Description
Strawberry Kiss Cookies are soft, sweet treats made with funfetti sugar cookie mix, cream cheese, and topped with Hershey’s Strawberry Ice Cream Cone Kisses. These colorful cookies are coated in sanding sugar or non-pareils for a festive crunch, perfect for parties or cozy baking days.
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: Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit to ensure it’s at the right temperature for baking the cookies evenly.
- 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 combined into a soft dough.
- Coat the Dough Balls: Place the pink or white sanding sugar, or non-pareils, in a shallow bowl. Using a 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop out balls of dough and drop them into the sugar or non-pareils. Roll gently until coated and then roll into an even ball.
- Optional Chill: If the dough is too sticky to scoop and roll easily, refrigerate or freeze it for 30-60 minutes. This step is optional but can make handling easier.
- Arrange on Baking Sheet: Place the coated cookie balls on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 1 ½ inches apart to allow for spreading while baking.
- Bake Cookies: Bake for 12 minutes or until the edges are set and lightly golden.
- Add Strawberry Kisses: After baking, 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 while still warm.
- Cool Completely: Transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely or serve warm, depending on preference.
Notes
- Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days or refrigerate for up to one week.
- Freeze cookies for 2-3 months to extend freshness.
- Avoid storing cookies while warm to prevent deformation of the Kisses.
- To handle sticky dough more easily, coat hands and scoop with sanding sugar.
- Press Kisses into cookies after cooling 3-5 minutes for a soft yet shaped Kiss; press immediately after baking for a melted effect, or wait until cookies are completely cool for firmer Kisses.
- Refrigerating or freezing dough before scooping is optional but helps reduce stickiness.
- Non-pareils coat dough balls for shaping but do not reduce stickiness like sanding sugar does.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 150 kcal
- Sugar: 12 g
- Sodium: 110 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 25 mg
