If you’re looking for a cookie that feels festive, looks stunning on a holiday tray, and delivers that perfect balance of buttery sweetness with a chocolate center—these Cherry Kiss Cookies are the answer. They’ve been in my rotation for years, and every time I bake them, they disappear quickly.
Our Experience Developing This Recipe
When we first made these, we found a lot of versions online that were either too dry or so sweet they masked the cherry flavor.
We tested several batches, adjusting the ratio of butter to flour and making sure the dough had just the right amount of cherry juice. Our goal was a cookie that holds its shape but melts in your mouth—and that’s exactly what this version does.
Ingredients For Our Cookie Recipe:
Ingredient Notes
Butter – Use real unsalted butter for the richest flavor. Margarine won’t give the same results.
The extra two tablespoons of flour tossed with the cherries prevents streaks of wetness in the baked cookies. Don’t leave this ingredient out.
Lessons Learned Based On Our Extensive Recipe Testing
Make sure you drain and blot dry the cherries, it prevents excess moisture making the dough gummy.
Chop the cherries finely and evenly so they properly distribute in the dough. Don’t use a food processor or they’ll get too wet.
Chill the dough briefly before rolling; it makes shaping easier and ensures the cookies don’t spread too much.
1. Rolling the cookie in granulated sugar not only gives the cookie a subtle sparkle, it also keeps the outside from drying out too quickly while baking.
2. Bake until just lightly golden at the edges. Overbaking makes the cookies crumbly instead of soft.
3. Press the Kiss in gently right after removing the cookies from the oven. If the cookies have cooled too much, it won’t adhere.
Cherry Kiss Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- ¾ cup finely chopped maraschino cherries, from a 12-ounce jar of cherries that have been drained (reserving 1 ½ tablespoon juice for the dough)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, for the cookie dough
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, for the chopped cherries
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 ½ tablespoons maraschino cherry juice, from the jar of maraschino cherries
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 to 6 drops red food coloring, optional
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 36 Hershey’s Kiss chocolate candies
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Drain the jar of maraschino cherries, reserving 1 ½ tablespoons of the juice, then pat the cherries dry with a paper towel.
- Finely chop the cherries, add to a small bowl and toss to coat with 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour. This helps ensure the cherries evenly distribute into the dough when mixed. Set aside.
- Add the remaining 2 cups of all-purpose flour and salt to a separate bowl and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and powdered sugar, using a handheld mixer on medium speed, for 1 to 2 minutes or until smooth and fluffy.
- Add the reserved 1 ½ tablespoons cherry juice, almond extract, and vanilla extract to the butter mixture. Beat again until fully incorporated.
- Slowly add the flour mixture to the bowl, mixing on low speed just until all the flour is fully incorporated. The dough will be stiff. If adding red food coloring to the dough, start with 2 to 3 drops, mix to incorporate, adding an additional 1 to 2 drops if desired to achieve a pink cookie dough color.
- Using a rubber spatula, stir in the reserved chopped maraschino cherries until well distributed into the cookie dough.
- Using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop a level amount of dough and gently roll into a smooth ball in the palm of your hands.
- Roll the smooth ball in the granulated sugar just to lightly coat before placing onto a prepared cookie sheet. Repeat until all the cookies have been scooped and rolled in the sugar. Place the cookies 1 ½ to 2 inches apart on each cookie sheet. 12 to 15 cookies should easily fit onto a large (approximately 12×16 inch) baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies in the center of the oven for 10 to 12 minutes or just until lightly golden around the bottom edges of the cookies.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and gently press a single Hershey’s Kiss chocolate candy into the center of each warm cookie being careful not to push it too far into the cookie but just enough to slightly spread the cookie and for the candy to not fall off the top once cooled and set.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before plating and serving.
Notes
- If you prefer to not add the red food coloring to your cookie dough, but want to have your finished cookies look a little more pink, you can substitute pink sanding sugar sprinkles for the granulated sugar in the recipe.
Nutrition
Serving Suggestions
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before serving or storing.
Storage Instructions
The cookies store well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days. They also freeze beautifully for up to three months.
More Kiss Cookies
- Chocolate Kiss Cookies
- Gingerbread Kiss Cookies
- Candy Cane Kiss Cookies
- Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Coconut Blossoms
Comments
Roberta Juhasz says
These look so good
Adriana says
This recipe is so good! I made a batch for Valentine’s Day and everyone loved them (adults and children)! Thank you =)