Cookies!

I am blatantly using the Christmas luncheon this upcoming week as a reason to make Christmas cookies.  John and I are just two people and cannot eat dozens of cookies by ourselves (without bad consequences!), so I make cookies for pot-luck events and give half of them away.  That way, we can have cookies without getting too fat.  Today I decided to make two of my favorites:  (peanut butter) Kissie cookies and (almond shortbread) Candy Cane cookies.  The Candy Cane dough is chilling in the fridge as we speak, so I will post that recipe at another point in time.

Kissie Cookies (or if you are crazy, "Peanut Butter Blossoms")

1  3/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
pinch salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar (plus extra in small bowl to roll in before baking)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 tbs milk
14 oz  bag Hershey chocolate Kisses (they sell them in 12oz or 19oz - it's trifling to count Kissies to fit the exact number of cookies, but the 19oz bag gives you some extras afterward)

Makes about 5-6 dozen
Preheat at 375

1.  In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.
2.  In bowl #2, blend together the sugars and the butters until smooth.  Beat in the egg.  Add milk and vanilla.
3.  Add flour mixture in small amounts.
4.  Shape dough into small balls, about the size of a large marble/ smaller than a quarter.  Roll balls in white sugar and place on baking sheet.  Cook at 375 for 7-10 minutes.
5.  As cookies are baking, peel as many Kissies as you have cookies in the oven.  When cookies come out, place a Kiss on each cookie, let sit for a minute and then press deeper into the cookie.  The Kiss should have softened enough to melt into the cookie and seal itself in place.  (We used to challenge ourselves as children, how many "petticoats" you could put on the Kiss before it completely melted.)  If you don't double-press, then the Kiss won't be secured to the cookie well and will tend to fall off in storage /transport.

* Do not eat these fresh out of the oven!  The chocolate becomes molten and VERY HOT!  Partially cooled, however, is DELICIOUS when the chocolate has not fully hardened. 

** Cool cookies COMPLETELY before storing.  As noted twice already, the entire Kiss will soften from the heat of the cookie, and if you place them in a container before they harden again, you will get a BIG MESS!

John is waiting patiently...