Fudgy, crackled, powder-sugar coated chocolate cookies topped off with milk chocolate kisses! These Chocolate kiss cookies are chocolate overload in the best possible way!

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Coating Options (not just powdered sugar!)
The base for these chocolate kiss cookies were inspired by classic chocolate crinkle cookies. I definitely recommend rolling them in powdered sugar, but you can also play with other options — in the past I’ve also rolled the cookie dough in granulated sugar and in colored nonpareils (gives them a great texture!). -
Do I have to chill the dough?
This recipe does require some chilling, as the chocolate cookie dough will be too sticky to roll in your hands right away. Once the dough has chilled, you’ll roll the cookie dough through powdered sugar until it’s completely covered. -
Don’t overbake!
I recommend baking these cookies so that they’re still just slightly under-done when you pull them out of the oven. I’ve found that one of the worst things that you can do with these chocolate kiss cookies is over-bake them, as the centers will come out too dry. If the centers are still a bit under-done, though, they can finish baking on the cookie sheet while they cool, and the cookies will stay nice and soft and fudgy. -
Can I use other flavors of Kisses?
I just used classic milk chocolate kisses to top off these chocolate kiss cookies, but you can definitely play with different flavors as well. Dark chocolate, peppermint, and white chocolate would all be great options!
This recipe was originally published on The Stay At Home Chef by Sam from Sugar Spun Run. Be sure to check out some of her other delicious dessert creations like peanut butter blossoms, chocolate chip shortbread cookies and oatmeal cookies.

If you like this recipe, be sure to check out these other delicious cookie recipes:
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Chocolate Kiss Cookies

- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar tightly packed
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups powdered sugar for rolling
- 3 dozen milk chocolate kisses unwrapped
- Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl using a hand mixer) and beat together until ingredients are well-creamed. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until completely combined, and then mix in vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add dry ingredients to your wet ingredients until completely combined.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
- After chilling, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare baking sheet by lining with parchment paper.
- Roll dough into 1 1/2 tablespoon-sized balls and roll thoroughly in powdered sugar.
- Transfer to baking sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Do not overbake!
- Within 1-2 minutes of removing cookies from oven, gently press a chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie. Allow cookies to finish cooling completely on baking sheet before enjoying.
I just made these with the following modifications:
– used half and half brown and white sugar, instead of 1/4 to 3/4
– a little additional salt, based on one comment saying they were better with salted butter (I only have unsalted)
– used the Hot Cocoa kisses (which have some vanilla cream inside) and stuck a couple mini marshmallows on along with the kisses
They turned out awesome!
I made them with candy cane kisses for Christmas. Yummy
These are the BEST chocolate cookies ever!!!!! They are a chocolate lovers cookie dream. So glad I am on your website. You are the best!!!!
Amazing cookies !! Made them for our cookie exchange this year and everyone loved them !!! Thank you for the recipie.
I made these for a Kid’s Hope party and everyone loved them! I used cherry cordial Hershey Kisses instead of solid milk chocolate Kisses and they worked great!
Can you freeze the chocolate Hersey kiss cookie dough? This is the best cookie ever
These were perfect!! I will make them EVERY year for Christmas-thank you for the recipe!
Looks so delicious !! 🤩Thanks for sharing, definetly i’m going to make it.
made these today……they are absolutely delicious and turned out perfect!
I want to make the cookie dough & freeze so my grandkids can help finish them. Has anyone done this?
Margorie, I froze my cookie dough and it was perfect. Just took it out of the freezer 15 mins before I needed then. Tip, roll the cookie dough into balls before you freeze them. Makes things quicker and cleaner when baking with kids.
Amazing. Just made them. O. M. G.
This is my second time making these delicious cookies. My family’s new favorite recipe. My only issue is that when the cookies come out of the oven we wait about 2-3 minutes to cool down As suggested and as soon as we put the chocolate kisses, they melt right before my eyes. It’s a bit frustrating. Any tips ?
Today I baked the cookies, delicious but faced some dificultes, my kisses melted and they were previously frozen. And I noticed that the crinkles on my cookies were too WIDE, so they didn’t look like the picture. Any thought on how to make the crinkles smaller and prevent the kisses from melting?
Sometimes adding only 1/4 – 1/2 cup flour will help to keep the cookies shape much better. My Mom is a firm believer that adding a 1/2 cup flour to any cookie recipes makes a better cookie. Try it and see if it works for you. It has for me.
After placing the frozen kiss on your cookies place them in the freezer for a few minutes. That will help to keep the shape of the candy kiss. Let me know if that works.
The kisses WILL melt completely but keep their shape IF you leave them on the pan to completely cool as instructed. They have to reset! Banging the pan will also make them lose shape. But I found to not push them in the cookie so hard and give them a slight twist helps the cookie not crack as bad and sets the kiss better too. Hope this helps!!!
Freeze your kisses. I have made the peanut butter version since my mother taught me in her kitchen over 50 years ago. Unwrap all your kisses freeze them and only take out the amount you need as they come out of the oven. Then to cool I place them in the freezer for just a few minutes. See if this helps to keep your kisses in shape.
A true favorite.
Excellent cookie recipe!! They were so yummy ?.
Is it OK to chill dough for a couple days?
I just did this and they turned out beautifully. So yes, totally ok!