Peanut butter blossoms are a favorite Christmas cookie that you’ll find on many homemade holiday cookie trays. This classic recipe will give you a soft, puffy, peanut butter cookie topped with a Hershey’s kiss, no chilling required.
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Chances are you’ve had a peanut butter blossom once or twice. If not, it’s time to change that! They’re easy to make and one of my favorite ways to enjoy that peanut butter and chocolate combination.
What you basically have is a soft baked peanut butter cookie topped with a Hershey’s kiss that you won’t be able to resist.
What makes these the best peanut butter blossoms
This recipe is very easy to make with a stand mixer (affiliate link) or hand mixer and yields a lot of cookies, which is perfect for having around the holidays or gifting to neighbors and friends.
These are really fun to make with kids. They can help roll the dough, unwrap chocolates, and press them onto the finished cookies (just watch out for the hot pan!).
You also don’t need to chill the dough, so you can get your baking done faster.
Ingredients
- Shortening
- Butter
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Peanut butter
- Milk
- Vanilla
- Flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
How to make peanut butter blossoms
- Beat together shortening, butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a stand mixer until creamy.
- Add the eggs and mix well.
- Add peanut butter, milk, and vanilla and beat to combine.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the flour mixture in three parts, beating just until incorporated.
- Roll 1 ½ inch balls of dough in sugar and place 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake 10-12 minutes.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately press a Hershey’s kiss in the center of each cookie. Allow to cool 5 minutes on the pan before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Top tips
Unwrap the kisses ahead of time
I recommend getting a bunch of kisses unwrapped before starting to bake. This makes sure you’re ready to press them onto the hot cookies.
If you wait too long after the cookies get out of the oven, the chocolate kisses may not stick to the cookies.
Do I need to chill peanut blossom dough?
You do not need to chill the dough before baking, but I do like to keep it in the refrigerator in between batches to make sure the butter isn’t too warm, which would result in a flatter cookie.
Can I bake more than one sheet of cookies at a time?
I recently bought this big baking sheet which takes up almost the entire rack on my oven and I’m so glad I did! I can bake a ton of cookies at once.
If you only have smaller baking sheets you can do two side by side in the oven or place them on different racks in the center of the oven, swapping their positions half way through the baking time.
Because the cookies need to cool for a bit on the pan I like to have another pan ready to go with more cookie dough so I always have one in the oven and one cooling on the counter or getting filled with more cookie dough.
How to store peanut butter blossoms
Make sure the cookies have cooled and the chocolate is no longer melted before storing. You can put them on a cookie tray, in a tupperware container, or a zip top bag.
If stacking cookies, it helps to place the second layer either in between the kisses of the first layer or upside down so the kisses on the second layer are pointing down in the gap between the first layer of cookies.
Can I freeze peanut butter blossom cookies?
Yes, peanut butter blossoms freeze great. Make sure the cookie has cooled completely and the chocolate isn’t melted at all.
Place the cookies in an airtight, freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Alternatively, you could freeze dough balls before rolling in sugar. When you want to bake them, let them sit out at room temperature until thawed (it should take less than an hour), then proceed with the recipe.
Tips for customizing
- Use all butter or all shortening depending on your preference
- Use chocolate stars or mini peanut butter cups instead of kisses
- Skip rolling the balls in sugar if you want to decrease your sugar consumption
- Use all shortening and dairy free milk to make these dairy free
- Half the recipe if you don’t need so many cookies (there is a button to make this easy in the recipe card!)
- Roll the cookies in colored sugar for an extra festive look
- Use a different flavor or kisses such as caramel or cherry
More cookie recipes
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Nutmeg Ginger Apple Snaps
- Giant Ginger Cookies
- Christmas Cut Out Cookies
- Bourbon Cherry Cookies
- Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Whole Wheat Chocolate Fudge Cookies
If you make this recipe, be sure to rate it, leave a comment, or tag #theliveinkitchen on Instagram!
Recipe
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Ingredients
- ½ cup shortening
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup peanut butter
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 50-60 Hershey’s milk chocolate kisses, unwrapped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat shortening, butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until creamy, 1-3 minutes.
- Add the eggs and mix well.
- Beat in peanut butter, milk, and vanilla extract.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in about 3 parts, mixing just until incorporated.
- Using your hands, roll dough into balls about 1 ½ inch in size, then roll the balls in extra sugar until completely coated.
- Place dough balls 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until just starting to brown around the edges.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately press a Hershey’s kiss into the center of each cookie.
- Allow to cool 5 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely.
- Repeat with any remaining dough.
Notes
Tips for customizing
- Use all butter or all shortening depending on your preference
- Use chocolate stars or mini peanut butter cups instead of kisses
- Skip rolling the balls in sugar if you want to decrease your sugar consumption
- Use all shortening and dairy free milk to make these dairy free
- Half the recipe if you don’t need so many cookies (there is a button to make this easy in the recipe card!)
- Roll the cookies in colored sugar for an extra festive look
- Use a different flavor or kisses such as caramel or cherry
Papa says
If you need help getting rid of some of these, just let me know.