I cannot believe it’s only 5 days until Christmas. I guess time flies when you are baking up a storm in the kitchen.  What I find even more crazy is that it’s almost the end of the year too.  What happened to 2011?  I am officially done with my holiday baking as of yesterday and I am busy packaging everything up as gifts this week.  I know, I know, all this time you thought I was going to eat all these cookies by myself.  Well this is not true, I give the majority as gifts to co-workers, managers, my landlord, and friends.  Then, whatever cookies I have left, I bring home with me to share with my family.  At times, I feel like I may not have enough cookies with all the gifts I need to give.  My boyfriend thinks I am losing it.  I have taken complete control of our freezer (and our waistlines…whoops!)

Let me do a quick calculation of how many types of cookies I have made.  I made 12 types, there are about 5 dozen (give or take) of each type, so that means I have about 750 cookies!

On to the main show… Ready for this??… With our best singing voices…

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… Five Golden Rings. Ahh, what I consider the most desirable of the gifts from this song. Never the less, these Candy Cane Kiss cookies are soooo good…five of them though,  how can you beat that?! If you haven’t tried Candy Cane Kisses yet, you are missing out. I became obsessed with them when they came out earlier this season, so when I found this recipe I knew I needed to make them.

Candy Cane Kiss Cookies
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/4 cups butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup candy cane flavored kisses, finely chopped
Granulated sugar for dipping
Additional candy cane kisses for topping cookie
Directions
Start by preheating the oven to 350. In mixer bowl combine powdered sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and egg. Mix together for 2-3 minutes, making sure to scrape down the sides.  In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add dry mixture to wet mixture and mix for about 2 minutes.  Next stir in chopped kisses.  Shape dough into 1 inch balls and then roll in granulated sugar.  Place 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.   Once the cookies set, take out of the oven and place a candy cane kiss in the center and push down lightly.  Take cookie sheet and place in the freezer so that the kisses harden.  Continue with the rest of the batch.  *K’s Tip-  I used one cookie sheet for the freezer and then kept cooking on the same one, so I would not have to keep waiting for the cookie sheet to come out of the freezer.

Source- adapted from Recipe Girl

Enjoy!

-K