This giveaway is now closed. Thanks for stopping by! The winner is Deb! Congrats!

If you can believe it, I’m heading to The Sweetest Place on Earth this week for what I think is going to be one of the best trips to date.  I, along with 11 other bloggers, am heading to Hershey, PA to get an inside look at the Hershey Company.  We’ll be visiting Chocolate World, the Chocolate Lab, the Hershey Test Kitchens, and The Milton Hershey School.  We’ll also be participating in a Cookie Exchange, which I imagine is similar to those that will be hosted in homes across the country this December.

Being that I’m a complete chocoholic, I think that chocolate makes a perfect stocking stuffer.  America thinks so too since 89% of adults plan to include candy in their winter holiday celebrations (via National Confectioners Association).  Just in time for the holidays, The Hershey Company offers holiday versions of your favorite treats in stocking stuffer-ready sizes!  Their holiday products include the Rolo Reindeer Cane, Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Santa, Hershey’s Cookies ‘N’ Crème Nutcracker Moulded Bar, Seasonal Hershey’s Kisses Brand Solid Milk Chocolate Santa Hat, Hershey’s Pot of Gold Truffles Sampler, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Trees.

I particularly enjoy baking during this season of the year.  If you visit Hershey’s holiday site, you’ll find a ton of recipes for sweet treats, including these Kisses Candy Cane Blossoms I made a few days ago (I even made a vegan batch for my son!):

Ingredients:

• 48 HERSHEY’S KISSES Brand Candy Cane Mint Candies
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons milk
• Red or green sugar crystals, granulated sugar or powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Remove wrappers from candies.

2. Beat butter, granulated sugar, egg and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; add alternately with milk to butter mixture, beating until well blended.

3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in red sugar, granulated sugar, powdered sugar or a combination of any of the sugars. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and cookie is set. Remove from oven; cool 2 to 3 minutes. Press a candy piece into center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4 dozen cookies.

Be sure to check out their section on crafts and ideas for parties, decorating, and gifting.

Win It! One of you will win a Hershey’s Holiday Stocking which will include the following:

Simply leave me a comment with your favorite Hershey’s candy by December 13, 2010 at 11:59 PM PST.

US Residents only.  Duplicates and comments not including the above information will be disqualified. Comments are moderated. If you don’t see your comment in a reasonable amount of time, send me an email. Bloggers and non-bloggers may enter. If you don’t want to leave your email address, please be sure to check back for my announcement on the winner. Please note that winners must respond within 48 hours of being announced/contacted or another winner will be drawn.

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Click on one of the very cute buttons below and digg, stumble, fav, etc. Just let me know what you did in the comments!

No compensation was received for this post.   Review and giveaway items supplied by the company.  Hershey’s is also sponsoring my trip.