Festive Holiday Cookies: Candy Cane Blossoms

I love these pretty holiday cookies. They are so festive and easy to make. They follow the same idea as Peanut Butter Blossoms (peanut butter cookies with Hershey's kisses) but are made with a sugar cookie base instead. The Candy Cane Blossoms are perfect for families with peanut allergies or any family! 

Really, I will take any excuse to eat the Candy Cane Kisses.  They are sooooo good. Here's the cookies we made:

The recipe for the Candy Cane Blossoms is from Hershey's.  It makes 3 dozen.  

Ingredients:

1 bag Hersheys Candy Cane Kisses

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 egg

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons milk

Colored sugar

Preheat over to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove wrappers from kisses. 

Beat butter, sugar, vanilla and egg in large bowl until well blended. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; add alternatively with milk to butter mixture, beating until well blended.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in colored sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 2 to 3 minutes. Press candy into center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

We made three trays of cookies, one dozen each, and I learned a few tricks with each tray. White chocolate Kisses (Hugs, Candy Cane Kisses) melt faster than classic Hershey's Kisses. 

If you aren't careful, the Candy Cane Kisses will melt in the cookies as shown above. While they still taste great, the cookies don't look as pretty.  We got the best results by putting the Kisses in the freezer as the cookies cooked.