Sugar Cookies with Hershey Kisses
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
These Sugar Cookies with Hershey Kisses are soft, chewy and so easy to make! They’re perfect for any holiday throughout the year!
These Sugar Cookies with Hershey Kisses are a fun alternative to the classic peanut butter blossom for everyone out there who can’t eat or just doesn’t like peanut butter. They’re soft, easy to make and super versatile since they can be rolled in any color sanding sugar to match holidays year round!
Looking for more Hershey Kiss recipes? Try my Almond Butter Blossoms, Gingerbread Kiss Cookies or Chocolate Blossom Cookies!
Why You’ll Love These Sugar Cookies with Hershey Kisses
- They’re ready in under 30 minutes.
- No chill time. Just scoop and bake the dough right away!
- They’re nut free!
- They’re soft, chewy and have lots of vanilla flavor.
- They’re kid friendly – kids will love unwrapping the kisses, rolling the dough in sugar and placing the chocolate on each cookie!
- They can be customized to each season or holiday – instead of plain old granulated sugar, try rolling them in colored sanding sugar like pink for Valentine’s Day or red/green for Christmas. The possibilities are endless!
Ingredient Breakdown
All-purpose flour – this gives the cookies structure.
Baking soda & baking powder – both leaveners are needed to help the cookies rise.
Butter – provides flavor and structure. I always recommend using unsalted butter but salted butter works if that’s all you have on hand, just be sure to omit the 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Do not use cold or melted butter.
Granulated sugar – sweetens and softens cookies. Do not substitute it with brown sugar.
Egg – helps bind the ingredients.
Vanilla extract and salt – enhances flavor. Always use pure vanilla extract instead of imitation for best flavor.
Hershey’s Kisses – the star of these cookies! I used the classic milk chocolate kisses but you can use whichever flavor kisses you like best!
How To Make Sugar Cookies with Hershey Kisses
1. In a small bowl whisk the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. Use a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to cream softened butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add the egg and vanilla extract then mix until just combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
4. Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix on low speed until just combined. Do not over mix the dough because it will make the cookies tough.
5. Using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop dough then roll in granulated sugar and place on a lined baking sheet (be sure to adjust the baking time if your cookies are smaller/larger).
6. Bake cookies at 350°F for 8 minutes then immediately press a Hershey’s Kiss into the center of each cookie. Let cookies cool on a wire rack before eating. Store Sugar Cookies with Hershey Kisses in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Pro Tips For Sugar Cookies with Hershey Kisses
- Weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale! Measuring ingredients by volume is not accurate.
- Don’t over mix the dough! Only mix until the dry ingredients are just combined. Over mixing = more gluten development which means tough cookies. We don’t want any tough cookies here!
- Bake one tray at a time on the middle oven rack. This ensures that there is even heat circulation.
My Favorite Cookie Tools
- Kitchen scale I love this scale, I’ve been using it for years!
- Stand Mixer
- Baking sheets
- Parchment Paper
- Cookie Scoop – 1 tablespoon
If you try this recipe then please leave a rating/comment below to let me know how you liked it and feel free to ask any recipe questions you may have! 🙂
Sugar Cookies with Hershey Kisses
Equipment
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- Baking sheets
- Cookie scoop (I use a 1 tablespoon scoop)
Ingredients
- 210 g (1 3/4 cups) all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 113 g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 32 Hershey's Kisses, unwrapped
- 100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl whisk the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Use a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to cream softened butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract then mix until just combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix on low speed until just combined. Do not over mix the dough because it will make the cookies tough.
- Using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop dough then roll in granulated sugar and place on a lined baking sheet (be sure to adjust the baking time if your cookies are smaller/larger).
- Bake cookies for 8 minutes then immediately press a Hershey's Kiss into the center of each cookie. Let cookies cool on a wire rack before eating.
Video
Notes
- Weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale! Measuring ingredients by volume is not accurate.
- Butter: I recommend using unsalted butter. You can use salted butter, just be sure to omit the 1/4 tsp salt.
- Store Sugar Cookies with Hershey Kisses in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Nutrition: the provided nutritional information is an estimate per serving. Please read my Nutrition Disclaimer for more information.
Is the one tablespoon of dough a level tablespoon or rounded?
Hi Elle, it’s a level tablespoon!
they turned out so yummy and cute!!
I’m so glad to hear that, Hannah! 🙂
My family loves these I make them every week
I’m so happy to hear that, Janet!! 🙂
AMAZING! I made these cookies for my family and they ate them all in 2 days!
I’m so glad to hear that your family enjoyed these cookies, Blair!
Can you freeze these cookies?
Hi Julia, yes these cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months in a freezer safe container or bag. Just be sure to let them cool to room temperature before freezing!
Simply delicious! Perfect little treat, can’t wait to add festive sprinkles to the recipe around the holidays!
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed this recipe!
The cookies turned out great, but the dough was dry and hard to work with. My granddaughter put in a tablespoon of milk so I could mix the dough.
Hi Barbara, I’m sorry to hear that the dough was hard to work with but I’m glad the cookies still turned out great! Did you use a scale to measure your flour?
Merry Christmas Eve to you and your family¡ I’m anxious to see how this recipe is going to turn out. I will be making a batch later on today. I will let you know how it goes…thank you for your recipe.
Merry Christmas Eve, Sheli! I look forward to hearing what you think of the recipe. Happy baking!
Made the Sugar cookies with the kisses in the middle and they turned out so good.
Thank you so much, Rhonda!
I made two versions of thumbprint cookies before I found this recipe. And although I know this is a sugar cookie recipe and not a traditional thumbprint cookie recipe it was exactly what I was looking for with the other cookies I made. Instead of using Hershey kisses I made a milk chocolate ganache and used a 1/2 tablespoon to make an indentation in the fresh out of the oven cookies and then piped the ganache on the cookies once the cooled. This cookie with milk chocolate ganache is so yummy. Thank you. The recipe was perfect and easy to throw together. My husband and I loved it and I can’t wait to make more to put in my Christmas cookie boxes.
Hi Jamie, that sounds so delicious! Im glad to hear that these cookies were exactly what you were looking for. 🙂
I made this recipe but my cookies aren’t as puffy and are flat !! 😢
What did I do wrong ?!
Hi Victoria, I’m sorry to hear that! Is it possible that your baking powder and/or baking soda were expired or you forgot to add them?
Over mixing or too warm of butter
Am I able to put the dough together a day before and bake it the next day?
Hi Lena, yes you can definitely make the dough in advance!
Lovely texture in the cookie. I was not able to get 32 cookies. More like 27. Used all the measurements and a kitchen scale. Not a big miss but I should have doubled the batch.
Hi Kelly, I’m sorry to hear that. It’s possible that you filled your cookie scoop slightly more than I did.
My 7 year old wanted to bake with me and this was the perfect recipe for us to do together! Nothing too complicated, but she got to use some skills. We had everything already on hand and it didn’t take a large amount of time. The whole family loved the recipe and she was so proud of herself.
Thanks for trying the recipe, Megan! I’m so glad your family loved these cookies!
I made a test batch that was halved and although delicious, they turned out cakey. Is this because I couldn’t halve the egg or something else?
Hi Tora, I’m sorry to hear that your cookies turned out cakey. It was likely because of the egg if you did not half it. Did you pre mix the egg then only use half of it or did you use the whole egg?
Love these! They came out perfect
Thanks Sam!!
Such an easy and yummy recipe!
Thank you Louise!
These came out perfect, my kids loved them!
Thanks Alice, I’m so glad!