Yummy Oatmeal Cookies With Hershey's Pumpkin Spice Kisses

Heather Rode enjoys photography, baking, antiques, and hair care.

Easy Pumpkin-Oatmeal Cookies

Oatmeal cookies have been a favorite of mine since I was a little girl. They're easy to make and easy to customize. No matter what you put in them, the best oatmeal cookies are ones still warm from the oven with a glass of milk.

As part of my seasonal fall baking, I decided to toss some limited-edition Pumpkin Spice Hershey's Kisses into my favorite oatmeal cookie recipe. They came out great—each batch looking and tasting festively of fall.

You can add your favorite baking pieces, nuts and dried fruit to make a cookie that complements any season! What seasonal ingredients would you add to your fall-themed cookies?

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Prepare Your Pumpkin Kisses

This part takes a little time and energy, but it's not as bad as I first thought. Suffice it to say, if you have an extra set of loving hands, this part will go much faster.

You will be using the entire 10-ounce bag of Hershey's Kisses, except for the first one out of the bag. That one needs to be taste-tested. If you have a helper, they'll need to taste-test a pumpkin Kiss also.

1. Keep your Kisses in the fridge until you're ready to use them. This keeps them from melting in your hands or all over your cutting board.
2. Unwrap all of the Kisses. Be sure stray pieces of foil and banners are separated from the Kisses and don't end up in your cookie dough.
3. Chop them about a handful at a time. They don't have to be perfect or even super small; just get a good start on them with a knife, and your electric mixer can finish the job when they're added to the mix.

Pumpkin Kiss Cookie Recipe for Fall

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups uncooked oats
• 1 (10-ounce) bag pumpkin spice Kisses

How to Bake Pumpkin Kiss Oatmeal Cookies

1. Prepare your Pumpkin Spice Kisses as described above.
2. Preheat oven to 375°F.
3. Using an electric mixer, cream butter and both sugars until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
4. Add chopped Kisses and beat until chunks become smaller, more uniform pieces.
5. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Add to mixture gradually, beating well with each addition. Stir in oats and combine well.
6. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto parchment papered sheet or greased baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and cool on racks.

More Ideas for Easy Fall Cookies

Customize your own fall oatmeal cookies by adding your favorite autumn ingredients. Have fun coming up with creative names for your new recipes and cookies.

You could add:

• Candy Corn
• Halloween-themed M&M's
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Caramel and Apples
• Apple Butter
• Mary Jane Candies
• Dried Cranberries

Giving Cookies as Gifts

Since this recipe makes six dozen cookies, I like to share. Dressing up little cookie stacks can be easy, inexpensive, and looks more homey and festive than Tupperware. You also won't have to worry about buying or replacing cookie tins time after time. The items I used below I had on hand and were reasonably priced when I picked them up (see table below for more info).

1. Arrange cookies in stacks of 5 or 6, with larger or thicker cookies at the bottom.
2. Tear a piece of parchment paper long enough to cover cookie stack and cut again down the center, lengthwise. This will yield two strips of parchment and is the perfect width.
3. Wrap in parchment paper and secure with Scotch tape on sides and top.
4. Fasten package with baker's twine and tie into a bow at top.
5. Add a hand-written label or tag.

Cookie Gift Package Supplies

I think the tag really completes this look. Use your imagination and whatever you've got on hand to decorate and customize your label. You can also write a list of ingredients on the back.

The tea-stained tag I used was left-over from a custom order back from my wedding. You can make your own with cardstock, a decorative paper punch, and tea. If you prefer to let a pro do it, I'd suggest ordering from Tia Zoey Tea Stained on Etsy. My post-wedding stash of tags are perfect for last-minute gifts, and I love how each tag is unique. I ordered a bunch, but you can easily order a smaller amount for a fraction of the cost.

© 2013 Heather