Its Christmas time & I'm back!!

It has been a very long time since I have seen the pages of this sweet little blog! A lot of changes have happened. I moved into a sweet little West End apartment in the city with two of my best lady friends,I have a fun new job and I have finally allowed myself to take time to enjoy the holidays. 

One of my favorite parts of the holidays are the baked goods! What sweet delights come out of this seasons. Gingerbread houses, sugar cookies, pies, candy and frosting galore. I have had plenty of time to do some fun holiday baking these past two days including sugar cookies, an apple cranberry pie (post to come soon) and these fabulous, fabulous Chocolate Crinkle Cookies with Peppermint Kisses. I actually did so much baking these past few days I needed to go to the store for confectioners sugar two different times!

I wanted to bring a special holiday treat to my co-workers, considering how hard we all work around this time of year, they most definitely deserve it. I found the recipe while pinteresting of course on the Bakergirl's Blog. She has some wonderful recipes on there, including this one! 

The first step to these cookies was to unwrap my most favorite type of Hersey Kisses. These are the kisses that only come out once a year.. The Candy Cane Kisses! 

So yummy!! If you like white chocolate and peppermint, get these while they're available!!

After you have all your kisses unwrapped throw them in the freezer until you are ready to use them. This will ensure that they are nice and hard when you are ready to put them on your cookies. Next step, Whisk together your Flour, Cocoa, Baking Powder and salt. This will give you the base for your cookie batter. 

Then in a large bowl mix up the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Stir this up until it is completely combined, then add your dry ingredients. This is where my sweet, sweet Kitchenaid mixer comes in handy. This batter got really, really thick and incredibly hard to mix with my moms little wooden spoon! 

The batter needs to be in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. This left plenty of time to sit down with a cup of hot cocoa and mom and watch one of our favorite Christmas movies The Family Stone. 

After we finished the movie it was time to get back to it! I preheated the oven to 350 and started scooping about a tablespoon out of the batter. I then rolled the little cookie balls into powdered sugar until they were covered and lined them on a baking sheet. 

 

They only needed to be in the oven for about 12 minutes. Once I popped them out of the oven I gave each cookie a Peppermint Kiss and put the entire baking sheet into the freezer for a few minutes to allow the kisses to set into the cookie. They came out wonderfully, they are just as tasty as they look! I could not be happier with the outcome. I hope my co-workers love them as much as I do!

 

 I am glad to be back! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. Remember to hug those close to you, and take time for yourself. Merry, Merry Christmas!

Chocolate Crinkle Kiss Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar

Assorted Hershey Kisses (for these I used Hershey Hugs, mint truffle, cherry cordial, & peppermint kisses) 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. 

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Stir flour mixture into sugar mixture, until just combined. Place plastic wrap over bowl and refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours.

Meanwhile unwrap Hershey kisses, place in a small bowl, and freeze until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or spray with baking spray; set aside. Place powdered sugar in a small bowl; set aside. 

Scoop dough into 1/2 tablespoon balls, roll in powdered sugar, and place on baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes, until cookies crackle and no longer look raw (they'll start to look cakey). 

Remove from oven. Immediately press a frozen kiss into each cookie, then place cookie sheet into the freezer just until chocolate is set and no longer shiny. Remove from freezer and allow to cool completely.

 

Recipe Adapted from the Bakergirl