My peanut butter blossoms are made with the softest, butteriest peanut butter cookie base and topped off with a sweet milk chocolate kiss! They’re a classic holiday cookie that’s both fun and easy to make! Recipe includes a how-to video!
Homemade Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies
Peanut butter blossoms have always been my favorite cookie on the holiday cookie tray. They’re the perfect combination chocolate and peanut butter (like my peanut butter chocolate cake!), and they are so easy to make. Plus, they’re just so pretty with their sparkly exteriors!
My recipe is made without shortening and instead uses butter for super soft, and, well, buttery results. You’ll love this swap (I do the same in my peanut butter oatmeal cookies!) and how nice the results are!
Today’s recipe is adapted from my favorite peanut butter cookies. You’ll simply prepare the dough, let it chill for 30 agonizing short minutes, roll the cookies in sugar, and bake. Once they’re out of the oven, top them off with a Hershey kiss (a fun task for the kids), and you’re done. So simple!
Serve these alongside sugar cookies and your other favorite holiday cookies and they’ll be a guaranteed hit!
What You Need
Here are the key ingredients in my super soft peanut butter blossoms:
- Butter. Rather than using shortening (which many recipes call for) I use all butter in this recipe. The butter makes the flavor deeper, richer, and just all around much better than a shortening-based cookie. Made this way, the interiors are much softer and more melt-in-your-mouth than ones made with shortening.
- Peanut butter. Do not use the natural/sugar-free peanut butter that separates. Unfortunately, the cookies just won’t bake up the same and tend to become dry and crumbly. Stick with classic peanut butter (Skippy, Jiff, store brand, etc.).
- Sugar. These cookies wouldn’t be complete without a sparkly sugar coating. I personally like to use an organic cane sugar (the granules are more coarse), but regular granulated sugar would work too. Inside the cookies we’ll use a combination of granulated and light brown sugar for depth of flavor and a nice chewy texture.
- Cornstarch. Cornstarch is my secret weapon for soft cookies that hold their shape! I use it in my M&M cookies, whipped shortbread, thumbprint cookies, and so many others.
- Hershey kisses. Milk chocolate Hershey’s kisses are traditional, but you can use dark chocolate or pretty much any other flavor you like.
SAM’S TIP: I’ve also made these cookies with mini peanut butter cups instead of kisses. Use whichever you prefer here–both work great!
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Combine the wet ingredients – Cream together the butter and sugars, then stir in the peanut butter. Mix in the eggs and vanilla until well combined.
- Add the dry – Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gradually add them to the wet ingredients. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Chill and roll – Cover and chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, then scoop into 2 teaspoon-sized balls. Roll the dough through sugar before placing on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
- Bake, top, and enjoy! Bake the cookies for 8 minutes at 375F. Remove from oven and add Hershey kisses to the centers. Let cool completely on the baking sheet before enjoying!
SAM’S TIP: Your cookies may look slightly underdone when they come out of the oven–that’s okay (ideal, actually!)! Letting the cookies finish baking on their sheets makes for super soft, tender results. If you were to bake them completely in the oven, they would be hard and crumbly once cooled.
Frequently Asked Questions
The most likely reason for this is not measuring flour properly or over-baking. Make sure you either spoon and level (no scooping!) or use a kitchen scale to measure your flour, and let your cookies finish baking outside the oven on their cookie sheets.
Yes! Just let them cool completely before storing in an airtight container in the freezer. They should last about three months stored this way. See also my post on how to freeze cookie dough.
I do not recommend using natural peanut butter (the kind that separates) here or in any of my other recipes. Use normal, creamy peanut butter for best results.
I hope you love my version of this classic cookie ❤️
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Ingredients
- 10 Tablespoons (141 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ⅔ cup (135 g) light brown sugar tightly packed
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (140 g) creamy peanut butter
- 1 large egg room temperature preferred
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup granulated sugar for rolling
- 24 Milk Chocolate Kisses unwrapped
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Combine butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer (or you may use a large bowl and an electric mixer) and beat until well combined (about 1 minute).10 Tablespoons (141 g) unsalted butter, ⅔ cup (135 g) light brown sugar, ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- Add peanut butter and stir well.½ cup (140 g) creamy peanut butter
- Add eggs and vanilla extract and stir until well-combined.1 large egg, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.1 ½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon salt
- Gradually add flour mixture into the peanut butter batter, pausing occasionally to scrape down sides and bottom of bowl so that all ingredients are well-combined.
- Cover dough with plastic wrap and Place in the refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes to one hour*
- Preheat oven to 375F (190C) and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Pour remaining ½ cup of sugar into a small bowl and set aside.½ cup granulated sugar for rolling
- Once dough has chilled, remove from refrigerator and roll into 2-teaspoon-sized balls. Roll completely in sugar and place on prepared cookie sheet at least 2″ apart.
- Bake on 375F (190C) for 8 minutes.
- Within a minute or so of removing cookies from oven, gently but firmly press a Hershey Kiss into the center of each cookie. Allow to cool completely on cookie sheet.24 Milk Chocolate Kisses
Notes
*Chilling
Start with 30 minutes, if the dough is too sticky or cookies come out too flat, return for another half an hour. This dough may be chilled overnight if needed.Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
I originally shared this recipe 12/04/2017, post updated to include more tips and information 12/01/2018
Matthew Cox
I know these are not just for the holiday season but, for my family, they have come to herald that the holiday season is here. We make these first every year during the season and end up making them 2-3 more times that month. The peanut butter cookie is SO good, but then you nibble off little bit of that kiss and… suddenly… for just a moment… the world makes sense. “Oh, so this is why we are all here. I get it now.”
We also make your sugar cookies, your Russian Tea Cakes, your chocolate chip snowballs, and others for the holidays. (Dear SSR team, our generational family tradition is Nanaimo bars. If the SSR team ever wanted to perfect Nanaimo bars, we’d gladly test the recipe!)
Thank you for this recipe. Everyone should try this – just follow it as it is!
Sam
I’m so glad they are such a hit, Matthew! I have never actually had a nanaimo bar, but they sound delicious. I will have to see if I can make one. 🙂