These Chocolate Caramel Blossoms, also known as Hershey Kiss Cookies, are one cookie you must add to your holiday baking list! They're soft and chocolatey cookies that are rolled in sugar and topped with Hershey Caramel Kisses! You can try different sugars to roll them in too, like I did! They're the cousin to my popular Classic Peanut Butter Blossoms recipe, are simple to make, and absolutely delicious!
How to Make the Best Chocolate Caramel Blossoms
Ingredients needed: all-purpose flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, salt, dutch process baking cocoa, unsalted butter, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, 1 egg, milk, vanilla extract, and 1 bag of Hershey caramel kisses
Optional toppings: sea salt flakes, salted caramel sugar, dark cocoa sugar
Just like the classic, these Chocolate Caramel Blossoms will be a very easy recipe to make! You'll need either a hand mixer or a stand mixer to bring the ingredients together, along with a small bowl, cookie sheets, parchment paper, and 1 or 2 wire cooling racks. Basically your essential cookie making tools! This chocolate caramel blossoms recipe does come with a cookie dough chill time of a minimum of 1 hour.
When ready to bake, you’ll roll the dough into roughly 1-inch size balls and then roll them in granulated sugar. Space them out roughly 2″ apart on the lined cookie sheet, then bake for 6-8 minutes at 375ºF. You'll then remove the cookies from the oven and add Hershey Caramel Kiss to each one. Then it's back into the oven for another 2 minutes! Allow them to cool on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before you transfer them to a wire cooling rack.
Recommend Cookie Baking Tools
Cookie FAQs
Chilling this chocolate caramel blossoms cookie dough will help keep the dough together as you shape them into the cookie dough balls. It will also prevent them from spreading out too much while baking.
Granulated sugar is what you typically roll blossoms in before you bake them, however, for this recipe you can have some fun and change it up! I rolled half of my cookie dough in a salted caramel sugar and the other half in a dark cocoa sugar. Both gave them a really nice flavor and a little crunch.
No, this chocolate caramel blossoms cookie dough does not need to be flattened. You will bake them shaped as the cookie dough balls that have been rolled in sugar. Cookie balls that do get flattened slightly are these Almond Sprinkle Cookies.
Quick Tips Before Starting
- The recommended baking time for these blossoms are 6-8 minutes at 375ºF.
- There is a 1 hour minimum chill time for this recipe. My preference is always to chill the dough for longer or overnight.
- When you remove the chocolate caramel blossoms from the oven after the first round of baking, make sure you wear oven gloves! I like to keep an oven glove resting on the cookie sheet as a reminder that I need to put it back on.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack. They'll still be soft, so use a spatula and handle with care.
- As the chocolate caramel blossoms bake, unwrap the Hershey caramel kisses and put them into a bowl. When you pull the cookies out to add the kisses, this will make it go much faster!
- The salted caramel and dark cocoa sugars came from a local shop called The Spice & Tea Exchange® in Lancaster, PA. Awesome place and they have so many different tea and sugars to try!
- Add a slice of bread with your chocolate caramel blossoms in your cookie container or cookie jar. It helps to keep them from drying out. It works, I promise!
More Holiday Cookie Inspiration!
- Chocolate Pinwheel Cookies
- Super Soft Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
- Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
- Homemade Butter Cookies
- Classic Peanut Butter Blossoms
Chocolate Caramel Blossoms
Author:Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ cup Dutch Process Baking Cocoa
- ½ cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- ½ cup Granulated Sugar, plus additional for coating of cookies
- ½ cup Light Brown Sugar
- 1 Large Egg
- 2 tbsp Milk, 1%, 2%, or Fat-free
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 10 oz bag of Hershey Caramel Kisses
- Sea Salt Flakes, optional
- Salted Caramel Sugar, optional
- Dark Cocoa Sugar, optional
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, salt, and dutch process baking cocoa. Set to the side.
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream together the unsalted butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
- Add in the large egg, milk, and vanilla extract. Scrape down sides of the bowl as needed.
- Reduce your mixer speed to a slower setting and gradually add in the whisked dry mixture until it's completely blended. The dough will be on the thicker side.
- Tightly wrap the top of the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and chill the cookie dough for a minimum of 1 hour or overnight.
- After dough has chilled, adjust your oven rack to the 2nd level position (just above center) and preheat your oven to 375ºF. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Using a spoon, scoop out a small amount of cookie dough, and shape it into 1-inch size balls.
- Roll each ball in a small bowl of granulated sugar (or a flavored sugar of your choice), then place on the cookie sheet, spacing them out approximately 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 6-8 minutes at 375ºF. While your cookies bake, unwrap the number of Hershey Caramel Kisses you'll need.
- When ready, remove the chocolate caramel blossoms from the oven. As you place a Hershey Caramel Kiss on top of each cookie, press down gently to spread the cookie out slightly. The cookie should show cracks as you do this, and it's totally okay! Then return the cookies to the oven and bake for 2 minutes longer.
- Cool the cookies on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooking rack to cool completely.
- Keep the cookies stored in an airtight container or cookie jar with a slice of bread for up to a week.
Gina Fabrizio says
Can you eliminate the cinnamon? I have someone who has an allergy to it but these look amazing!!!!
Jennifer says
Yes, absolutely! It's just there to give the chocolate a little oomph in flavor!
Janice says
Can you substitute for the dutch process cocoa? It says online that I will have to add a little more than 1/4 t of baking soda, I am nervous about that taste. I am curious how you decided to use dutch process cocoa. Thanks! This looks great!
Jennifer says
Hi, thanks! I didn't test them this way, so I can't say for certain how they would turn out, but you can always try it! My reason for using the dutch process was simply because I had some extra on hand I wanted to use. I also like the taste of it sometimes over unsweetened cocoa powder 🙂