Chocolate-Hazelnut Smooches

After watching the Halloween episode of Everyday Italian, I couldn't wait to make these cookies for my Halloween party! Not only do they look festive, but they taste great! The only change I made is that I left out the Hershey Kisses. I plan on making these again at Christmas with red and green sugar.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chocolate hazelnut spread (recommended: Nutella)

1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup orange sprinkles, or orange sugar

1 (9-ounce) package of chocolate candy kisses, unwrapped (recommended: Hershey's)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, place the chocolate hazelnut spread, butter, and both sugars. Using a hand mixer, cream the ingredients together, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and blend until incorporated. Stir in the dry ingredients, just until incorporated.

Shape the cookie dough into walnut-sized balls. Rolls the balls in the orange sprinkles or orange sugar, pressing to adhere. Place the cookies on a heavy cookie sheet about 4 inches apart. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven. Quickly place a chocolate kiss in the middle of each cookie. Return the cookies to the oven and bake for another 3 minutes. Cool the cookies on a wire rack.