I’m not even sure I can formally call this a ‘cookie recipe’ just because I don’t even know if these count as cookies. In my town, we call these pretzel-Hershey Kiss-M&M bites ‘belly buttons’ and they are so addicting! Belly buttons are my absolute favorite holiday treat but you can really enjoy them any time of year- its all about presentation. For those who are reading this and are slightly confused as to why I keep talking about belly buttons (kinda gross if you think too hard about it) try to just focus on the pictures in this post before you completely dismiss this recipe.
One of the best things about these cookies is that you can customize them however you want. I used milk chocolate Hershey Kisses and white chocolate Hershey Hugs with chocolate swirls. I also picked original red and green M&Ms on mine to make them look as Christmas-y as possible. But you can use whatever candies you want. I know some recipes that use Rolo’s instead of Kisses or Reese’s Pieces instead of M&M’s.
Ingredients:
- Pretzel squares/rounds
- Hershey Kisses
- Hershey Hugs
- M&M’s
Instructions:
- Set oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Spread pretzels on a non-stick cookie sheet until completely full. You don’t want any of the pretzels overlapping on top of each other. It helps if you use a cookie sheet with edges, so none of the pretzels slide off.
- Unwrap your Hershey Kisses & Hugs and place one on top of one pretzel.
- Place the cookie sheet in the oven and ‘bake’ for 2-4 minutes. (You’re basically just melting the Hershey Kisses & Hugs enough so that they are soft enough that you can push an M&M into the center when you take them out. The Hershey Hugs tend to melt faster than the Hershey Kisses. I will usually test the softness at around 3 minutes and push an M&M into the center of one while it’s still in the oven. Time will vary, so keep an eye on them.)
- Take cookie pan out of the oven and place one M&M into the center of each Hershey Kiss/Hug, right on top of the point. You will want to do this quickly so the chocolate does not harden before you can add an M&M.
- You can put the cookie tray in the fridge to speed up the cooling process or just let them sit out until the Hershey Kisses/Hugs have hardened.
How easy was that? I hope you enjoy these snick-snacks (I swear…it’s impossible to just have one) and show off some creative flare of your own when you do. Let me know in the comments below if you’ve ever made belly buttons before!
Thanks for reading! xx