It’s time to deck the halls and your cookie plates with these irresistible toffee cookies topped with Hershey’s Kisses. These festive treats are the perfect addition to your Christmas cookie lineup, with their buttery, caramelized toffee flavor and the delightful chocolate kiss nestled on top.
These cookies have a rich, buttery base, with the warm flavor of toffee shining through every bite. A Hershey’s Kiss on top is a festive touch, and it introduces a delightful contrast between smooth, creamy chocolate and crisp, crumbly cookie.
When it comes to Christmas cookies, these really stand out among the sea of sugar cookies and gingerbread men. While I technically used Hershey’s Hugs to top these cookies, I consider any chocolate candy with the iconic teardrop shape to be a Kiss, at least in spirit!
The combination of white and milk chocolate that melts in your mouth with the toffee cookie is fabulous—especially if you eat them while the candy is still a little bit melty and gooey! These babies are perfect for holiday cookie swaps, after-school snacks, or just a little pick-me-up in the middle of the day.
In this post, I’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of creating these festive treats. I’ll also share some tips for storing and packaging your cookies and some variations to make these treats your own. This sweet, crunchy, and irresistible treat will become a new favorite.
Looking for more Christmas treats? Make red velvet cookies, Christmas magic bars, or churros cookies!
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🥘Ingredient Notes
For exact amounts needed see the recipe card below
These simple cookies use mostly baking staples, including white sugar, butter, eggs, flour, baking powder, and salt.
You will also need:
- Cream cheese: The cream cheese adds a subtle tangy flavor and helps keep the cookies nice and moist.
- Toffee bits: These little nuggets of crunchy, buttery goodness are what make these cookies so addictive. You can find them in the baking aisle of most grocery stores.
- Hershey’s Kisses: You can use any type of Kisses you like. For these photos, I used Hugs, a swirled combination of creamy white and smooth milk chocolate.
🥣How to Make Toffee Cookies with Kisses
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line a few baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter, white sugar, and cream cheese until light and fluffy. This will take about 3-4 minutes with an electric mixer. Then, beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure each one is fully incorporated before adding the next.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mixing at low speed until combined. Be careful not to overmix.
- Fold in the toffee bits until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
- Use a small cookie scoop or a spoon to portion out the dough into 1-inch balls, placing them about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 9-10 minutes, until the edges start turning golden brown.
- While the cookies are baking, unwrap the Hershey’s candy so they’re ready to go. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, gently press a kiss into the center of each one. The heat from the cookie will melt the chocolate just enough to make it stick.
- Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. As they cool, the kisses will harden back up.
🍴Serving Ideas
Now you have soft, chewy, toffee-studded cookies with a chocolatey kiss in the middle. They’re the perfect combination of sweet, salty, crunchy, and chewy – everything you could want in a cookie!
Here are some serving ideas:
- For the holidays, arrange the cookies on a pretty platter or tray along with some other festive treats like fudge, peppermint bark, or sugar cookies.
- Or package the cookies in cellophane bags or festive tins and give them as gifts to your friends, neighbors, or coworkers. Tie the bags with a ribbon and add a cute gift tag for a personal touch.
- Tuck a couple of cookies into your kids’ (or your own!) lunchbox for a sweet midday surprise.
💭How to Store
Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. The kisses will harden in an hour or so, so be careful how you handle them; otherwise, you might smoosh them.
If you want to save some cookies for another day (or a midnight snack emergency), you can freeze them for up to 3 months. Place the cookies in a single layer on a baking sheet, freeze until solid, then transfer to a freezer-safe container or plastic bag.
When you’re ready to eat them, let them thaw at room temperature for a few hours or pop them in the microwave for a few seconds to warm them up.
⭐Tips
Be sure to check out the step by step instructions
- One of the most common mistakes people make when baking cookies is leaving them in the oven too long. When you take them out, they should be just barely golden around the edges. They’ll continue to cook and firm up as they cool on the baking sheet.
- Not every cookie will come out of the oven looking like a magazine cover. Some might be a little lopsided, and some might have a few extra crispy edges. But that’s okay! Those little imperfections are what make homemade cookies so charming and delicious.
- This recipe makes about 72 cookies, depending on how big you scoop them. That’s a large batch, perfect for sharing or freezing for later. If you don’t need quite that many cookies, you can easily halve the recipe.
- You can freeze the unbaked dough. Scoop the dough into balls and place them on a baking sheet in the freezer until solid. Then, transfer the frozen dough balls to a freezer-safe bag or container and store them for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to bake, just add a minute or two to the baking time to account for the frozen dough.
- If you are making a whole batch of cookies, it can be fun to switch up the type of Kisses you use and create a variety of flavors. I like the combo of white and milk chocolate in Hugs, but classic Hershey’s Kisses work great, too. You can also try less common flavors, like Truffle or Hot Chocolate Kisses.
- Whatever Kisses you use, make sure they’re unwrapped and ready to go when the cookies come out of the oven.
- If you can’t find toffee bits at your local grocery store, you can easily make your own by crushing up some Heath bars or other toffee candy. Just place the candy in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin or mallet to break it into small pieces. You can also substitute chopped nuts or chocolate chips if you prefer.
⭐Did You Make This? Leave a Star Rating!
Toffee Cookies with Hershey’s Kisses Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- 1 ⅓ cups butter softened
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 2 eggs
- 4 cups flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups toffee bits
- 72 Hershey’s Kisses
Instructions
- Cream the butter, sugar, and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.1 ½ cups white sugar, 1 ⅓ cups butter, 8 ounces cream cheese, 2 eggs
- In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the cream cheese mixture and mix.4 cups flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- Stir in the toffee bits.2 cups toffee bits
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line some baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop the dough into 1-inch balls and put them on the baking sheets.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes, until the edges are just browning.
- While the cookies bake, unwrap the Hershey’s kisses. Once the cookies are done, press an unwrapped candy on the center of each cookie.72 Hershey’s Kisses
- After 5 minutes, move the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Notes
- Take the cookies out when they are just barely golden around the edges. They’ll continue to cook and firm up as they cool on the baking sheet.
- This recipe makes about 72 cookies, depending on how big you scoop them. That’s a large batch, perfect for sharing or freezing for later. You can easily halve the recipe.
- If you are making a whole batch of cookies, it can be fun to switch up the type of Kisses you use and create a variety of flavors. I like the combo of white and milk chocolate in Hugs, but classic Hershey’s Kisses work great, too. You can also try less common flavors, like Truffle or Hot Chocolate Kisses.
- Whatever Kisses you use, make sure they’re unwrapped and ready to go when the cookies come out of the oven.
- If you can’t find toffee bits at your local grocery store, you can easily make your own by crushing up some Heath bars or other toffee candy. Just place the candy in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin or mallet to break it into small pieces. You can also substitute chopped nuts or chocolate chips if you prefer.
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition facts are estimates.
No vanilla? They don’t have much taste. I also should have used the toffe bits with chocolate. Maybe that would provide more flavor.