Kissables Cookies

When I first saw the new Hershey’s Kissables a few months ago, I wanted to eat them by the handful. They are smaller than a regular Hershey’s Kiss and covered in a thick, bright candy shell. They are very similar in principle to an M&M, but larger and rather more substantial. Like M&Ms, the different colors do not have corresponding flavors; they are just there to look pretty.

Once I got over the cutness and started seeing the Kissables sold in larger bags, I decided that I wanted to try them in cookies. You could use any candy-coated chocolate in these cookies, but the Kissables are so cute!

I wanted to keep the cookies fairly white to highlight the candy bits, but I didn’t want to turn them entirely into a sugar cookie, either. So, I used mostly white sugar in these, which gave them a beautiful light color and a nice, mild flavor. The bit of brown sugar and honey I added was to ensure that the cookies stayed moist and had a bit of chew to them. The vanilla flavor came through fairly well, too.

The cookies looked slightly underdone when I tooke them out of the oven, but they cooled perfectly. The had crisp edges on the first day – a feature that made them incredibly addictive – but they stayed nice and soft, with a bit of chew than contrasted nicely with the crispness of the candy coated Kissables.

Kissables Cookies
(or any other candy-coated chocolates)
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp honey
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups Kissables (or M&Ms)

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light, about 4 minutes. Beat in honey followed by the eggs, adding them one at a time. Mix in vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture into the butter mixture until it is just combined. Stir in Kissables.
Drop by heaping tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between cookies.
Bake at 375F for 9-12 minutes, until golden at the edges. Allow to cool on baking sheet for about 5 mintues before transfering to a wire rack with a spatula to cool completely.
Makes 3 dozen fairly large cookies.