Cherry Chocolate Kiss Cookies Recipe

Splendidly cute and bite-sized, these Cherry Chocolate Kiss Cookies are the right Christmas and Valentine’s Day dessert. The key to their beautiful colour and pleasant taste? Maraschino cherry juice.

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Straightforward Cherry Blossom Cookies

These cherry blossom cookies are so festive and fairly. With a chocolate Kiss within the heart, they’ve a barely fancy look with little effort! They’re additionally made in about an hour (plus some cooling time for the chocolate to agency up), making them simple and ideal for sharing and gifting!

And though these cookies are fairly to take a look at, they’re additionally fairly tasty! They’re stuffed with cherries and a few maraschino cherry juice, plus a contact of almond extract. If you happen to’ve by no means paired these two flavors earlier than, you’re lacking out. They’re so good! Once you add the chocolate kiss on prime, they only get even higher.

The opposite wonderful thing about these cookies is that they’re gentle and chewy for a number of days. Many variations of this cookie don’t use any egg, however this model makes use of an egg yolk. It provides additional moisture and chewiness, plus it binds every thing collectively slightly extra. Between the egg yolk and the fruit, these cookies keep moist and contemporary, and even get higher on day 2 and three for the reason that moisture and flavors set in much more.

Recipe Components

Test the recipe card on the backside of the publish for full ingredient quantities for these cherry chocolate kiss cookies.

Butter – Unsalted butter is used. Make certain it’s at room temperature so that you just’re substances mix correctly.
Powdered sugar – That is additionally known as confectioners’ sugar or icing sugar. It provides sweetness and contributes to the cookie’s tender texture.
Egg yolk – To bind the substances collectively and provide you with chewier cookie.
Salt – Skip it if you happen to’re utilizing salted butter. However make sure you add salt someplace, because it provides and amplifies the flavour in your cookies
Maraschino cherry juice – Please don’t skip this, it’s the entire cause these are “cherry” Kiss cookies.
Almond extract – Be happy to substitute it for added vanilla extract.
Vanilla extract
Purple meals coloring – Pink meals coloring works too. I used common meals coloring, however gel icing colour would additionally work.
All-purpose flour
Maraschino cherries – Chopped.
Kisses – I used Hershey’s Model kisses.

Easy methods to Make Cherry Kiss Cookies

Making these cherry chocolate Kiss cookies is about as simple as a boxed combine.

Put together the baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. You may as well use a silicone baking mat. Set it apart.
Cream the butter. In a big bowl, beat the butter and powdered sugar utilizing a stand mixer over medium pace. Beat them till mild and fluffy. A hand mixer works too.
Add the meals coloring. Incorporate the salt, extracts, and cherry juice. Proceed beating till nicely mixed. The combination needs to be fully pink.

Adding the red food coloring to the creamed butter and sugar.

Fold within the cherries. Add the flour and blend till a free dough comes collectively. Scrape the edges of the bowl to be sure you’re combining the entire substances. Use a wood spatula to softly fold within the chopped cherries.
Roll the dough. Use measuring spoons to scoop out 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough at a time. Use your palms to softly roll it right into a ball. Repeat this for all of the dough. Place the balls of dough on the ready baking sheet, leaving 2″ of house between them.

Balls of dough on a silicone baking sheet.

Bake. Pop the cookies into the oven for 8-10 minutes or till calmly golden across the edges and backside. Take away them from the oven. Fastidiously press a Kiss chocolate into the middle of every cookie. Set them apart to chill.

Suggestions for Success

These are commonplace baking ideas however don’t ignore them. They’ll make an actual distinction.

Measure your substances correctly. I’ve an entire publish on measuring dry substances. I all the time advocate a meals scale, however with out one, the information in that publish are actually useful.
Don’t over-mix. When you add the flour, be certain to not over-mix the dough in any other case your cherry Kiss cookies will end up robust and rubbery.
Don’t over-bake. They’re carried out when they’re simply beginning to brown on the perimeters. Ovens can range a bit, so it’s possible you’ll want to regulate a minute right here or there, however remember the fact that even as soon as out of the oven, they’ll end baking with their residual warmth.
Allow them to cool. Enable the baked cookies to relaxation within the baking tray for at the very least 10 minutes earlier than eradicating them. This fashion you’ll assist stop them from crumbling. You additionally wish to give the kisses time to chill fully. They’ll soften from the warmth of the cookies after you add them.

Lots of cherry kiss cookies on a flat surface.

Can These Be Made in Advance?

Certain! They maintain up nicely at room temperature for a number of days, however you may as well freeze them. Freeze the balls of dough for half-hour after which place them in a freezer-friendly bag or container. Freeze for as much as 3 months.

Once you’re able to bake, prepare them on the baking sheet and allow them to thaw for quarter-hour. Bake for 15-20 minutes, keeping track of the oven.

You additionally freeze the baked cookies. Flash freeze them within the freezer for about an hour, then layer then with parchment paper in an air tight container or add them to a freezer bag. They need to freeze nicely for as much as 3 months.

Cherry kiss cookies on a silicone baking sheet.

Easy methods to Retailer Cherry Chocolate Kiss Cookies

These cookies needs to be saved in an hermetic container, away from the warmth, for as much as 5 days.

If you happen to refrigerate them they’ll last as long as every week, simply be certain to maintain them away from onions and different meals with sturdy odors. Depart them at room temperature earlier than consuming them to allow them to soften up a bit.