A few weeks ago my friend Bridget texted me asking if I’d be willing to develop a cookie recipe using her Gingerbread Cashew Butter and it felt like the perfect excuse to do some baking. It’s been a year and a half since I last posted a recipe. I’ll write a blog post or two about why I’ve been on a recipe (and writing) hiatus for much of the past 2 years. But for now, let’s dive into the cookie!
This recipe is a reimagined hybrid of my two favorite childhood holiday cookies: gingersnaps and peanut butter blossoms. It wasn’t until I started thinking about what to do with the cashew butter that I realized how well the two best Christmas cookies compliment each other — the spiciness of the ginger, the bite of the molasses, the richness of the nut butter (in this case cashew butter), the sweetness of sugar and chocolate.
Of course I think this recipe works best using Moxie Nosh’s Gingerbread Cashew Butter, but it will also work with regular cashew butter. It’d probably be tasty with peanut or almond butter, but I didn’t try either of those. Per usual, this recipe is gluten-free. I use Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Baking Flour and continue to be amazed at how well it stands in for baking and all-purpose wheat flour. I’m willing to bet that unless you tell someone the cookies are GF they’ll never even guess.
Fair warning: if you make these scrumptious cookies, your willpower to keep consumption reasonable will be tested. Make and enjoy them anyway.
Gingerbread Cashew Butter Kiss Cookies
Ingredients
- 36 kisses Hershey's kisses I use dark chocolate
- 1/2 cup Unsalted butter Softened (not melted)
- 3/4 cup Creamy cashew butter Possible substitutes: creamy almond or peanut butter
- 1/3 cup Granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup Brown sugar packed
- 1 Egg
- 3 Tbl Dark molasses
- 1/2 Tbl Ginger ground
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon ground
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups Flour I use Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour.
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar for rolling dough balls
Instructions
- 1. Remove wrappers from 36 Hershey's Kisses. 2. Heat oven to 375°F3. Whip together the butter and cashew butter in a large bowl until completed combined and soft. Add granulated sugar (1/3 cup) and brown sugar and whip until fluffy. Add egg, molasses, and vanilla, mix completely. Add ground ginger and cinnamon and whip until incorporated. 4. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Slowly pour the dry mixture into the wet mixture while stirring to fully combine. 5. Shape dough into 1 - 1.5 inch balls. Place 1/3 cup granulated sugar onto a plate and roll dough balls around in the sugar. Place sugared dough balls onto an ungreased cookie tray. 6. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Upon removal of cookies from oven, immediately press a kiss firmly into the center of each cookie. Remove cookies from tray and transfer to wire cooling rack. The heat from the cookies will melt the chocolate, but they will remain in kiss shape, so don't touch the chocolate until they cool completely.7. ENJOY!