Description
Strawberry Kiss Cookies are delightful sugar cookies with a soft, creamy texture thanks to cream cheese, coated in pink or white sanding sugar or non-pareils, and topped with a signature Hershey’s Strawberry Ice Cream Cone Kiss. These festive, eye-catching cookies are perfect for celebrations or a sweet treat anytime.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 16 ounce bag Funfetti Sugar Cookie Mix
- 4 ounce cream cheese, softened (½ 8-ounce package)
- 1 large egg
Coating and Topping
- ½ cup pink or white sanding sugar or non-pareils
- 18 Hershey’s Strawberry Ice Cream Cone Kisses, unwrapped
Instructions
- Preheat and Prepare Baking Sheet: Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit to ensure even baking.
- Make the Dough: In a large mixing bowl, use a hand or stand mixer to beat together the funfetti sugar cookie mix, softened cream cheese, and large egg until fully combined into a soft dough.
- Prepare Sugar Coating: Pour the pink or white sanding sugar or non-pareils into a shallow bowl to coat the cookie dough balls.
- Scoop and Coat: Use a 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop to portion out dough balls and gently drop them into the bowl of sugar or non-pareils. Roll the dough balls in the coating until fully covered and then shape into even balls.
- Optional Chill Dough: If the dough is too sticky to handle, refrigerate or freeze it for 30-60 minutes to make scooping and rolling easier. This step is optional but recommended for easier handling.
- Arrange on Baking Sheet: Place the coated dough balls on the prepared baking sheet with about 1 ½ inches of space between each cookie to allow for spreading.
- Bake: Bake the cookies for 12 minutes or until the edges are set and lightly golden.
- Cool and Top: Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 3-5 minutes, then gently press an unwrapped Hershey’s Strawberry Kiss into the center of each cookie.
- Final Cooling: Transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely before serving, or serve warm if preferred.
Notes
- Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days or refrigerate for up to a week.
- You can freeze the cookies for 2-3 months for longer storage.
- Avoid covering or storing cookies while warm to prevent the Kisses from deforming.
- Coating your hands and cookie scoop with sanding sugar helps manage the sticky dough more easily.
- Decide on how soft or firm you want your Kisses by adjusting how long the cookies cool before inserting the Kisses; immediate pressing results in melting, while longer cooling yields firmer Kisses.
- Chilling dough is optional but helpful to handle stickiness and shape uniform cookies.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 150 kcal
- Sugar: 10 g
- Sodium: 90 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 3 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 25 mg
