Hershey’s Peppermint Cookies

These soft chocolatey Hershey’s Peppermint Cookies are baked and then topped with a peppermint kiss as soon as they come out of the oven. Once softened, the kiss is swirled to cover the top of the cookie and then drizzled with melted chocolate.

In our home, Christmas cannot come and pass us by without a good dose of treats flavoured with peppermint. Those treats are even more welcomed and enjoyed if they have melted chocolate of any type! Seriously, we can’t get enough of it! I’m not a huge lover of sweets, but every Christmas I have to get my peppermint fix and Hershey’s Peppermint Cookies are just the thing!

As you know, John.e is a major lover of ice cream. As for me, I can take it or leave it. In fact, most times, I leave it! I don’t get the appeal of ice cream as most people do. It’s not that I don’t like it; I just don’t care that much for it. But, every Christmas, John.e will find a peppermint ice cream somewhere and we have to have it. I have just one scoop because I need that peppermint/candy cane experience, but I never could eat a large serving of ice cream.

That’s why these cookies are just perfect for me. I can get a good amount of peppermint flavour baked into a double chocolate cookie. And, to top it all off, a Hershey’s peppermint kiss is pushed into the center of the hot cookie and allowed to melt. Once melted, it’s swirled to flatten and then drizzled with melted chocolate. It’s perfection!

LORD BYRON’S 24 COOKIES OF CHRISTMAS – VOLUME 5

I’m so excited to kick off this year’s cookie countdown with Hershey’s Peppermint Cookies! This is the fifth consecutive year; can you believe that? Each of the previous years has included 24 cookies and this year will not be any different. I’ll share a new Christmas cookie recipe each and every single day for the next 24 days – even on Saturday and Sunday!

You might be asking yourself, how many Christmas cookie recipes could one possibly have or need? Well, I say you can never have too much of a good thing. And, I love having lots of choices. Who wants to bake the same holiday cookies year after year?

So, welcome, Dear Reader, to Volume 5 of Lord Byron’s 24 Cookies of Christmas! Fresh off of my 12 Edible Wreaths of Christmas and my 12 Bars and Squares of Christmas series, I’m ready to plow through the next 24 days with you!

You really don’t want to miss one of these recipes, so if you have not yet subscribed to Lord Byron’s Kitchen, I encourage you to do so. That way, a new recipe will be emailed to you every day. You won’t have to bother to come looking for it! Like in previous holiday baking countdowns, I like to mix up the recipes in the series so that there is something for everyone. Are you ready!!??

VISITING HERSHEY PARK

A few years ago, John.e and I decided to take McKenna to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania for a mid-July road trip. We piled into the car and made the drive. The park was great! There were lots of rides, lots of activities, and lots and lots of chocolate.

Hershey’s chocolate was everywhere! And, much of it was free. Almost every shop at the park had an attendant handing out sample chocolate kisses. McKenna was so happy. And, so was John.e. But, I wasn’t. You see, Dear Reader, I don’t care much for Hershey’s chocolate. When it comes to mass-produced chocolate, I much prefer Cadbury.

To be perfectly honest, I grew rather tired of declining the free chocolate. The purpose of the visit was to take McKenna there. I wanted to go because I knew a part of the trip would find me in Amish country, and I was dying to get to their markets!

TRIVIA

I learned this when we visited Hershey Park. Do you know why their most popular chocolate confection, the kiss, is called a kiss? Well, we know they are called Hershey’s because the founder was Milton S. Hershey. He introduced the kiss chocolate in 1907.

The name “kiss” was adopted and applied to the confection, because of the sound the melted chocolate made when it was dropped from the vats onto the conveyer belt. The name stuck and it’s hard to imagine those little chocolates being called anything else!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Butter – Make sure your butter is at room temperature! To be perfectly honest, I have made these with both salted and unsalted butter and there’s no difference in taste or appearance once all is said and done. Use what you have on hand.
• Sugar – Sugar will caramelize when baked, which will help to brown cookies and cakes.  In cookies, the sugar will help the dough to spread and will create a crispness to the bottom of the cookie.
• Peppermint Extract – You could use vanilla, but we’re going to pack as much peppermint flavour as possible into these cookies!
• Eggs – Whenever you set out to bake, make sure your eggs are at room temperature too – just like your butter!

• Flour – No need for anything special. Just use regular all-purpose flour. I have not tried this recipe with any other type of flour.
• Cocoa Powder – Cocoa powder is an unsweetened chocolate product which adds deep chocolate flavor to desserts and beverages.  Use a good quality cocoa powder, not the kind we used to stir into milk as kids!
• Baking Soda – Commonly known as sodium bicarbonate, or just bicarb, it is a baking ingredient that’s activated by a liquid and an acid to help with leavening or rising.
• Salt – Do not add the extra salt if you used salted butter!
• Chocolate Chips – These are used for the chocolate drizzle, which by the way, is optional! I used both white chocolate and milk chocolate.
• Vegetable Shortening – This is used to thin the chocolate. You can also use coconut oil.
• Hershey’s Peppermint Kisses

CHOCOLATE AND PEPPERMINT

If you love the combination of chocolate and peppermint, there are several recipes here at Lord Byron’s Kitchen that you should take advantage of! You will have to try my Peppermint Chocolate Biscotti. I shared this one with my readers last year as a part of my 12 Biscotti of Christmas series. It was quite the hit!

How about this no-bake Peppermint Chunk Fudge? Unlike those fudge recipes that are basically big chunks of melted chocolate that have re-hardened, this fudge is cake-like; almost like a brownie! They are so delicious and addicting too! I also have these baked Chocolate Peppermint Donuts. Again, they are baked, not fried, so even though they are super chocolatey and covered in icing, they are still healthier than any donut you can buy at a bakery!

Not into cookies, fudge, or donuts? What about ice cream? Remember I mentioned the candy cane ice cream that John.e buys every Christmas? Well, you can make your own No Churn Peppermint Cookie Ice Cream at home. You won’t need a fancy, expensive ice cream maker to do it! I added crushed peppermint Oreos to the ice cream to make it even more indulgent! Anyway, I digress. Let’s talk about these Hershey’s Peppermint Cookies!

HOW TO MAKE HERSHEY’S PEPPERMINT COOKIES

Add the softened butter and the sugar to a large mixing bowl. Beat the two together for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is light and creamy. Be sure to scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula halfway through beating. Add the extract and eggs. Beat into the butter mixture until well incorporated.

Next, measure out the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Dump these ingredients into the butter and egg mixture. With your beater on a low speed, beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just mixed through. The dough will form a ball. Once done, place the bowl of cookie dough into the fridge for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside. Place the remaining ½ cup of sugar into a separate bowl and set it aside. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Portion the chilled cookie dough into slightly heaping tablespoons. Roll into a ball into the remaining half cup of sugar and place on the prepared baking sheet. Leave two inches of space between each cookie. Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and immediately top each cookie with an unwrapped Hershey’s Peppermint Kiss. 

Allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before using a teaspoon to smooth and swirl each melted Hershey’s Kiss.  Allow to fully cool. Drizzle with melted milk and white chocolate, if desired. Transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

STORING, PACKAGING, & FREEZING

When it comes to most cookies, they taste best at room temperature, but they don’t hold up well to being left out on your countertop for long periods of time. Cookies will stay fresh in a cookie jar or food-safe container with a lid for 3-5 days if left to sit on your kitchen countertop. You can store them in a food-safe container in your fridge. When you want one, two, or half a dozen, take them out of the container and place them in a single layer on a plate. Let them sit at room temperature for 5 minutes and they’re ready!

If you plan to freeze your Hershey’s Peppermint Cookies, you certainly can! Once the chocolate has hardened, pile them into a clean, food-safe container. The container must be freezer friendly! You’ll want to ensure a very tight-fitting lid too. I use these quite often when freezing baked goods. I like to place a sheet of plastic wrap over the top of the container before pushing the lid on. This helps to create a better seal. The goal is to keep all of that freshness locked in!  

You can freeze these cookies for up to three months. If you plan to give previously frozen cookies as a gift, I would lay them out on a wire cooling rack to thaw completely. If packaging, wait until the condensation has evaporated. Whenever I work with anything covered in chocolate, I like to use a glove to prevent getting fingerprints on it as much as possible! Once thawed, pile into cellophane bags and tie with a ribbon, or stack in a cookie tin/box.

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down to follow me and never miss another recipe!

Finally, as I stated previously, every day I will be posting a new recipe. If you miss one, don’t fret. You can find my entire collection of Christmas Recipes right here! There are over 200 Christmas recipes and counting. There’s something for everyone! Cheers!