Snickerdoodles stuffed with Pumpkin Spice Kisses... Fail?

So today I made snickerdoodle cookies stuffed with pumpkin spice Hershey Kisses, and while they sure are tasty... the kiss did NOT melt through the cookies to make an amazing molten pumpkin spice layer like I wanted. I imagine this is because I froze the kiss first because I was afraid it was going to melt TOO much and become a big sopping mess. This was not the case. So you live and you learn. Now I have snickerdoodles with a surprise kiss in the middle. That's ok, right?

See the bump in the middle? That's the unmelted Hershey kiss. Ah well. They still taste pretty good.

Recipe adapted from http://www.thecomfortofcooking.com/2013/08/sea-salt-caramel-stuffed-snickerdoodles-2.html

Snickerdoodles stuffed with Pumpkin Spice Kisses

Makes 18 cookies

Ingredients:

Sugar Coating:

2 Tbsp Sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Cookies:

1 c. white whole wheat flour

1/4 c. + 2 Tbsp. All-purpose flour

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1/2 tsp. baking soda

pinch of salt

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 egg

1/8 tsp. vanilla

Optional: splash of chai tea concentrate

18 Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses (unwrapped)

Preheat oven to 375 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Mix together the sugar coating in a bowl and set aside. 

Sift together the flours, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Cream together the softened butter and sugar until soft and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Add splash of chai tea concentrate if desired and mix until everything is combined. Slowly mix in the flour mixture until completely combined and dough is uniform. (OPTIONAL: Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes) 

Roll a tablespoon of dough into a ball with a kiss in the center. Roll the ball in the sugar coating mix and place on parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes (mine took 10-11, but the original recipe called for 7-8. Probably depends on if you chilled the dough or not). Cookies will look a little underdone (especially in the cracks) and slightly puffed up. They will settle as they cool. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then place on a wire cooling rack until completely cool.

NOTE: I did NOT add the part about freezing the kisses as I don't think it was a good idea!