Candy Cane “Kissed” Nutella Cookies

Ever since I stumbled across a bag of Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses, I’ve been fixated on making holiday cookies with them.

Lucky for me, I had a Cookie Connoisseur at my disposal. That’s right friends, my 5 year old niece Maya. I asked Maya what kind of cookie she liked. Sugar cookie? Peanut Butter? Chocolate? Nutella? “NUTELLA!”, she exclaimed! I think it may be a result of her morning Nutella Sandwiches for breakfast.

As fate would have it, Giada De Laurentiis had a recipe that I could work with. With her “Chocolate-Hazelnut Smooches”…..Bada-Bing, Bada-Boom! I had my Candy Cane “Kissed” Nutella Cookies. True Story.

These cookies were simple to make and had that wonderful crispy exterior, chewy interior, and minty finish to it. WINNER! And you know what “up’ed” the ante on this cookie? I actually made the dough a few days in advance, rolled it, and froze it. When it was time for me to use it, I added 3 minutes to the baking time and it was F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S!

So MOVE OVER prepackaged-store bought cookie dough….these gems are SO much better  and are just as quick!! But of course, they would be just as amazing if you made the cookies right away.

Oh that Maya…. she knew what she was talking about 🙂

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Candy Cane “Kissed” Nutella Cookies
Adapted From Giada De Laurentiis

1¾ Cup All-Purpose Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
½ Teaspoon Salt
½ Cup Nutella
½ Cup Butter, softened
½ Cup Sugar
½ Cup Light Brown Sugar
1 Egg
1 Teaspoon Vanilla extract
½ Cup Sugar (to roll cookies in)
24 Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses (approximately)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, place the nutella, butter, and both sugars. Using a hand mixer, cream the ingredients together, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and blend until incorporated. Stir in the dry ingredients, just until incorporated.

Shape the cookie dough into walnut-sized balls. Rolls the balls in the sugar pressing to adhere. Place the cookies on a heavy cookie sheet about 4 inches apart. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven. Quickly place a chocolate kiss in the middle of each cookie. Return the cookies to the oven and bake for another 3 minutes. Cool the cookies on a wire rack.

**If you would like to freeze the dough to bake at a later time, place the sugar coated cookie dough balls in a single layer on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Move the cookie sheet to the freezer and allow the dough to harden for at least 30-45 minutes. The dough balls can then be transferred to a gallon sized freezer bag and kept up to 2 weeks in the freezer. When it’s time to bake, place dough balls directly from freezer to cookie sheet. Add an additional 3-4 minutes baking time.