I literally do not have my act together.
I made these thick, sugary cinnamon kiss cookies in September. Then a whole cluster of real life situations happened.
Like... I went to a wedding.
A wedding in a beautiful vineyard where maybe I learned that if you drink several glasses of crisp, sweet champagne on an empty stomach there's a good chance that you'll end up barefooted in a muddy vineyard plucking fat purple grapes off the vines and declaring them, "SERIOUSLY THESE ARE THE BEST GRAPES EVER."
Hypothetically.
I signed a lease on an apartment with my boyfriend. We move in next Wednesday. In nine days. I'm not stress-eating candy corn. I'm not.
I'm not.
There were football games. Lots of them. Real ones. You know, the kind where you sit in the bleachers and try to understand what a tight end is... while secretly pretending you're at a Quidditch match.
There was a sand and sun-filled week in Hawaii where I did absolutely nothing but nap by the pool, tuck flowers in my hair, and order mai tais for breakfast.
And now there are pumpkin patches and Christmas trees in the world. It's October. I bought Christmas ornaments today. When did summer end? Is it Halloween? Is it winter? What, what are we doing for Thanksgiving?
Whatever. Let's just make cinnamon cookies.
Pumpkin spice kisses. Have you put these in your life?
These little orange morsels taste like fall. Like October and November-times.
You know: pumpkin spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, white chocolate. Fall things.
These chewy cinnamon cookies are crazy good. The first batch around I made them like so: Plain cookies. Stick a kiss in it. Honestly, I'm not trying to make things complicated around here.
... but then the kisses melted and mistakes were made.
They ended up looking like little orange Sorting Hats.
So I swirled the melted kisses and made it fancy and totally on purpose.
But something was missing.
Can I share some secrets?
Freeze the Kisses.
Roll everything in sugar.
Yes, this is totally breakfast.
And always, always drink less champagne.
... unless you're moving in nine days. Then do your thing and pass the candy corn.
Cinnamon Pumpkin Spice Kiss Blossoms
Printable Recipe
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1-3 tablespoons milk, if dough is crumbly
1 package Hershey's Pumpkin Spice Kisses
1/2 cup granulated sugar, for rolling cookies in
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Unwrap pumpkin spice Kisses and place them in a small bowl in the freezer until ready to use. Place 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a bowl for rolling cookies in; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Add vanilla and eggs and beat until light and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Gradually add in small batches to the butter mixture, mixing until just combined. If dough is crumbly and not coming together, add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time until dough forms.
Scoop dough into 1 tablespoon-sized balls, roll in sugar, and place on baking sheet. Bake for 7-8 minutes, or until done.
Remove from oven, flatten just slightly with the back of a spatula (if you want them less pillow-y) and allow to cool three minutes. Gently push a frozen pumpkin spice kiss into the center. The Kisses will get shiny and start to melt after a few minutes... at this point I popped the whole baking sheet into the freezer until the chocolate set to keep that traditional-looking blossom cookies...
... or you can let the Kisses melt and swirl the melted chocolate with a toothpick for a pretty marbled effect like this.
Or both! Definitely do both.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
