These Chocolate Caramel Blossoms, or Hershey Kiss Cookies, are one cookie you must add to your holiday baking list! They're soft, chocolatey cookies rolled in sugar and topped with Hershey Caramel Kisses! As I did, you can also try different sugars to roll them in! They're the cousin to my popular Classic Peanut Butter Blossoms recipe, are simple to make, and absolutely delicious!
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How to Make the Best Chocolate Caramel Blossoms
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.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together. This includes all-purpose flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, salt, and dutch process baking cocoa.
- Mix the wet ingredients. Beat together the unsalted butter and sugars until light in color and fluffy in texture. Add in the egg, milk, and vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. The dough will be on the thicker side.
- Chill the dough. Tightly wrap the top of the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and chill the cookie dough for a minimum of 1 hour or overnight.
- Roll the cookie dough balls in sugar. You may use granulated sugar or a flavored sugar of your choice. Place on the cookie sheet, spacing them out approximately 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes, if desired.
- Bake for 6-8 minutes at 375ºF. While your cookies bake, unwrap the number of Hershey Caramel Kisses you'll need.
- Top each cookie with a Hershey's caramel kiss. Return the cookies to the oven for an additional 2 minutes. It will make the chocolate kisses very soft but will hold their shape and will not melt.
- Cool the chocolate caramel blossom cookies. Leave them on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to the cooling racks.
- Store the cookies. Keep the cookies stored in an airtight container or cookie jar with a slice of bread for up to a week.
Helpful Tips Before Starting
- 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 must put it back on.
- Allow the chocolate caramel blossom 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 them carefully.
- As the chocolate caramel blossoms bake, unwrap the Hershey's 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 chocolate caramel blossoms to your cookie container or cookie jar. It helps to keep them from drying out.
Pinwheel Cookies 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.
You typically roll blossoms in granulated sugar 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 salted caramel sugar and the other half in 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 cookie dough balls that have been rolled in sugar. Cookie balls that do get flattened slightly are these Almond Sprinkle Cookies.
Baking the chocolate caramel blossoms with Hershey's caramel kisses on top for the additional 2 minutes will not cause them to melt. They will become very soft; however, so be mindful when transferring them to the cooling racks.
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Caramel Blossoms
Author:Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon 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 tablespoon Milk (1%, 2%, or Fat-free)
- 1 teaspoon 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.1 ¾ cup All-Purpose Flour, 1 teaspoon Baking Powder, 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon, ½ teaspoon Salt, ½ cup Dutch Process Baking Cocoa
- 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.½ cup Unsalted Butter, ½ cup Granulated Sugar, ½ cup Light Brown Sugar
- Add in the large egg, milk, and vanilla extract. Scrape down sides of the bowl as needed.1 Large Egg, 2 tablespoon Milk, 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 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. Sprinkle the tops with some sea salt flakes, if desired.Salted Caramel Sugar, Dark Cocoa Sugar, Sea Salt Flakes
- Bake for 6-8 minutes at 375ºF. While your cookies bake, unwrap the number of Hershey Caramel Kisses you'll need.10 oz bag of Hershey Caramel Kisses
- 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.
Recipe Notes
- Recipe adapted from my late Grammy's Classic Peanut Butter Blossoms.❤️
Nutrition
Nutritonal information provided above is an estimate only and will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Lucy says
Hershey’s doesn’t make the caramel kisses anymore. It’s a shame because they were great on this cookie. Have to use Rolos I guess.
Jennifer says
Oh that stinks! Rolos will work fine too though.
Amy K Ziegler says
these are awesome! but I used rolos!
Jennifer says
Thanks for the review! I really need to try the recipe with rolos next time I make them!
Michelle says
Though tasty... these baked far too flat for my liking.
Jennifer says
Oh, bummer, I'm sorry they came out like that! Glad to hear they were still yummy, though. Thank you for the feedback!
Kendall says
I wasn’t able to find the caramel kisses so I used rolos on half the batch and cookies and cream kisses on the other half. Both received rave reviews!!
Jennifer says
Oh, I love those swaps for the caramel kisses! Thank you for making the recipe!
Erin says
I made these and used the Peppermint Candy Kisses, so good!
Jennifer says
Ooh, I love that! Thank you for making them!
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 🙂
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!