As much as I love to bake, I don’t generally make nine thousand different types of Christmas cookies. I’m actually pretty boring when it comes to Christmas cookies. I make my mama’s super delicious butter cookies, some peanut butter blossoms, and I always, always, always make buttons. Buttons really aren’t cookies though, and, actually, I don’t personally make them. I recruit my kids for that.
Buttons are the simplest treats you can make, they take minutes to prepare and bake, and then you just have to wait for the chocolate to harden up. My four year old and nine year old can do these completely by themselves. Best of all, people just gobble these up!
All you need are round pretzels, also called pretzel rings, Hershey kisses, and m&m’s.
Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper and spread the pretzel rings out in a single layer. Plop a Hershey’s kiss in the center of each pretzel and bake at 200 degrees for about 5 minutes. The kisses hold their shape, so don’t wait for them to melt or you’ll burn your chocolate! Remove from the oven and smoosh an m&m right down on top of the Hershey’s kiss. Let them cool long enough for the Hershey’s kiss to harden back up and then go ahead and devour all of them.
Go make these. Your holiday just isn’t complete without them!
I’ll be back later in the week to share the recipe for those scrumptious little chocolate cookies covered in powdered sugar “snow” that you see in the above photo!
Updated to add: A lot of people have emailed me to say that they are having a difficult time finding the pretzel rings. I always buy the Kitchen Cooked brand, but even then I can only find them for a few weeks around Christmas. If you can’t find the rings, just buy the little square grid shaped pretzels (I think they are made by Snyder’s) and put the kiss right on top of the pretzel. They won’t look like buttons, but they are just as cute and yummy!
| Tags: baking, chocolate, desserts, holidays 35 comments »
December 16th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
I always make these, but I love to make them with hugs instead of kisses – it gives them the cutest stripes
December 16th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Ok, you really need to stop posting so many yummy Christmas things!!! I actually have a roster of yummy Christmas things that I traditionally bake but I’ve been trying out a bunch of the stuff you have posted and really, I’m just going to get colossally fat this xmas!
December 16th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Ooh! Nice, fancy new blog graphics!
I will try these with the boys next week and I’ll try with the striped peppermint kisses, too. Yummmm.
Thanks for sharing. Hope you have a super Christmas!
December 16th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
ok the way I see it.. 8 hrs to eat all the delicious recipes you share and 16 hrs at the gym… or.. wait 16 hrs to eat and 8 hrs to sleep..
phew~~ scared myself for a minute..
Merry Christmas Karly
December 17th, 2009 at 5:36 am
yum! i’m going to make these for christmas this year! i’ve tried the pretzel squares with rolos on top that are yummy too!
December 17th, 2009 at 8:12 am
what a cute idea, and you executed it really nicely! i love treats that’re so festive yet easy and completely delicious. bravo.
December 17th, 2009 at 9:27 am
These add a cute and festive crunch to your cookie trays!
December 17th, 2009 at 10:13 am
I am so making these with my kids! Thanks!
December 17th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Oh this is the 2nd time I’m seeing Holiday M&M’s that’s just green and red in colour!! I wished there are some in Malaysia..
December 17th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
I just thought of something else awesome about this recipe. You can use it for every holiday — just change up with the Easter, Valentine’s Day, etc. M&Ms.
December 17th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
This is great! Love it!
December 17th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
I do these with mini pretzels, peanut butter cups and walnuts
December 18th, 2009 at 7:21 am
What a fun project for the kids! And so colorful as well as delicious. Super idea!
December 18th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Totally going to make these! And the “chocolate crinkle cookies” (thats what we call them) are my all time favorite christmas cookies. Yum.
God, I need to stop eating so many cookies. We haven’t even hit Christmas…and then there is New Years. Shit.
December 19th, 2009 at 7:28 am
I’ve never heard of these, believe it or not, but they look awesome and I do believe I’ll add them to the list of things to do when my 3 year old twin grandkids come. They love baking with me and this will be less messy than most of our projects – ha! Plus yummy…thanks!
December 19th, 2009 at 10:14 am
I recently wasted time and money making a recipe for healthy Christmas cookies. My 12 year old refused to take them to school and I couldn’t even pawn them off at the office. I should have known better.
These look like guaranteed winners.
JOY!
December 19th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
I make these with rolos, round pretzels and pecans. A pretzels turtle! Mmmmm! So yummy!!
December 20th, 2009 at 8:47 am
They look delicious and simple too!
December 20th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Is it hard to find the pretzels in just rings like that? I dont remember seeeing those at the grocery store. What brand are the pretzels?
December 21st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
2010 will be the year of buttons ( in my kitchen)!
December 22nd, 2009 at 11:28 am
Where do you find the round pretzels? I’ve checked our local grocery stores and no luck! I’m here in San Diego, CA and would love to make these!
December 22nd, 2009 at 4:32 pm
I really like your writing style, its not generic and extremly long and tedious like a lot of blog posts I read, you get to the point and I really enjoy reading your articles! Oh, and merry Christmas!
December 22nd, 2009 at 7:05 pm
I love these! I make them every year! You can also do them with the mini pretzels if, I can’t find the rings. They aren’t quite that purty.. but
I have a similar recipe, I’ll email it to you later. Just like this, except not
(i’m cryptic, aren’t i)
December 24th, 2009 at 9:42 am
Wow! I’m making these today with my family! Soooo cute.
I love you blog, BTW.
Check out my kid-friendly activity making butter with your kids:
Easy Homemade Butter: http://www.fabfrugalfood.com/appetizers/easy-homemade-butter/
December 25th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
[...] wird das Jahr der Hershey Buttons, 2009 aber war das Jahr der Pfeffernüsse! Und auch wenn Weihnachten eigentlich schon fast [...]
December 25th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Oh my goodness! These are lovely! I love your photos as well. I can’t wait to produce as good of photos as you.
Happy holidays and happy new year!!
December 26th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
These are so cute. I used to make them with my mom every year, but I haven’t made them in awhile. Thanks for reminding me about them!
December 26th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Simplicity is best when it comes to baking for Christmas! I love these!
December 28th, 2009 at 12:06 am
Oh my gosh, yum. I need to make some of those.
December 30th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Oh, these are so cute! I’ve never seen them before, and now can’t wait to do them.
~~Lori
January 2nd, 2010 at 8:13 pm
Where did you find those pretzel rings? I’ve looked all over and just can’t find ‘em!
January 3rd, 2010 at 12:34 am
How so very adorable!! I’ve never seen pretzel rings. I love how simple these are to make.
January 8th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
I make these but used Rolos and walnuts. I call it the lazy woman’s turtle.
I’ll have to try them with Kisses and M&M’s!!
January 11th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
[...] were absolutely fantastic and easy to make, too! This is the next recipe I’m going to try- buttons! I figured they would be easy enough to make for the girls on my floor, and a nice little source of [...]
January 12th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
If you make them with the square grid shaped pretzels when they come out of the oven pop another pretzel on top and you have a sandwich! I call them pretzel covered chocolates.