Hidden Kiss Cookies

There's comfort in those recipes that are tried and true. They're kind of like that one pair of broken in jeans that you always want to wear, even if they're a little bit dirty. (Oh come on, you know you wear them sometimes when they are dirty... don't give me that look). This is one of those recipes, I've made it a bunch of different times and it always turns out perfect. Okay... well, not always... I did accidently mess a batch up a couple weeks ago. I was making multiple recipes some of which I was halving and so I accidently halved the flour amount in the cookies and they turned out.... well.. super greasy and unedible. But that was my fault, not the cookies fault. Don't you hate it when you do something stupid like that and waste all those ingredients and the time! Ohhhhh the time wasted!

This is a recipe that I saw Paula Deen make awhile back on her show. It's basically a buttery meltaway cookie with a hershey's kiss snuck inside. The first time I made them was to test them out for my friend April's Shower and they turned out really well and were really easy to make. My mom loves these cookies (I think it's her favorite cookie recipe), and so when I asked her what she wanted me to make for her Christmas Party, she requested these specifically.

I have made them with all different kinds of hershey kisses... the regular ones, ones with peanut butter inside and caramel and I've found that using the regular hershey kisses doesn't make the best cookie. The kiss stays VERY hard inside the cookie, whereas if you use a kiss that is filled with something else, the kiss gets softer and melts a little into the cookie, making it easier to eat.

The only adjustment to the recipe I make is that instead of chilling the dough before you actually make the cookie balls, I go ahead and form the dough around the kisses while the dough is still pliable and then refrigerate the balls of dough for an hour before baking. It's too hard to form the cookies when the dough is hard and cold.

So, if you like mexican wedding cookies, italian wedding cookies, danish wedding cookies, butter meltaways, russian tea cakes, etc... and you love hershey kisses, you will definitely like this recipe.

Recipe here

Wedding Cookies, again.

I was in New Orleans this weekend and there were three things that I wanted while I was there:

1. Gumbo
2. Hurricane
3. Pralines

I accomplished the first two (at the same meal, coincidentally), but I didn't get my pralines. So, I got home early on Sunday morning still craving them. I thought about making them, but I'm not sure if I have a candy thermometer and didn't really feel like I had the patience to make candy. So, instead, I decided to make something comforting and sugary.

I chose wedding cookies. This is the third wedding cookie recipe I've tried and it's right on the money. They turned out slightly crunchy (just like the ones in the pink box) and the perfect texture.

I halved and tweaked this recipe, just a little by:

adding 1/2 cup of finely chopped mini chips (although, next time I might just use 1/3 cup)
adding 1/2 cup of shredded coconut, also chopped finely.

The dough is super difficult to deal with. Very dry. But, if you put it in the fridge for awhile, makes it easier to form balls.

Just the comfort I was looking for!

Danish Wedding Cookies...

My favorite store bought cookie has always been.... the Keebler Danish Wedding Cookie. I haven't had these cookies in a LONG time. But the week before my first marathon, I had a fever... and the only prescription was Danish Wedding Cookies. So, before one of my training runs, I stopped at publix and bought a box and opened them in the car on the way to the park. I stuck my hand down inside into the powdery cookies and pulled one out...

"What the hell???? They changed them????"

Yes, they have been put on a diet. They are much thinner and have a much lighter coating of powdered sugar (if you can even call it a coating). I was disappointed. So disappointed that I only ate about half the box before my run!!

So, the quest began to find a recipe for original danish wedding cookies.

I found one recipe that swears that they taste just like them... (even better, some claimed!). But looking it over, it contained cinnamon (definitely not a flavor in the cookies) and didn't include any kind of coconut flavor (I could have sworn there was a hint of coconut flavor in the original cookies) or mini chocolate chips... so, I altered it...

Danish Wedding Cookies
20ish Servings
Soundtrack: Fully Loaded cd by Velvet Underground

1 cup + 2 tbsp of AP flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted and divided
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp coconut flavoring
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Combine all ingredients except for 1/4 cup of the powdered sugar into a bowl and stir well until blended. Batter will be crumbly...

Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. And bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Remove cookies to wire racks to cool slightly. Roll cookies in remaining powdered sugar and cool completely on wire rack.

So, the next time I make them... I think I will cook them for a little longer... a little closer to the 12 minutes and I also might chill the dough for a few minutes before shaping into balls and baking.

Taste wise, they taste a lot like the pink bag cookies, but texture wise... they are more melt in your mouth, than crunchy.

Yum.

Oh and they are called wedding cookies... because..."the marriage of the nuts and sugars represent the bumps in the road and the sweetness that surrounds a happy marriage." Awwww...