Sprinkle Blossom Cookies

Recipe by The View From the Great Island

This weekend marked the kickoff to my holiday baking.   If you didn’t catch it, I rounded up up my Top Ten fave holiday cookies on Saturday… but  part of the fun of Christmas cookie baking is finding new recipes to try.  These cookies have the joy of the season written all over them, they’re the ones you’ll send in for the class holiday party, they’ll be the top sellers at the bake sale, and they’ll add a pop of color to your cookie gift box.  Besides all that, I’m a sprinkle junkie.  I don’t think I’ll ever outgrow them. These are patterned after the famous Hershey’s Peanut Butter Blossom Cookie, only instead of a peanut butter cookie I made a vanilla version and smothered them in sprinkles.  It’s such a kick to take the unwrapped Kiss and gently smoosh it down into the soft, just baked cookie.   It must be a primal instinct to play with chocolate and warm dough,  I could do it all day. There are so many great sprinkles on the market now, I used several different kinds.  Of course if you want to get really fancy, you can make your own, I have a recipe …

Ingredients

• ¼ cup (4 Tbsp) unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• ¼ cup Crisco shortening
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• of salt
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• 1¼ cups all purpose flour
• 3 tbsp cream or milk
• assorted sprinkles
• approximately 21 Hershey's Kisses

Method

1. Set oven to 350F
2. Cream the butter, the shortening, and the sugar until well combined. Beat in the vanilla.
3. Whisk together the cornstarch, flour, and salt, and add them to the bowl, along with the cream to bring together the dough. It will be crumbly, but it should come together when you press it between your fingers. If your dough is very dry you can add a little more milk or cream.
4. Roll 1 inch balls of dough in your palms until smooth. Roll the balls in sprinkles, pressing them on as best as you can.
5. Set the balls on an ungreased baking sheet.
6. Using a wrapped Hershey's kiss, press down on each ball to form an indent for the candy. The ball will squish down and may crack a bit, that's ok. (Don't bake the cookies with the Kiss)
7. Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes.
8. Immediately put an unwrapped Kiss into each cookie, pushing down gently. Shower the top of the cookie with a few more sprinkles, if desired.
9. Let cool on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring to a rack.

View the recipe instructions at The View From the Great Island