If there is one Christmas cookie you need to make every year, it’s these Hershey Kiss Cookies. Just looking at the 300+ reviews and comments section tells me many others agree that this recipe is a staple in their holiday baking!
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Hershey Kisses Cookies
These Hershey Kiss Cookies are the most popular cookies on my site, and for good reason! They’re buttery shortbread cookies paired with a Hershey kiss to create an instant classic.
Prefer peanut butter cookies? Try these 4-Ingredient Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies!
Having tested this recipe more than 30 times, I’ve developed the perfect way for the Hershey kisses to stick on top without melting into the cookie. The secret? Unwrap the kisses on a plate and refrigerate them while you make the cookies!
Here’s what I’m going to teach you in this post:
- All of the ingredients you’ll need to make these Hershey kiss cookies with no peanut butter
- Step-by-step instructions on how to bake perfect thumbprints with ingredients you probably already have
- Answers to the most frequently asked questions about how to make Blossom Cookies without peanut butter, plus how to store them!
When you’ve finished creating this thumbprint recipe, you’ll know how to make chewy, chocolatey Hershey Kiss cookies with shortbread for holidays, parties, or for yourself to enjoy!
We love easy Christmas cookies and I’m sure you do too! Check out this great list of 35 easy Christmas Cookies with just a few ingredients!
What you’ll need for Chocolate Kiss Cookies
- All-purpose flour
- Hershey Kisses – You’ll need about 46 of them
- Butter – Salted and at room temperature
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Milk – use whole milk when possible
- Vanilla extract
- Baking soda – To help the cookies rise
- Salt
How To Make Hershey Kiss Cookies Without Peanut Butter
A full printable version of this recipe with ingredient measurements is available at the bottom of this post.
STEP ONE: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
STEP TWO: Unwrap the chocolate kisses and place them in the refrigerator so they stay firm.
STEP THREE: In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, egg, milk, and vanilla extract until well combined.
STEP FOUR: In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt until combined.
Using a whisk can help break up any clumps, or you can sift them together instead.
STEP FIVE: Add half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir. Then, mix in the rest until there are no more streaks of loose flour.
STEP SIX: Scoop out the dough on the prepared baking sheet. For a softer texture, you can roll the dough balls in sugar first.
I recommend using a cookie scoop to scoop consistent circular cookies. I used this cookie scoop.
STEP SEVEN: Bake until the edges are nice and golden and the middles are set.
STEP EIGHT: While the cookie rounds are still warm, gently press one Hershey kiss in the middle of each cookie.
STEP NINE: Transfer the blossom cookies without peanut butter to a cooling rack. Serve and enjoy!
Hershey Kiss Cookies Recipe Tips
- You don’t need a hand mixer, but I like using one. It incorporates more air in the mixture, making for a lighter and softer result!
- Use a cookie scoop to create uniform and nice-looking circular cookies. I used the OXO Good Grips Small Cookie scoop to get 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie.
- Keep the unwrapped Hershey kisses in the fridge while prepping and baking the cookies. This allows the chocolate to harden so they do not melt in the middle of the cookies once placed on top.
- Use a whisk or sifter to mix the dry ingredients. This helps break up any clumps.
- Add the flour mixture in two steps. By adding in the dry ingredients little by little, you allow the wet and dry ingredients to mix faster. This will also help you avoid cleaning up the excess flour that may fly out of the bowl as you mix.
Chocolate Kiss Cookies Recipe Variations
I love using different flavors of Hershey kisses on these cookies! Here are just a few of my favorites:
- Candy Cane Hershey kisses for Christmas
- Mint Truffle Hershey Kisses for a nice kick of mint
- Caramel Hershey Kisses
- Dark Chocolate Kisses
- Almond Kisses for a nice crunch!
- Birthday cake kisses
You can also top the cookies with a Rolo or other candy piece instead or roll the cookies in red or green sprinkles for added color for the holidays.
How to store Hershey Kisses Cookies
These will keep at room temperature for 4 to 5 days in an airtight container. Don’t worry about putting them in the refrigerator.
If you want to take them on the go for a midday snack, make sure you close the bag tightly!
Can You Freeze Cookies with Hershey Kisses?
Yes! After they have cooled completely, place them in a freezer-safe container. For an additional barrier against the cold, place the container in a freezer bag.
This dessert will keep in the freezer for about 3 months. To defrost, thaw at room temperature for 1-2 hours before enjoying.
Hershey Kiss Cookies Recipe FAQs
Sugar cookies are lighter than shortbread, which tend to be thick and dense. I use a shortbread cookie base in my Lemon Shortbread Cookies as well..
That’s because shortbread is made with twice the amount of butter as sugar, creating a richer texture overall. Sugar cookies also require baking soda or powder to give them extra lift.
These Hershey Kiss Cookies Without Peanut Butter are made with a shortbread cookie to create that richer texture that goes great with a Hershey kiss on top!
No, you don’t, but rolling the dough in sugar keeps these sweets nice and soft. Without it, the cookie will have a slight crust.
It’s more of a texture preference. I have made Hershey Kiss cookies with shortbread both ways and they’re both enjoyable!
The secret to keeping the kisses from melting on top of these Hershey Kiss cookies is to unwrap the kisses and refrigerate them as you put together and bake the cookie dough. Refrigerating the kisses will harden them up making it harder for them to melt when placed on the cookie..
It is normal for the kisses to melt slightly on the bottom to adhere to the shortbread cookie.
Yes, melted Hershey kisses will harden as they cool. However, if your kisses lose their shape when melted, they will keep that shape once hardened.
More like these Kisses Cookies
- Easy Snickerdoodle Recipe
- Snowball Cookies Without Nuts
- Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies
- White trash recipe
- Saltine Cracker Toffee
- Easy Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies with Toffee
- Iced Thumbprint Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Baking Soda
- 4-Ingredient Oreo Truffles
- No-Bake Oreo Marshmallow Treats
- Vanilla Crinkle Cookies
Hershey Kisses Cookies
Ingredients
- 46 chocolate Hershey kisses
- ½ cup salted butter room temperature (1 stick)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Optional
- ¼ cup granulated sugar to roll balls in before cooking
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Unwrap all 46 chocolate kisses and place them on a plate. Put them in the refrigerator until you're ready to use.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix with a hand mixer butter, sugar, egg, milk, and vanilla extract together. Mix until they are all combined.
- In a separate medium mixing bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until all combined.
- Add half of the flour mixture mix and when there is no more loose flour, add the remaining half of flour to the mixture.
- Using a small cookie scoop (or spoon) scoop the dough into a ball then roll each ball into the granulated sugar, if using. Place each completed cookie dough ball on the baking sheet.
- Cook each batch of cookies for 9 to 10 minutes, until the edges are nice and golden. Remove them from the oven.
- Remove the Hershey kisses from the fridge and place 1 kiss in the middle of each cookie and gently press down.
- Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and enjoy immediately or store once completely cooled.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This nutrition information is based on the exact products I used in this recipe. Brands and sizes of products could alter exact nutrition and should always be calculated independently.
This is really easy to make and tasted super delicious! Thank you so much for sharing this amazing cookies recipe! Will surely have this again, highly recommended!
I love baking these with my kids!
I so love this! thanks for sharing!
Do you chill the dough before baking?
I do not!
Hi! I totally forgot to put the milk in the dough. It is done and frozen. I will be baking them later this week. Are the cookies going to turn out or do I throw out the dough?
Hi Marcia, you should be able to thaw the dough overnight in the fridge and then add the milk.
Can you bleached presifted all purpose flour?
Yes, you can use bleached all-purpose flour instead of unbleached flour!
can oat flour be used instead of all purposed flour?
Hi Katherine, I do not recommend swapping the flours in this recipe.
After mixing all of the ingredients, the mixture didn’t quite stay together, i added a little bit of milk and it worked like a charm.
It sounds like the flour may have been measured wrong and the mixture was too dry. Always measure flour by scooping a spoon into the flour then putting in a measuring cup and not packing it and that should help. I am glad the milk helped you as well!
Just made these today and I used the Halloween dracula theme Hershey kisses that have strawberry filling. Serve the cookies at room temp and the filling of the kiss looks like blood lol. A fantastic Halloween cookie idea.
I love that idea! So creative.
I LOVE THIS SO MUCH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THEY ARE SO GOOD AND DECOLICIOUS EVERY ONE LOVED THEM 🙂
Great option for people with peanut allergies!
These were amazing. Worked perfectly and looked beautiful. Thanks.
Great recipe but I don’t know how you get 40+ cookies. I used a small cookie scoop and only made 31 cookies.
I typically make these pretty small (not even a normal small cookie scoop size), so it makes more cookies for the holidays.
I weighed each one at 16gm & got 41 cookies . They turned out great!!
This is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you Jackie! I wish more recipes came with weight measurements/metric.
Your cookies look puffy, mine were flat…even tho I chilled the dough. What happened ?
Hi Diana, it’s hard to say what exactly happened, but the main cause I usually see for flat cookies is that the butter is too warm. It’s important to make sure the butter is softened and not melted or too warm.