Holiday Baking

The Holidays just don't seem complete without some tasty treats being baked up in the Hirabayashi kitchen with the help of my two little rascals.  In years past I have made many more treats and exchanged with friends, but with my surgery so close to the Holidays I decided to scale it down a bit.  This year I tried out a new recipe, Macarroon Kiss Cookies aka Almond Joy cookies and they were delish!  We also made chocolate dipped pretzels and magic bars.  Yummmm...We shared our holiday treats with a few neighbors and close friends.

I knew this was a risky task for the boys to help me with and inevitably more kisses would end up in their tummies than on the cookie sheet!  That's part of the fun though, right? 

 Whatcha go there Camp?  I dunno?

Really?  Where'd all the chocolate go?  

MACAROON KISS COOKIES  (aka ALMOND JOY COOKIES)

1/3 cup butter, softened

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

2 tsp. almond extract

2 tsp. orange juice

1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

5 cups sweetened coconut flakes, divided

8 oz. bag Hershey's Kisses

 

Beat butter, cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until well blended.  Add egg yolk, almond extract and orange juice; beat well.  Stir together flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until well blended.  Stir in 3 cups coconut flakes.

Cover; refrigerate 1 hour or until firm enough to handle.  (Dough will keep refrigerated for a few days)  Remove wrappers from Hershey's Kisses.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll balls in remaining coconut flakes.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.  Remove from oven; immediately press chocolate kisses on top of each cookie.  Cool 1 minute; carefully remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.  Cool completely.  Makes about 4 dozen.

 

My sister in law makes a few changes when making the cookies.  She adds an extra tsp. of almond extract and an extra 1 oz. of cream cheese.  She also puts about 3 1/2 - 4 cups of coconut into the cookie batter and then doesn't roll the cookie balls in the coconut so it is more like a cookie & less like a macaroon.  

Happy Holiday Baking!