Gingerbread Kiss Cookies

30 servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Chilling Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 25 minutes

Gingerbread Kiss Cookies are chewy molasses cookies made with holiday spices and creamy candy kiss center. The best new Christmas Cookie!

Chewy, tasty Gingerbread Cookies and Hershey’s Kiss Cookies come together for a fun new Christmas cookie. Two classic Cookie Recipes in one delicious sweet bite!

Sabrina’s Gingerbread Kiss Cookies Recipe

Gingerbread Kiss Cookies are sure to be a new favorite Christmas Cookie! These festive holiday cookies are perfect for cookie exchanges or dessert platters. These rich and chewy cookies are an easy, beautiful treat to add to your holiday gift baskets too!

You’ll love how easy these cookies come together with some basic pantry ingredients, a bottle of molasses, and a bag of candy kisses. The dough takes about 10 minutes but keep in mind this is a chilled dough recipe so it’s great for making the night before so you know it’s plenty cold. After the dough is chilled, you roll the cookies in some sugar for edible glitter then bake them up. The baked cookies get a delicious candy kiss pressed in the center right out of the oven and voila! Fun, festive, and fantastic Christmas cookies!

Gingerbread Kiss Cookies ingredients in prep bowls and laid out on counter individually
Gingerbread Kiss Cookies ingredients in individual prep bowls spread out on the counter.

Ingredients

  • Molasses: Even though it sounds like a specialty ingredient, molasses is an affordable way to sweeten desserts and give them flavor. Molasses is a thick syrup that has a sweet, yet slightly smoky flavor to give Gingerbread Kiss Cookies that signature gingerbread taste and color. It also makes these cookies extra chewy. You can use a light or dark molasses, but don’t use blackstrap molasses because it is too bitter for baking.
  • Kiss Candy: To give these cookies extra holiday flavor, we used candy cane flavor kisses which are white chocolate with red stripes. They have a peppermint flavor with crunchy candy cane pieces inside! You could use any of your favorite kiss candy flavors though. Caramel kisses and dark chocolate kisses would also taste amazing!
  • Brown Sugar: Brown sugar is cane sugar that hasn’t had the molasses completely removed so it’s the perfect choice for these molasses cookies! It enhances the natural molasses flavor while also adding another level of sweetness.
  • Spices: Cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg are a classic blend of gingerbread spices that really give the cookies their signature holiday flavor. 
  • Sugar: You will also need regular sugar to roll the cookie dough in. It gives the cookies a glittery sparkle that makes your Gingerbread Kiss Cookies extra festive.

Kitchen Tools & Equipment

  • Stand Mixer: A stand mixer is handy for making cookies because you can let it keep mixing while you add ingredients. However, if you don’t have one, these cookies can be made by hand or with hand-held beaters. If making by hand, make sure your butter is super soft and use a whisk to cream the butter and sugar to create air.
  • Mixing Bowls: It is good to have a variety of mixing bowls in different sizes. You want large bowls for making dough of course, but smaller bowls are handy for prepping ingredients and decorating like rolling dough in sugar. Medium size bowls are handy for sifting dry ingredients.

Time needed: 2 hours and 25 minutes.

These cookies come together and bake super quick, but you do need to chill the dough before baking them. Chilling them keeps the cookies thick enough to wrap around the sweet candy kiss.

  1. Combine Wet Ingredients

    Cream the butter and brown sugar in your stand mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 1 minute. Beat in the egg and molasses, mixing until smooth. Gingerbread Kiss Cookies collage of sugar and butter before creaming and adding wet ingredients to creamed butter in metal bowl

  2. Add Dry Ingredients

    Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon and ground nutmeg in a separate bowl. Set the mixer on the lowest speed and add the flour mixture until combined. Gingerbread Kiss Cookies Collage of dry ingredients in glass bowl and adding dry ingredients to wet batter in metal bowl

  3. Chill the Dough

    Cover and refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight. Do not try to bake the cookies right away or they will spread thin.

  4. Preheat and Prep for Baking

    Preheat your oven and line your baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, add the sugar. Roll the dough into balls, then roll the ball in the sugar and place on baking sheet.Gingerbread Kiss Cookies collage of rolling dough in sugar and sugar covered dough ball on baking sheet

  5. Bake and Add the Kisses

    2Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are just setting. Pull the cookies out the oven and immediately gently press a candy kiss in the center of each cookie. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool and serve.Gingerbread Kiss Cookies baked cookies spread out on parchment paper

Nutritional Facts

Nutrition Facts
Gingerbread Kiss Cookies
Amount Per Serving
Calories 98 Calories from Fat 36
% Daily Value*
Fat 4g6%
Saturated Fat 2g13%
Cholesterol 14mg5%
Sodium 44mg2%
Potassium 51mg1%
Carbohydrates 15g5%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 10g11%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 79IU2%
Calcium 20mg2%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Cooking Tips & Tricks

Making your Cookies Fluffy, not Flat

  • Refrigerate the Gingerbread Cookie dough before shaping and baking. Chilling the dough brings everything to the same temperature so the butter doesn’t melt too fast and cause flat cookies. If your cookies spread when baking, it’s usually because dough is not chilled long enough.
  • Work quickly while shaping your Gingerbread Kiss Cookies, handling them as little as possible so the dough doesn’t warm back up. If your cookie dough looks shiny and glossy, it got too warm. Transfer dough balls to a cutting board (not the baking pan) and pop back into the refrigerator for about 20 minutes. Transfer chilled dough back to baking sheet and bake.

Sides for Your Gingerbread Kiss Cookies

Drinks: Leave these festive tasty cookies out for Santa with a cup of Hot Cocoa for an extra special Christmas Eve snack! They also go great dunked in a glass of ice cold milk.

Dessert Platter: Make a fun, Gingerbread themed dessert platter for your holiday party! Make these cookies along with Gingerbread Men, Gingerbread Cookie Butter, Gingerbread Cheesecake Dip and Gingerbread Fudge. Decorate the platter with crystallized ginger pieces, gumdrops, and sprinkles!

How to Store Gingerbread Kiss Cookies

Serve: These Gingerbread Kiss Cookies can be kept at room temperature for about 1 week, maybe a bit longer. Keep them in a cool, dry place in a sealed container so they stay soft and chewy. You can refrigerate Gingerbread Kiss Cookies for up to 3 weeks in an airtight container. Bring to room temperature to soften them before serving.

Freeze: Once cooled, freeze Gingerbread Kiss Cookies on a baking sheet for one hour. Transfer frozen cookies to a sealed container or storage bag, and freeze for up to 6 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving at room temperature

Frequent Questions

Can you freeze Gingerbread Kiss Cookie dough?

You can absolutely freeze this cookie dough! Roll the cookie dough into balls as usual. You can either add the sugar and bake them from frozen or freeze them without sugar. If you freeze them before rolling in sugar, let them thaw overnight then roll in sugar and bake as usual. The dough lasts for about 4 months in the freezer.

How long will Gingerbread Kiss Cookies stay fresh?

Gingerbread Kiss Cookies will stay fresh for a week, or even a bit longer, at room temperature if you keep them in a cool dry place! The molasses and brown sugar in the cookie dough keeps them softer longer than other cookie recipes.

Recipe Card

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Gingerbread Kiss Cookies

Gingerbread Kiss Cookies are chewy molasses cookies made with holiday spices and creamy candy kiss center. The best new Christmas Cookie!
Yield 30 servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 25 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
  • 6 tablespoons brown sugar , packed
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 30 striped chocolate kisses

Instructions

  • Add butter and brown sugar to your stand mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 1 minute.
  • Add in the egg and molasses until smooth.
  • Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon and ground nutmeg then add to the stand mixer on the lowest speed setting.
  • Cover and refrigerate batter for at least 2 hours (preferably overnight).
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Add sugar to a small bowl and unwrap the chocolate kisses and place onto a plate
  • Roll into 1-inch balls and roll in bowl of sugar.
  • Place onto baking sheet 1 inch apart and bake for 8-10 minutes.
  • Right when the cookies come out of the oven press the kisses into the center of each cookie and press down gently.
  • Let cookie sit for 5 minutes before removing from baking sheet.

Nutrition

Calories: 98kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 44mg | Potassium: 51mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 79IU | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1mg

Gingerbread Kiss Cookies Variations

Candy Kisses: You can use any Candy Kisses flavor for Gingerbread Kiss Cookies like milk chocolate or dark chocolate. Try caramel filled kisses for a sweet surprise that tastes delicious with gingerbread!

Candy: Use other small chocolate candies in the center of your Gingerbread Kiss Cookies like mini peanut butter cups, mini Cadbury eggs, mini chocolate bars, or Dove chocolate squares.

Ginger: Give your Gingerbread Kiss Cookies an extra gingery punch by adding fresh grated ginger or mixing in chopped crystalized ginger.

Brown Sugar: If you don’t have molasses, you can substitute ¼ cup dark brown sugar in addition to the original 6 tablespoons brown sugar. To keep the chewiness of the cookie without molasses, use ¼ cup dark brown sugar and 6 tablespoons maple syrup.

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Gingerbread Kiss Cookies close up of a pile of cookies with title at bottom and description in top right corner

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

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