Peanut Butter Blossoms are a delicious treat that you’ll enjoy every time. A flakey pastry crust is paired with a creamy peanut butter filling, and then topped with melted chocolate. These PB cookies will make you feel like you’re back at home at mom’s kitchen table helping her with the dough!
Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
A soft peanut butter cookie with a gooey chocolate kiss in the middle. What more could you ask for from a cookie?
Peanut Butter Blossoms
What Is a Peanut Butter Blossom?
The relatively simple peanut butter flower biscuit has been a classic for years. For the 1957 Pillsbury Bake-Off, Freda Smith of Gibsonburg, Ohio, created it. Although it lost the race, it triumphed in the hearts of Americans and has remained a perennial favorite ever since.
A dense, chewy peanut butter cookie serves as the foundation of the perfect rendition of this delight. I wasn’t introduced to these cherished delicacies until later in life, so I don’t have the same childhood recollections of peanut butter blossoms that some of you may have, but I do have a long-standing passion for peanut butter cookies.
The addition of the chocolate kiss gives this cookie an unbeatable salty-sweet flavor combination (a perennial favorite!).
Butter or Shortening to Make Peanut Butter Blossoms?
Vegetable shortening is used in many recipes for this cookie, but I think butter has a nicer flavor.
Shortening makes cookies less spreadable and thicker, but my recipe achieves this without sacrificing the creamy butter flavor. If shortening is all you have, this recipe will still turn out well.
Which Peanut Butter Should I Use?
Feel free to use your preferred peanut butter when making the recipe. I prefer smooth, creamy peanut butter, but chunky peanut butter is also OK.
Even using an all-natural spread, I tried this recipe, and the cookies came out fantastic; just make sure to properly combine the peanut butter before adding it to the mixture to avoid any separation.
Storing and Freezing Peanut Butter Blossoms
A traditional cookie for cookie platters, cookie exchanges, and bake sales is the peanut butter flower. The easiest way to keep the chocolate kisses soft is to store them at room temperature in an airtight container. Before they begin to dry out, they will last for a few days.
Having a plan?
Both the cookie batter and the completed cookies after baking and cooling can be frozen after being coated with sugar. You can bake the cookies from frozen; simply increase the baking time by one or two minutes.
They travel well also and hold up well!
Just give them a brief cold in the refrigerator so the chocolate can set and keep its shape while being transported.
Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
PREP TIME10 mins
COOK TIME12 mins
TOTAL TIME22 mins
SERVINGS24 servings
YIELD24 cookies
Ingredients
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (129 g) peanut butter
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
- 1/2 cup (110 g) packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 cups (187 g) all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 24 chocolate kiss candies, unwrapped
Method
- Preheat the oven and prepare two baking sheets:Preheat the oven to 350˚F, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately:Mix together the butter, peanut butter, and both sugars in a bowl with a wooden spoon (or you can use an electric or stand mixer) until smooth and combined; add in the egg and mix until smooth.In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Make the cookie dough:Slowly, in a couple of additions, add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture and combine to form the cookie dough.
- Shape the cookie:Add a few tablespoons of sugar to a small bowl. Scoop into balls with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough. Roll between your hands to form a ball, and then coat it with sugar.Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet a couple of inches apart.
- Bake the cookies:Bake the cookies on the middle rack about 12 minutes, until slightly spread out, domed on the top, and golden on the bottom. Immediately press a chocolate kiss in the center of each cookie.
- Cool and store:Let the cookies cool for a couple of minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a rack to finish cooling completely. These cookies will keep for a few days stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
CLASSIC PEANUT BUTTER BLOSSOM COOKIES
60 min Prep
60 min Total
36 Servings
Peanut butter and chocolate come together in these great cookies made with Gold Medal® all-purpose flour. Ready in an hour!
Ingredient List
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 cups Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- Additional granulated sugar
- About 36 Hershey’s® Kisses® Brand milk chocolates, unwrapped
Preparation
- Oven should be heated to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Beat 1/2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, butter, egg, and peanut butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer set to medium speed or stir with a spoon until well combined. Until dough forms, stir in the flour, baking soda, and baking powder.
- Create 1-inch dough balls and then roll them in more granulated sugar. Place cookies about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until light golden brown around the edges. Place 1 milk chocolate candy in the center of each cookie right away. Take out from cookie sheets and place on cooling rack.
Tips
- Add razzle-dazzle by rolling the balls of dough in colored sugar instead of regular granulated sugar.
Classic Peanut Butter Blossoms
The hallmark of any holiday cookie platter and the traditional Christmas treat, homemade peanut butter blossoms. My tried-and-true recipe makes festive cookies that are soft, peanut buttery, and simple to bake!
Peanut butter blossoms are easily one of the best Christmas cookies on this planet because they’re (1) easy to make (2) super cute (3) peanut butter + chocolate and (4) peanut butter + chocolate. (Have to list that twice!)
What Makes These the Best Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Simple + straightforward recipe
- Mega peanut butter flavor
- Extra soft
- Only 30 minutes needed for dough chilling, so they’re relatively quick
- Rolled in granulated sugar for an extra crunch– use colorful sanding sugars for a festive touch
You also have choices! Try a peanut butter cup or chocolate heart instead of a Hershey’s Kiss, like I do in my glitter sweetheart cookies and peanut butter cup blossoms. Or, like in my peanut butter jam thumbprints, fill with jam. Even red velvet blooms are possible to manufacture.
Ingredients in Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
Here’s what you need to make this classic Christmas cookie recipe. You can find the full printable recipe below.
- Flour: We use all-purpose flour as the base of these peanut butter cookies.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda helps the cookies rise.
- Salt + Vanilla Extract: Use both salt and vanilla extract for flavor.
- Sugars: We use a combination of granulated sugar and brown sugar in this recipe. Both for sweetness and brown sugar for softness.
- Egg: One egg binds everything together.
- Butter: Butter adds flavor and structure. Make sure you have proper room temperature butter before beginning.
- Peanut Butter: Peanut butter is the most important ingredient for peanut butter cookies. For best results, use processed peanut butter like Jif or Skippy– the same I recommend for my peanut butter balls.
- Chocolate Kiss Candies: A necessity! This is the “blossom” part of these cookies.
Overview: How to Make Peanut Butter Blossoms
The complete written recipe may be seen below, but before you begin, allow me to walk you through these steps so you are familiar with the procedure. A delightful treat during the hectic Christmas season, these cookies are quick and easy to make.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together. Flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Work on the wet ingredients. This includes creaming the room temperature butter and sugars, adding the egg, peanut butter, and vanilla.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients together.
- Refrigerate cookie dough. At least 30 minutes– 1 hour is ideal!
- Roll cookie dough into balls. Use about 1 Tablespoon of dough each.
- Dunk into granulated sugar. Generously coat each cookie dough ball in granulated sugar (or colorful sanding sugar, if using).
- Bake. Let the cookies cool for few minutes on the baking sheet.
- Press a chocolate kiss into each cookie.
- Freeze the cookies on the cookie sheet. This prevents the chocolate from melting.
- Remove from the freezer.
The Trick to Peanut Butter Blossoms
To stop the chocolate kiss candy from melting, place the freshly made cookies in the freezer. This makes sure the adorable miniature peanut butter cookie and chocolate kiss candy stay snugly together.
I’ll explain! Allow the peanut butter cookies to cool for 5 to 10 minutes after removing them from the oven. Place a chocolate kiss candy in the center, then place the baking sheet in the freezer right away. The freezer is the most efficient at avoiding any melty issues, though the refrigerator also functions. Additionally, this speeds up the cooling process so you can instantly stockpile the cookies for yourself. I mean, spread the word to your relatives.