Sugar Hug Cookies

Here is a basic recipe I got from Southern Living that was on a cookie blog.  Everyone talked about how yummy it was and I have to disagree.  My husband and I tasted the cookie dough and it tasted like flour!  SO...we fixed it a bit and got these, which are worth writing about.  Super simple to make, and you probably have everything at home (except maybe the Hershey Hugs).

Ingredients:
1 Cup shortening
1 1/2 Cups sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp's vanilla extract
2 1/2 Cups flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
extra sugar for rolling dough in (1/4 - 1/2 cup)

Directions:
*Cream shortening and 1st sugar at medium speed until fluffy.

*Add the eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla to the shortening.  Mix well.

*Now put all the remaining ingredients (except the extra sugar) into the shortening mix and mix well.

*Chill in fridge for about one hour.

*Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it into one inch balls.  I used an ice cream scoop to do mine and it worked PERFECTLY!

*Turn your oven onto 350 and get it pre-heated for your cookies.

*Line a baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper.

*Take your ball of dough and roll it into the extra sugar (I put it in a small bowl to make it easier to roll the dough in).

*Once you have rolled as many balls as will fit onto your baking sheet/s (leaving a bit of space in between each), put them into the oven and bake for 8-9 minutes.

*While they are cooking, remove the wrappers from your Hershey Hugs or Kisses.

*Take your cookies out of the oven and immediately put a Hug/Kiss on top, gently pressing them down.

*Leave the cookies on the baking sheet about 2 minutes before moving them to a wire wrack to finish cooling.  The Hugs/Kisses will take a few hours to harden up after being put into those yummy warm cookies, so be careful!

(Original cookie recipe is a Southern Living recipe found on http://www.cookiedoc.blogspot.com.  The original cookie name is Sugar Crinkle Cookies).