Dorothy Kern
Peanut Butter Blossoms are the perfect holiday cookie! In fact, they’re the perfect cookie for anyone that loves peanut butter, all year long. I’ve been making these cookies my entire life and they’re easy enough you can make them too!
These cookies remind me of childhood! I’ve been making some sort of blossom cookie practically my entire life. As much as I love making new flavors of cookies, the classics always have a place in my kitchen.
I’ve edited the original Pillsbury Peanut Butter Blossom Cookie recipe and instead used my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe. The result: a soft and chewy peanut butter blossom that is the perfect Christmas cookie you should make all year.
Table of Contents
What is a blossom cookie?
These cookies debuted at a Pillsbury Bake-Off in 1957 and have been a classic Christmas cookie ever since.
I don’t understand why people only make them at Christmas though; I make them all year (especially since my husband LOVES peanut butter).
Peanut Butter Blossoms are an easy peanut butter cookie recipe!
When they’re hot from the oven a Hershey’s Kiss is pressed on top, creating that classic peanut butter and chocolate combination. It’s no wonder these guys have been popular for over 60 years.
BETTER than the original
That’s right, I said better! Why?
I use butter instead of shortening. I find that using butter creates a softer and chewier cookie that’s less likely to get hard or crunchy.
This is just my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe that I use for EVERY peanut butter cookie on this site, it just is dressed a little differently!
Using butter in the cookies keeps them soft and chewy for days!
PRO TIP
Ingredients in Peanut Butter Blossoms Cookies
- Unsalted Butter: make sure it’s softened
- Creamy Peanut Butter: don’t use natural
- Brown and Granulated Sugar: the combination keeps them soft
- Egg, vanilla, baking soda, salt: normal cookie ingredients
- Milk: keeps them soft
- Flour: use all-purpose
- Hershey’s Kisses: for topping
Making the Cookie Dough
Making the cookies are just like making peanut butter cookies:
- Cream the butter and sugar with peanut butter
- Add egg, vanilla, baking soda and salt
- Mix in the flour
The main difference between this cookie and my original is that, after I scoop them, I roll them in sugar and bake them in a ball. Peanut Butter Blossoms don’t have the criss-cross marks that traditional PB cookies have. Instead they stay puffy in the oven, perfect for that Hershey’s Kiss.
I also bake these smaller than my traditional cookies. Normally I use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop for all my cookie baking, but for these I use a 1-tablespoon scoop. That means I get more cookies (perfect for a cookie exchange) but the smaller size is the perfect fit for the Kiss.
How do you make peanut butter blossoms from scratch?
- Mix the dough: Place butter and peanut butter in a large bowl. Using a hand or a stand mixer, mix until combined then add both sugars. Cream until smooth. Mix in egg, vanilla, and milk and mix on medium speed until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients: Mix in baking soda and salt, then slowly mix in flour and mix just until the batter is smooth and comes together. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl during mixing.
- Roll in sugar: Fill a bowl with additional granulated sugar, about ½ cup. Scoop 1 tablespoon balls of dough and roll in sugar. Place 2-inches apart on prepared cookie sheets.
- Prepare the Kisses: unwrap the Heshey’s Kisses.
- Bake and Press: Bake for 9-13 minutes, or until the edges are just golden brown and the tops are no longer glossy. Immediately place a Kiss in the center of each cookie. Allow to cool before removing from cookie sheets.
What kind of Hershey’s Kiss do you use in Peanut Butter Blossoms?
These are traditionally Hershey’s Kiss cookies, but you don’t have to use the plain old Kiss. The classic cookie uses the milk chocolate Kiss, wrapped in silver foil, but you could use:
- Caramel Hershey’s Kisses or any other flavor
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
- Rolos
- Mini Snickers or other mini candy bar
Funny story: when I first started blogging I made some sort of blossom cookie (which I won’t link to because the photos are probably horrid). I got a comment:
“Why do you have to unwrap the Hershey’s Kiss?”
Still my favorite comment to date. I chuckle every time I think of it. (Um…so you don’t eat foil?)
FAQ and Tips
1. If you’re using my recipe, you’re using butter. However, if you’re using shortening and your cookies turned out dry, that’s why. Shortening doesn’t produce as soft of a cookie as butter does.
2. Did you over bake them? Be sure to take them out as soon as they’re done. (Learn how to tell when your cookies are done.)
3. You could have over-mixed your dough or added too much flour. Make sure you’re measuring flour correctly.
They’ll last about 4-5 days on the counter, in an airtight container (if they last that long!)
The best thing about this cookie recipe: you can freeze them! I make them ahead and freeze them for up to a month. This makes them easy to make for the holidays! (Learn how to freeze desserts.)
Usually cookies are too dry when you’ve over baked them or added too much flour. Be sure to measure your flour using the spoon and level method, and make sure to bake them until they just lose their glossy sheen and have slightly golden bottoms.
This is a good question – because they really shouldn’t flatten. The peanut butter keeps them in a ball and they flatten when you press the Kiss on top. However, if they happened to flatten too much, you can try chilling the dough before baking. That should help – or it’s possible you didn’t add enough flour.
This classic peanut butter blossoms cookie recipe is a family favorite and I hope you love it as much as we do!
Other Peanut Butter Cookie Recipes:
- The BEST Peanut Butter cookies
- Snickers Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookie Cake
- Turtle Peanut Butter Cookies
- Rolo Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies
- All my Peanut Butter Cookie Recipes
Other Classic Holiday Cookies:
Have you made this recipe?
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Peanut Butter Blossoms
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (113 g)
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (213g)
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed (138g)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar (50g), plus more for rolling
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5ml)
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon milk (15ml)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (248g)
- 40 Hershey's Kisses or a few more
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- Place butter and peanut butter in a large bowl. Using a hand or a stand mixer, mix until combined then add both sugars. Cream until smooth. Mix in egg, vanilla, and milk and mix on medium speed until combined.
- Mix in baking soda and salt, then slowly mix in flour and mix just until the batter is smooth and comes together. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl during mixing.
- Fill a bowl with additional granulated sugar, about ½ cup.
- Scoop 1 tablespoon balls of dough and roll in sugar. Place 2-inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Meanwhile, unwrap the Heshey's Kisses.
- Bake for 9-13 minutes, or until the edges are just golden brown and the tops are no longer glossy. Immediately place a Kiss in the center of each cookie. Allow to cool before removing from cookie sheets.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- Mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
- Rolos
- Other flavor Hershey’s Kisses
- Mini Snickers
- Or any other small candy!
Nutrition Information
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
These easy Peanut Butter Blossoms will remind you of your childhood; they’re a classic holiday cookie recipe that’s also the best peanut butter cookie ever!
Last Updated on December 22, 2020
All text and images © DOROTHY KERN for Crazy for Crust. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be accurate.
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Published on: October 13, 2019
Made these today. OMG! Terrific moist tasty cookie. Like how the Hershey kiss just melted in and stayed moist. Glad to have it in my arsenal.
I always get nervous when a receipe says its “the best ever” but you win with the peanut butter cookies. I made the peanut butter blossoms and they were perfect. It was the first time I made the without using a mini muffin pan, so i just followed your recipe exactly. I won’t need
to tweak it at all!
I made these today. They were great. I agree, that is a perfect peanut butter cookie base that you can use in many ways.
My husband is the only human that I know that doesn’t like peanut butter and chocolate together. So, I doubled the recipe, made half with the Hershey KIsses. The other half I used in my Pampered Chef Tart Pan and put a dent in each one that I filled with different jams-strawberry, boysenberry, and peach. So he ended up with a pb&j kind of cookie/tart, and I got the blossoms.
We like to use Brachs chocolate stars. There is no unwrapping, and the star keeps its shape for a pretty look. They are hard to find. Hy Vee in the midwest still carries them.