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Dark Chocolate cookies with a candy cane kiss swirl topping

dark chocolate candy cane kiss cookies

Y’all have been so patient about waiting for this recipe!  It’s been such a busy week and weekend – phew!  Thanks for waiting, y’all!

These cookies are ridiculously delicious with the combination of rich dark chocolate and the cool zing from the creamy, delicious candy cane kisses. YUM.  They were devoured by my family (Nathan even gave me a high five) and the staff at the school loved them and were begging for the recipe, too!

These aren’t a quick-throw-together cookie, they require melting and chilling, but they are SO worth it.

In a saucepan place butter and dark brown sugar with a bit of water – stir frequently until the butter is melted

brown sugar and butter

Add in dark chocolate chips and stir frequently until almost all the chocolate is melted; remove from heat and continue to stir until the chocolate chips are full melted, add 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste to this and stir well. Pour into your large mixing bowl and let cool for about 10 minutes – stirring it around a couple of times to help the cooling process.

While the chocolate is cooling off: Sift 3 Cups of flour. From the sifted flour carefully measure out 2 1/2 Cups of flour and add it to a large mixing bowl. To the flour, add 1 1/4 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt – sift together.

When the cooling off time is over for the chocolate mixture (sounds like it’s been in trouble, doesn’t it?) beat in one egg at a time on high speed.
Reduce speed to low and add in dry ingredients, mixing until just blended – don’t forget to scrape the sides.
Chill the dough for about an hour in the fridge
While the dough is chilling, unwrap a bag of candy cane kiss candies (having the kids help do this is fun, but beware of sneaky candy cane kiss devourers)
Pre-heat the oven to 350 F.
Roll dough into 1/2″-ish balls and place on un-greased cookie sheet or parchment lined cookie sheet about 1 1/2″ to 2″ apart.
cookie dough ready to bake

Bake about 7 minutes or until a piece of uncooked spaghetti  comes out clean (depends on your oven, could be up to 9 minutes) Do NOT overbake (you might want to test cook two cookies to see the timing in your oven)

baked cookies

Place a candy cane kiss in the middle of each hot out of the oven cookie

candy cane kiss topped chocolate cookies

After about 5 minutes, take a tooth pick and lightly swirl the kiss on the cookie, it will just melt down onto the cookie in a pretty swirl pattern

candy cane swirl

Remove these cookies from the cookie sheet, place on a baking rack and place in the fridge to chill and set the candy cane kiss swirl.

swirl cookies group

Serve straight out of the refrigerator or at room temperature – delicious either way!

chocolate swirl single

 

 

Dark Chocolate Christmas Temptation Cookies

Rich dark chocolate paired with Candy Cane Kiss candies, softened and swirled on top. These cookies are a heavenly little bite of Christmas.
Print Recipe
Prep Time:20 minutes
Cook Time:7 minutes
Total Time:27 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3/4 C 1 1/2 Sticks butter
  • 1 1/2 C packed dark brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp water
  • 2 1/4 C dark chocolate chips
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 1/2 C sifted all purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 bag Candy Cane Kiss candies

Instructions

  • Put butter, dark brown sugar and water in a large saucepan and stir over low heat until melted.
  • Add dark chocolate chips and stir until most of the chocolate chips are melted, remove from heat and continue to stir until all the chocolate is melted.
  • Add in 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste and mix well.
  • Pour into a large mixing bowl and allow to sit and cool for about 10 minutes, stirring a couple of times to help cooling.
  • Carefully measure 2 1/2 C of sifted all purpose flour into a large bowl; add in baking soda and salt - sift together
  • When the chocolate is cooler, add in one egg at a time beating each on high speed until completely blended.
  • Reduce the mixer speed to low and add in dry ingredients, don't forget to scrape the sides and bottom, until blended.
  • Chill the dough for about an hour - while it's chilling - unwrap the Candy Cane Kiss candies
  • Pre-heat the oven to 350 F
  • Roll dough into 1/2" to 1" balls and place on un-greased or parchment lined baking sheet about 1 1/2" apart.
  • Bake about 7 minutes (could be as long as 9 minutes - do NOT overbake)
  • When the cookies come out of the oven, place a Candy Cane Kiss on top of each hot cookie in the middle and let them sit about 5 minutes.
  • Using a toothpick, swirl the softened Candy Cane Kiss until you like the pattern, it will just melt down onto the cookie.
  • Remove the swirl topped cookies from the baking sheet and place them on a cooling rack in the refrigerator to set the candy.
  • Repeat with the rest of the dough and candies.
  • Serve chilled straight out of the refrigerator or at room temperature, either way - DELICIOUS!
Author: Rachel Matthews - A Southern Fairytale

I'm a deep-fried Southern belle, married to a cowboy boot wearin', Harley ridin’ Texan Prince Charming. I am the always proud and frequently exhausted mom to two 8th generation Texans My childhood was spent at my Granny's side learning to cook with cast iron, butter and that special southern ingredient -- love Today, I share my passion for food, family and photography with thousands of monthly readers on my blog, A Southern Fairytale. I love cute boots, my Canon camera, belly laughs with friends, the beach, my family and ellipses..."

29 Comments

    1. Thanks, Lisa!

      I kind of accidentally poked one of the kisses on my Candy Cane Kiss Butter Cookies and it slumped over… I thought how pretty it would be all swirly on a different kind of cookie.

      I ADORE chocolate and peppermint, thus — the creation of these cookies 😉

      Reply

  5. The cookies look amazing, I would have never guessed that you melted a candy cane kiss for the swirl! Love this idea.

    Reply

  6. Holy moly! I pinned this recipe earlier today and had no idea it was YOURS! It’s sure makin’ the rounds all over Pinterest! So excited: I have to make 6 dozen cookies for church next week and these? Are gonna be the ones.

    Reply

  8. Oh how yum! Those look gorgeous and ummm tastier than the mint sugar cookies with the mint kisses someone brought to my cookie exchange this weekend. I think these are officially on my list!

    Reply

  14. I am so excited to bake these cookies…unfortunately, I am unable to find vanilla bean paste; no one has heard of it, and many stores I have checked in the Omaha, NE area don’t carry it. Can I substitute the paste with something different? Thank you!

    Reply

  15. I made these and they turned out DELICIOUS! but my problem is that firstly, the batter was kind of liquid and almost looked like a thick frosting. After 3hrs. in the fridge it was easier to handle and roll into balls, but when baked, the cookies flattened and they look like pancakes! What did I do wrong? And what can I do to fix it?

    Reply

  18. I made these yesterday and they are going to be a new Christmas favorite in my house! They are so good. I used a small ice cream scoop to make the balls and it was very quick, no rolling… I had never heard of vanilla bean paste and found it at Williams Sonoma – looking forward to working with it. Thanks for posting another winner!

    Reply

  19. I found this recipe last year and made these. They were such a huge hit that I was yelled at for not making more. This year I posted the recipe on Facebook, and a number of my friends made them, as well! We also couldn’t find vanilla bean paste, but substituting vanilla extract works fine. Thanks for posting a recipe that’s been such a hit with the Christmas bakers I know!

    Reply

  20. Oh my goodness!! These look wonderful!! I’m definitely going to add this recipe to my Christmas treats trays this year!! Thanks for this great recipe!! ;o)

    Reply

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