Christmas Cookies – Pretzel and Hershey Kiss Bites

It is holiday season, and one thing that I probably would never thought I would really get into from a cooking experience is baking cookies. I think that ‘time’ is currently on my hand and when I heard my wife and daughter talking about making cookies for guests this year, I decided I would get my feet wet and dive in. This baking of sweets is something I typically always stay on the sidelines with as I am not into desserts or sweets (I stand corrected), so I have always let my wife take the lead during this time of year.

I’ve said it countless times of how I am not into desserts, and I stood by that for many, many years. That is until recently. Now, I cannot get enough of sweets, whether it is candy, cookies, bars, or anything in between… I am trying these sweets, loving every bite, and making attempts at baking. So to say the least, I have been on a roll in the baking zone now for nearly a few weeks now, typically batching out at least two different types of holiday cookies a week. This recipe is just too simple not to make and the combination of sweet and salty just make them very addictive. These are the Pretzel and Hershey Kiss bites.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

• 1 bag mini salted pretzels
• 1 bag Hershey Kisses
• 1 bag Christmas colored M&Ms
• Parchment paper, optional

That’s it. Sometimes it is crazy to think about how little a few ingredients combined can make something so delicious and addictive. This is one of those.

Preheat oven to 175 degrees.

Now for the monotonous part, and a great task to hand over to kids. In my case I was home alone and I had to take this one over. Talk about a test of patience, this is it but if you can get over this hurdle, then you are going to be a winner.

Lay the pretzels onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Unwrap and place a Hershey Kiss onto the center of each pretzel piece.

Repeat until all pretzels are completed. Place the sheet(s) into the preheated oven and bake for about 7-10 minutes, making sure that the kisses do not melt. You want the chocolate to be nice and glossy.

Carefully remove them from the oven and gently push a M&M piece into the Hershey Kiss. Repeat (again, super monotonous) until all Kisses have been topped. I place the baking sheets in my garage for about 10 minutes to set. Did I mention I love having the garage as my second refrigerator/freezer?

Once the chocolate is cool and hardened a bit, plate them up, take a few for snacking, and freeze what you want in a ziplock bag for future holiday plating.

Your patience will pay off, trust me. I know mine was well worth it seeing the expressions on my kids faces, and their constant intake of these little morsels. Hope you enjoy and I’m curious as I trek through lots of holiday baking… what is your favorite holiday cookie?