Add a little festive color to your holiday cookie baking with this small batch of Sparkle Sugar Cookie Blossoms! Soft and tender vanilla sugar cookies are rolled in colored sprinkles and adorned with a Hershey Kiss to make a delightful batch of holiday sugar cookies.
Sparkle Sugar Cookie Blossoms
Why have just regular sugar cookies when you can have Sparkle Sugar Cookie Blossoms decorated in festive sparkle sprinkles! And, if you are not familiar with Blossom Cookies, they are cookies adorned with Hershey Kisses.
Traditional Blossom Cookies are made using a peanut butter dough. But for this Christmas cookie recipe, we are using a sugar cookie dough that will make the color of the ‘sparkles’ more pronounced.
These Sparkle Sugar Cookie Blossoms feature everything you love about a delicious sugar cookie recipe:
- Easy – The cookies come together easily and with only a few ingredients! But don’t skip the chill time!
- Soft and Tender – A little corn starch helps make the cookies tender – which is great for a puffier sugar cookie that is holding a Hershey Kiss!
- Warm Vanilla Flavor – Vanilla naturally has a warm flavor and the classic sugar cookie dough allows the flavor to shine.
- Festive for the Holidays – I might go as far to say Blossom Cookies with Hershey Kisses are a staple cookie for the holidays!
- Easily Decorated – These are, after all, a sugar cookie. Meaning they can take on any color or variety of holiday or celebration decoration you like!
- Sturdy Dough – The dough is sturdy enough to hold up in the freezer, if you want to make it ahead of time. A time saver if you have a lot of holiday baking on your list!
Small Batch Christmas Cookies
This small batch of Sparkle Sugar Cookie Blossoms is another Christmas cookie that you can add to your cookie swap or holiday goodie bag. The smaller batch allows you to make a variety of cookies, without having tons of leftovers laying around.
This small batch sugar cookie recipe yields 6 cookies. Though the number of cookies you get from the batch will depend on the size of cookie scoop you use. You can certainly make more cookies by make them smaller, or just a few by making healthy size cookies. Perhaps Santa would prefer a larger cookie?!
Want more Christmas Cookie recipes and ideas? Check out all of the Cookies Recipes on the blog for a delicious variety of small batch holiday cookies!
What You Need To Make Sparkle Sugar Cookie Blossoms
Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour – If you are looking for a gluten free sugar cookie, you can try the Small Batch GF Sugar Cookies on the blog. But note that the gluten free cookies are soft.
- Baking Powder
- Corn Starch – I use corn starch in the recipe to make sure the sugar cookies stay soft and tender.
- Salt – The salt brings out the flavors in the cookies, and balances the sweetness.
- Unsalted Butter – Make sure the butter is room temperature.
- Granulated Sugar – Regular white sugar or organic cane sugar will work.
- Egg Yolk – For the leftover egg white, you can make a batch of the Gluten Free Sugar Cookies or Flourless Chocolate Cookies.
- Vanilla Extract – Vanilla bean paste is also a delicious alternative to make the vanilla flavor more pronounced in these cookies.
- Hershey Kisses
- Holiday Sprinkles – I recommend the sprinkles that are like colored sugar for the ‘sparkle’ in these Blossom Sparkle Sugar Cookies.
Baking Equipment
- Baking Sheet and Parchment Paper
- Mixing Bowl
- Hand Held Mixer
- Smaller Cookie Scoop – I used a smaller cookies scoop for this recipe – a #50 cookie scoop that is about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons. You can use any size cookie scoop you prefer – keeping in mind the size of the scoop will impact the number of cookies you yield.
Tips For Making Sparkle Sugar Cookie Blossoms
- Bring the butter to room temperature – Room temperature butter is much easier to mix.
- The cornstarch makes the cookies soft and tender – While I don’t use cornstarch in a lot (most), of the cookie recipes on the blog, I love how it makes these sugar cookies tender.
- Don’t skip chilling the dough – Chilling the dough allows the butter to set, the dough to hydrate, and all of the flavors to develop. It also helps the cookies from spreading too much.
- Try vanilla bean paste – Not a must, but vanilla bean paste has a much more pronounced and warm vanilla flavor. A worthy investment if you bake a lot of cookies and cakes!
- Make the dough ahead of time – If you are in full-on Christmas cookie baking mode, you can make the dough ahead of time and freeze it. Just thaw it in the refrigerator before your shape it and bake it.
- Use your stand mixer if you have a smaller mixing bowl – I only recommend the stand mixer if you have a smaller 3 quart mixing bowl that fits your standard mixer. I use this 3 quart bowl for my regular tilt-head stand mixer, and it works with the standard attachments!
- Use the colored sprinkles that look like colored sugar – If you want to achieve the ‘sparkle’ in the cookies. Otherwise, you can certainly use any holiday sprinkle you like!
- Press the Hershey Kiss into the middle of the cookie as soon as they come out of the oven – The cookies should still be warm so the Hershey Kiss will press in easier.
FAQ
I have not tested it, but I think it would turn out ok.
I have not tested the recipe with a 1:1 gluten free flour. However, you can try the Small Batch Gluten Free Sugar Cookie recipe on the blog. Just note that the gluten free cookies are softer and chewier – not great for cut-out cookies.
It will. But keep in mind this is a smaller batch and you many not yield many cookies. You can try my other Sugar Cookie recipe on the blog, designed for cut-out cookies. Just omit the spices.
No, the Kiss will melt. The Hershey Kiss goes on top of the cookies immediately after they are baked.
Yes, this dough can be frozen for up to 3 months. Shape the dough into a disc, wrap generously in plastic wrap, and place in a Ziploc bag to freeze. Thaw in the refrigerator when ready to use.
Yes, the cookies can be frozen up to 3 months. Either in a Tupperware, or gently placed in a Ziploc bag. Defrost the cookies at room temperature – may take 1 to 3 hours.
More Christmas Cookie Ideas
- Pecan Brown Sugar Cookies
- Molasses Crinkle Cookies
- Candy Cane Cookies
- Marshmallow Sugar Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies (Small Batch)
- Small Batch Snickerdoodles
Sparkle Sugar Cookie Blossoms
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup +1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon corn starch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 Hershey Kisses
- sprinkles
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the butter and sugar. Use a hand held mixer and on medium speed, mix until light and creamy. Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract and continue to beat until the mix is light and creamy.
- Sprinkle half of the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until just incorporated. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until no dry streaks remain. Note – You can also mix in the dry ingredients by hand using a sturdy wooden spoon.
- Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes.
- With 15 minutes left of chill time, preheat the oven to 350F degrees and adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
- Add your sprinkles to small bowls, and unwrap the Hershey Kisses.
- Using a cookie scoop (I use a smaller 1.5 tablespoon #50 cookie scoop for these cookies), scoop 6 equal cookies. Roll the cookies between your hands to make dough balls. Roll the cookies through your desired sprinkles and place on the baking sheet. Note – The cookies will flatten and spread slightly. I do not recommend flattening the cookie balls because we want a puffier cookie to hold the Hershey Kiss.
- Bake the cookies for 11 to 13 minutes, or until the edges are set. Once the cookies come out of the oven, immediately push a Hershey Kiss in the middle. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet set on a wire cooling rack for 5 minutes, then transfer to the cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
RECIPE NOTES
- Freezing the Cookie Dough – The cookie dough can be frozen – for up to 3 months. Shape the dough into a disc, wrap generously in plastic wrap, and place in a Ziploc bag to freeze. Defrost the cookie dough in the refrigerator.
- Freezing Baked Cookies – Baked cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months. Either in a Tupperware, or gently placed in a Ziploc bag. Defrost the cookies at room temperature – may take 1 to 3 hours.
- Using the Dough For Cut-Out Cookies – This recipe can be used to make softer sugar cookie cut-outs. However, because it is a small batch, you may not yield a lot of cookies. Check out the other Sugar Cookie recipe on the blog for cut-out cookies (and omit the Pumpkin Spice if you like).
about the author ...
I'm Erin and I'm all about desserts - and a little bit of butter!
I've tested, written, and photographed hundreds of recipes on my website. Here you'll find the tastiest small batch gluten free and traditional desserts - all homemade, all simple, and all for you!
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