Oreo-Stuffed White Chocolate Raspberry Kiss Cookies.

When I think of Valentine's Day and all its romantic flavors (and yeah, we're going there. If it makes you feel better, I still have a candy cane bark I never posted from December.), I don't think of chocolate or red velvet. I don't think of champagne or strawberries or peanut butter cookies stamped with chocolate peanut butter hearts... although yes... I totally made all three of those things happen this year.

I think of these three sugary, knee-weakening words: white chocolate raspberry. 

Specifically, are we going on a halfway-fancy date, does it start with fried calamari and rose-colored wine, and will it end with a shared slice of with Oreo crust white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, with chocolate curls and piped swirls of whipped cream.

Rolled in sparkling sugar, stuffed with mini Oreo cookies that bake up cakey-soft for a rich, chocolatey surprise center, and topped with white chocolate raspberry Hugs... I can't even.

These fat, puffy vanilla cookies are are everything I love about Valentine's Day and combine at least four of my favorite things: pink, white chocolate raspberry, crinkly edges (obsessed.), and Oreos.

Now if we could just bake them into a cheesecake.

One of my favorite types of cookies to bake (and eat for dinner) have always been chocolate kiss cookies. There's just something about pressing chocolate candies into thick, puffy, sugar-coated dough balls right out of the oven. Cinnamon cookies, chocolate cookies, peanut butter cookies... it doesn't even matter. I will stick a kiss in it. Those doughy centers, crinkly edges, and just-melted chocolates... stop it. And 100% get in my face.

Everything about these cookies are perfection, starting with the sugary, snow-white cookie dough. The base for these cookies is absolutely irresistible... because here's a secret: it's basically vanilla buttercream. Softened butter, powdered sugar, and extra vanilla are creamed together with an egg into a thick buttercream base. Flour, baking powder, and salt are whisked in, creating a dough that tastes like frosting and bakes up into puffy vanilla sugar clouds.

Just these vanilla butter cookie bottoms alone, without the hidden Oreo surprise inside, are one of the best-tasting things I have ever baked.

And nestled inside these sugar bombs?

A chocolatey, cakey-soft mini Oreo cookie!

I've made Oreo-stuffed chocolate chip cookies before but these were even better.

Because raspberry kisses!

Any chocolate-raspberry candy will work if these pink Kisses have disappeared til next February. Why are the best things seasonal? I feel like raspberry kisses could totally be a March thing. Don't you?

There's cookies baked with love and then there's cookies baked with everything you love. I think this might be both. Get into it before everything's green and chocolate-stout-flavored!

Oreo-Stuffed White Chocolate Raspberry Kiss Cookies

Printable Recipe

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/4 cup (2 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (8 ounce) package mini Oreos
Hershey Raspberry Hugs
Granulated sugar, for rolling cookies in

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray or line with a Silpat baking mat. Set aside. 

Unwrap Hershey kisses and place in a small bowl in the freezer until ready for use. (Make sure there's room in your freezer for a cookie sheet too.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and egg for 2-3 minutes until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat an additional 1-2 minutes, until well combined. 

Scoop dough using a teaspoon: place a mini Oreo cookie on top of a teaspoon of cookie dough, then another teaspoon scoop of dough on top. Press dough around the edges until Oreo is completely covered, then gently roll into a ball, roll in granulated sugar, and place on prepared baking sheet 1-inch apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and gently press a frozen Hershey kiss into the center of each cookie, pushing down slightly until edges began to crack. Immediately place cookie sheet in the freezer for 5-10 minutes or until chocolate is set. (Tip: I moved my cookie sheets from the freezer to the refrigerator after five minutes to allow the cookies to cool completely without the Kisses melting). 

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Source: Adapted from Recipe Girl.