Peanut Butter Blossoms
Sugar dipped peanut butter cookies with crispy edges & chewy centers are topped with a rich chocolate kiss for deliciously classic Peanut Butter Blossoms!
What’s your favorite Christmas cookie? Mine are snowball cookies. Or peanut butter blossoms. Or… well, the list goes on.
This year, I got a special request from my man (why does that sound so funny?), Erik, for Peanut Butter Blossoms! Have you ever tried these?
Well, they’re #9 of the 1st Annual Beaming Holiday Treat-a-Palooza!
Slightly salty peanut butter pairs deliciously with rich, sweet chocolate kisses for the best Peanut Butter Blossoms! Let’s bake this!
Peanut Butter Blossoms Ingredients
- Peanut butter – use unsalted, smooth peanut butter for the best flavor and texture. (BTW, If you’re looking for more peanut butter desserts, you have to check out these rich and satisfying peanut butter blondies.)
- Kisses – use Hershey’s kisses or make your own with my homemade kisses recipe
- Flour – be sure to use all purpose flour and to spoon and level when measuring. Packing the flour will cause dry, crumbly cookies.
- Butter – use unsalted butter, as we’ll be adding in our own salt to control the amount of saltiness in the peanut butter blossoms
- Baking soda, salt
- Egg – make sure to use a large egg that’s been brought to room temperature. This will ensure a cohesive, smooth cookie dough
- Granulated sugar – we’ll use this twice—once in the dough, then once to roll and coat the cookies for a sweet coating that sparkles in the sun.
- Brown sugar – I used light brown sugar as it has a lighter flavor that doesn’t overpower the cookies
- Milk – just 1 tablespoon of milk is needed to help the dough moisten, create a better structure once cooled, and makes the cookies softer
What are Peanut Butter Blossoms?
Peanut Butter Blossoms are a peanut butter-based cookies made popular by Freda Smith when she won the 1957 Pillsbury Bake-Off. [1]
Smith originally created this recipe when she was baking peanut butter cookies, but thought they looked a bit plain.
She found a bag of kisses in her cupboard and pressed them into the peanut butter cookies, which made the cookies crack and resemble the flower, Black Eyed Susans. [2]
This is what she originally called her cookies and entered them into the contest as, until Pillsbury renamed them Peanut Butter Blossoms.
How to Make Peanut Butter Blossoms
You’ll learn how to make peanut butter blossoms by following my easy step-by-step photos.
Be sure to check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post for exact measurements!
You might have the urge to first preheat the oven, but we won’t be doing that since we’ll most likely need to chill the dough.
Grab a medium mixing bowl and sift together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, and salt.
Then, pull out the stand mixer and add butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar to this mixing bowl.
Beat these ingredients together until creamed and fluffy on medium high, creating a beautiful base for your peanut butter blossoms.
Next, decrease the speed of the mixer to medium low and beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla.
Further decreasing the speed to low, slowly add in the dry mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Now, your peanut butter blossom cookie dough is ready to be chilled.
You can skip this step if you feel your dough is firm enough, but I always like to do it to be safe, and to have a deeper peanut butter flavor in the cookie dough.
Once chilled, preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a cookie sheet in parchment paper.
Grab a small cookie scoop, then scoop and roll dough into balls.
Quickly roll balls in sugar to coat, then place onto the baking sheet.
Bake for about 7 minutes, then carefully remove the baking sheet from the oven and place it on a heatproof surface.
Gently press an un-foiled kiss into the center of the cookie, pressing down until the kiss is firmly in place. Yes, the cookie surface will crack—that’s what makes it beautiful. Repeat for all cookies.
Place the cookie sheet back into the oven and bake for about 2 minutes.
Cool cookie directly on the sheet for about 10 minutes, until firm. Then, finish cooling peanut butter blossoms directly on a cooling rack. Enjoy!
Can You Freeze Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies?
Yes, you can freeze these cookies. Here, I’ll show you how to freeze fully baked cookies and how to freeze the cookie dough for future bake-a-thons.
Freezing Baked Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
Cool cookies completely, then freeze on a lined sheet in the freezer. When the Hershey’s kisses are firm, go ahead and place cookies into an freezer-friendly container and freeze for 1-3 months.
Freezing the Cookie Dough
You can freeze the cookie dough one of two ways: 1) transfer the dough into an airtight container and freeze, 2) scoop the dough into small balls and place into an airtight container. When the mood hits, you can bake as directed.
How to Store Peanut Butter Blossoms
To store these cookies at room temperature: cool cookies completely, then carefully store in an airtight container in a cool, dark environment like the pantry for up to 1 week. Be careful not to dent the softened Hershey’s kisses atop each cookie when storing.
If storing the cookies in the refrigerator, you can keep them for 1-2 weeks, following the same directions as above.
How to Stack Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
We all know it’s a hassle to store these cookies in a single layer in, what, 12 different containers?!?
So here’s how to stack peanut butter blossom cookies:
- Arrange cookies in a single layer, then…
- …Place a second layer of cookies on top of the first layer, offsetting the pattern, so the second layer of cookies sits in between the kisses poking up.
Q&A
- How long to bake peanut butter blossoms? Bake for about 7 minutes, then press kisses into the tops of the cookies and bake for an additional 2 minutes. Total bake time is about 9 minutes.
- Can you refrigerate peanut butter blossom dough? Yes, you can refrigerate the dough for 2-4 days.
- How many calories in a peanut butter blossom cookie? Each cookie is approximately 98 calories.
- Are peanut butter blossoms Christmas cookies? Yes, peanut butter blossoms are considered Christmas cookies as they are very popular around this time of year.
- Why are my peanut butter blossoms falling apart? The simplest reason: the dough is too dry. Make sure to follow this recipe exactly, and spoon and level the flour, making sure not to pack it.
Tools You Need
1st Annual
Beaming Holiday Treat-a-Palooza! ❄️ 🎁 🍪
Welcome to the 1st Annual Beaming Holiday Treat-a-Palooza! I’ll be sharing new festive treats throughout the season… check here for the updates!
- #10: Snowball Cookies
- #9: Peanut Butter Blossoms (today’s recipe)
- #8: Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies
- #7: Reindeer Chow
- #6: Sugar Cookie Martin
- #5: Brownie Cookies
- #4: Gingersnaps {Thin ‘n Crispy}
- #3: Peppermint Milkshake
- #2: Peppermint Bark Recipe
- #1: Chocolate Coconut Candy
Follow Us for Easy Sweet Recipes
So what do you think of Erik’s request? For more sweet recipe ideas, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. We love seeing your BB creations! Remember to tag us on IG using #beamingbaker. ‘Til next time…
Sending you all my love and maybe even a dove, xo Demeter ❤️
Print
Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Total Time: 1 hour 34 minutes
- Yield: nearly 4 dozen cookies (mine made 45) 1x
Description
Sugar dipped peanut butter cookies with crispy edges & chewy centers are topped with a rich chocolate kiss for deliciously classic Peanut Butter Blossoms!
Ingredients
Tools Needed
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces (1 stick) butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For rolling
- 1/2 to 1 cup granulated sugar
Topping
- About 4 dozen Hershey’s Kisses or homemade kisses, foil removed
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer, combine butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar. Beat until creamed together and fluffy, starting at low, then increasing to medium high as allowed (so sugar doesn’t spray out). Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Decreasing the speed to medium low, beat in egg, milk, and vanilla.
- Set the mixer set to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until well combined, scraping down the bowl of the mixer as needed.
- If the cookie dough is soft, you’ll need to refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. To be safe, I always recommend doing this.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or greased foiled.
- Using a small cookie dough, scoop and roll dough into 1-inch balls, then coat in granulated sugar and place on the prepared cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until light brown and puffed up. Mine took 7 minutes.
- Place cookie sheet onto a cooling rack or other heat-protected surface. Press un-foiled Hershey’s Kisses into the tops of each cookie, until the cookie tops crack just a bit.
- Return the cookie sheet into the oven to bake, about 2-3 minutes.
- Allow cookies to cool on the sheet until firm, about 10 minutes. Then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Notes
Recipe adapted from the New York Times and the Gerrero family.
To refrigerate the dough: Scoop cookie dough balls into an airtight container. Keep for 2-4 days in the refrigerator, then roll into spheres and in sugar, then bake as normal.
To freeze the dough: Scoop cookie dough into balls or keep as one big chunk. Freeze in an airtight container for 1-2 months. Bake as directed.
Storing Instructions: Cool cookies completely, then store in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks.
Freezing Instructions: Once cooled, store cookies carefully in a freezer-friendly, airtight container, being careful not to crush the kisses. Freeze for 1-3 months.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Chilling Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 9 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
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Not only do these peanut butter blossom cookies look fantastic, they taste even better! I added some more brown sugar to mine to make them extra moist and sweet!
So glad to hear you liked them, DK!
I’ve made these cookies several times and they always turn out perfectly! Such a classic flavor combo and so delicious!
Woohoo! That’s seriously wonderful to hear, thank you for taking the time to let me know!
These cookies are incredible. The texture is absolutely perfect.
I’m so glad you liked it, Bobby!
This is one of our favorite cookie recipes! So easy and yummy!
I know, right? There’s just something about chocolate and peanut butter that always hits the spot. 😋
Great recipe, I will make again this in the weekend. Thanks for sharing
Woohoo! I’m so pleased to hear you liked it!