Hugs or Reindeer Noses
I honestly feel like I can't even title this post a lovely little recipe because it doesn't really seem like a recipe to me. It is quite literally the easiest thing you could ever make. I got this recipe from my now sister-in-law 3 years ago. As some of you may know my first "official" date with my boyfriend was on Christmas Day. I felt strange not bringing him a small gift, but I could not for the life of me think of something low key but awesome too. I remembered the year prior my brothers girlfriend had made these as a Christmas gift for our family. So I quickly called her up and got the instructions.
Every year since I have made these for my boyfriend. If this was the only thing he got for Christmas he would be more than happy. He talks about them all year. Of course you can make these all year long! I prefer to make them with the little waffle pretzels (like THESE) but sometimes they are seriously hard to find. I hit up 3 different Giant Eagle's, a drug mart, a Target, and even WAL-MART and had no luck. So I finally settled on the classic shape.
These little treats have many names, but I've always stuck with Hugs when made with waffle pretzels and Reindeer Noses when made with the classic shape.
You Will Need:
Hershey Kisses
M&M's
Pretzels of your choosing
If you are planning on making a large amount (as you can see the jar I give him every year is quite large), and you happen to have a membership to Sams Club or BJ's or know someone who can get you I highly recommend picking up at least your kisses here. The bag they sell is like 3 pounds and only $9. I also pick up my M&M's here but I usually have a ridiculous amount left over.
The most tedious step is unwrapping all the kisses.
Preheat the oven to 170*.
Next lay out all your pretzels on a un-greased baking sheet.
Plop a kiss in the middle of each pretzel.
Put your baking sheet in the oven from 5-7 minutes. If you leave them in too long they will begin to crack so I usually test them by trying to push a M&M in one of the kisses in the middle of the sheet. If you can push it down then they are good to go, if not just leave it there and try again in another minute.
I usually only put in one sheet at a time because unless you have a helper its hard to get all the M&M's onto more than one sheet before the kisses harden.
Once you get all your M&M's in place, put your baking sheet in the fridge and let them cool for about 30 minutes to an hour.
If you don't put them in the fridge they will crack as they cool. Obviously not as pretty.
Toss them in a pretty glass jar from Target or World Market, tie with some festive ribbon and give away!
Hope you lovelies enjoyed!
