pretzels, Caramel Turtle Pretzels (my favorite), Candy Cane Pretzels (not photoed), and Amaretto Peppermint Kiss Cookies. All of them turned out deliciously and I want to share my spin on the Kiss Cookie.

Amaretto Peppermint Kiss Cookies

1 Bag of Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses (you should need about 48)
1 Large Egg
1/2 Cup (1 Stick) Unsalted Butter, Softened
1 Cup White Sugar
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
2 Tablespoons Milk (I use 2%)
2 Teaspoons of Amaretto Flavoring (I use flavored amaretto sugar; 2 tsp of vanilla would work equally well if you don't like the taste of amaretto)

Preheat oven to 350° F.

1) Beat together butter, sugar, egg, and flavoring in a large bowl until well blended (approx.2 minutes on low).

2) Stir in milk

3) Add 1 cup of flour. Add in the salt and the baking soda. Add the remaining flour until dough is firm and sticky to the touch.

4) Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. A standard large baking sheet should allow for 24 cookies at a time.

5) Bake 9-11 minutes or until the bottoms brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool 3-4 minutes (otherwise your kisses will melt all over the place).

6) Press Kisses gently into the cookies. As you do, place finished cookies onto a wire rack to cool. I suggest completing this step quickly and getting them into the fridge. This prevents accidental melting and allows the cookies and Kisses to set nicely.

This recipe should yield about 48 delicious cookies. Enjoy!

I had a blast making these and I hope that you try them, too. There are a lot of possibilities, as there are a lot of different Kisses out there and a lot of possible flavor combinations.

The pretzel turtles were done by placing a Rolo onto a pretzel snap (the squares), heating them for 4 minutes at 350°, and pressing a pecan half onto the top. Easy, inexpensive, and to die for!

The rest of the pretzels were just dipped in chocolate and sprinkles. Who would want just a plain, boring, unadorned pretzel, especially around the holidays?

Again, I hope you try some of these out!

Until next time!