Peanut Butter Blossoms
Posted Nov 24, 2019, Updated Dec 30, 2023
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The best Peanut Butter Blossoms cookie recipe! A soft peanut butter cookie is coated in sugar and topped with a chocolate kiss! These peanut butter kiss cookies are a favorite Christmas cookie that will become a must-make for your holiday cookie trays for years to come!
Everyone has their favorite Christmas cookie. You know, the variety you eat first from the cookie tray and hope no one else reaches for so there is more for you to enjoy. These Peanut Butter Blossoms are definitely mine.
I have fond memories of “fighting” with my uncle over the peanut butter kiss cookies at Christmas time (pretty sure he always let me win). So naturally as a grown woman I decided to create my own recipe for the best peanut butter blossom cookies!
In this Hershey kiss cookies recipe, a soft peanut butter cookie is coated in sugar and topped with a chocolate kiss! It’s a favorite Christmas cookie that will become a must-make for your holiday cookie trays for years to come!
Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies: Ingredients & Substitutions
Let’s begin by discussing the ingredients in these peanut butter blossoms and possible substitutions!
- Salted Butter. unsalted butter or vegan butter are good substitutes.
- Peanut Butter. I recommend using a variety of peanut butter that is solid at room temperature (Jif, Skippy, Skippy Natural, etc.).
- Milk. Any type of milk works excellently in these peanut butter kiss cookies. I typically use whole milk because it’s what we buy. However 2%, whole, and half-and-half have all worked well for us.
- Vanilla Extract. Please only use pure vanilla extract (not imitation) for the best taste.
- Light Brown Sugar. If you like a little bolder, molasses taste use dark brown sugar.
- Granulated Sugar. white sugar or organic cane sugar are the best choices.
- Cinnamon. Ok, I truly believe the touch of cinnamon sets these peanut butter blossom cookies apart from the rest. I do not recommend leaving it out, as it greatly enhances the flavor.
- Sea salt. I only ever bake with pure, fine sea salt. If you are using iodized salt I recommend decreasing the amount of salt by half.
How to make Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
Ok, now that we’ve discussed the ingredients in these peanut butter kiss cookies, let’s jump in and discuss how to make them! Don’t forget to watch the video for step-by-step instructions as well!
Unwrap & Freeze Kiss Candies
The very first step in this peanut butter blossoms recipe is to unwrap and freeze the Hershey kiss candies. The kisses need to be frozen before they are pushed into the warm peanut butter cookies so they don’t melt and lose their shape.
Layer the unwrapped kisses in a pan or in a bowl and toss them in the freezer while you make the rest of the recipe! If you check out these flourless peanut butter blossom cookies you can see how I also have used chocolate shapes in my blossom cookies for a cute holiday twist! They still need to be frozen before being added to the cookies too!
Make the peanut butter blossom dough
Once the kisses are in the freezer, it’s time to make the peanut butter cookie dough. It needs to chill for at least 60 minutes before baking, so keep that in mind!
Combine butter & peanut butter
Start by beating the softened butter and peanut butter together until the mixture is smooth and there are no lumps. This step is important to ensure there are no lumps of butter in the dough!
Add wet ingredients
Next add milk, egg and vanilla and beat again until the mixture is light and fluffy and homogenous (uniform throughout).
Add sugars
Next, beat in the brown and granulated sugars until they dissolve and the mixture is light and fluffy. You may need to scrape down the sides and beat a second time!
Stir in dry ingredients
You can either mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl before you begin the rest of the recipe – which I recommend to ensure even distribution, or just toss them into the mixer on top of the beaten wet ingredients. Either way, beat them in until they are just combined and the dough is uniform throughout.
Chill
In order to achieve the best peanut butter flavor and texture, chilling the peanut butter blossom dough is necessary. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap or transfer the dough to an airtight container and put it in the refrigerator for at least 60 minutes (or overnight).
Portion out dough
Use a 1 1/2 to 2 TBS cookie scoop and measure out the dough. I recommend using a cookie scoop because it ensures all the peanut butter blossoms are the same size and bake evenly! Then roll each portion of dough into a smooth ball and place them evenly spaced on a large cookie sheet.
Roll in granulated sugar
Roll each peanut butter blossom cookie ball in granulated sugar until it’s evenly coated, then return to the baking sheet!
Bake
Place the cookie sheet into the preheated oven and bake the peanut butter blossoms for 10 minutes.
Note about baking time
I use a convection oven which uses a fan to distribute heat evenly throughout the oven. My convection oven in our new house bakes differently than my convection oven did in our old house. I had to learn it’s “baking personality” when we moved in and figure out the best way to use it.
It’s important that you know your oven’s personality. Does it bake hot or cold? (keep an inexpensive oven thermometer inside to be sure), are there hot pockets?. etc.
Add kisses
As soon as the peanut butter cookies are removed from the oven, press a frozen kiss gently into the top of each one.
Cool & Enjoy
First, let these peanut butter blossoms cool on the baking sheet for 15-20 minutes. As you can see by their “glistening” appearance in the photo below, even though we press frozen kiss candies into the peanut butter blossom cookies, they still get warm and melty.
Letting them cool on the baking sheet for at least 15 minutes gives time for the Hershey kisses to cool down and set up a little bit before being transferred!
After 15-20 minutes transfer the Hershey kiss cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. They need to be completely cooled and the kisses hardened before they are added to a cookie tray or stacked and stored. However, I always sneak one fresh from the oven, because just can’t resist!
Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies Recipe FAQs
They stay fresh for up to 5 days stored in an airtight container.
Yes! Freeze in an airtight container for up to 1 month.
Yes, sunflower seed butter, cashew butter, etc. are good substitutes.
I have a delicious Almond Butter Blossom Cookie recipe that is paleo and vegan (egg-free) if you’re looking for an allergy friendly blossom cookie! Also these gluten-free peanut butter blossoms are so good.
Since there is double the amount of peanut butter as there is butter in this peanut butter blossoms recipe, chilling helps solidify the fat (peanut butter and butter) and keeps the cookies from spreading too much when baking. It also makes for a chewier peanut butter kiss cookie that holds up better after it has cooled.
Yes, but be aware that the cookies may spread more and be more on the crispy side than the soft side. Also, many natural peanut butters are unsalted, so you may need to increase the amount of salt in the recipe by 1/4 tsp.
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Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup salted butter softened
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 Tablespoon whole milk
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar for coating
- 24 chocolate kiss candies unwrapped and frozen
Instructions
- Unwrap 24 chocolate kiss candies. Place unwrapped candies in a container and put them in the freezer.
- In a small bowl mix together flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder cinnamon. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and peanut butter until smooth.
- Add sugars and beat until light and fluffy (about 60 seconds).
- Add egg, milk and vanilla and beat for 60 seconds until the mixture is light in color and sugar is dissolved.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until combined.
- Transfer dough to an airtight container.
- Chill in the refrigerator for at least 60 minutes, and up to overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Use a small cookie scoop to measure 1 ½ TBS dough and roll it into a ball. Repeat until all the dough has been used.
- Rolls the balls of dough in granulated sugar until lightly and evenly coated.
- Place the cookies on a baking sheet with at least 1 ½ inches between them (usually 12 fit on a standard large baking sheet).
- Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes until the cookies look set and puffed and are slightly cracked.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately place one frozen chocolate kiss candy in the middle of each cookie and gently press it into the cookie.
- Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Let the cookies cool for at least 3 hours for best texture!
Video
Notes
- Salted Butter. unsalted butter or vegan butter are good substitutes.
- Peanut Butter. I recommend using a variety of peanut butter that is solid at room temperature (Jif, Skippy, Skippy Natural, etc.).
- Milk. Any type of milk works excellently in these peanut butter kiss cookies. I typically use whole milk because it’s what we buy. However 2%, whole, and half-and-half have all worked well for us.
- Vanilla Extract. Please only use pure vanilla extract (not imitation) for the best taste.
- Light Brown Sugar. If you like a little bolder, molasses taste use dark brown sugar.
- Granulated Sugar. white sugar or organic cane sugar are the best choices.
- Cinnamon. Ok, I truly believe the touch of cinnamon sets these peanut butter blossom cookies apart from the rest. I do not recommend leaving it out, as it greatly enhances the flavor.
- Sea salt. I only ever bake with pure, fine sea salt. If you are using iodized salt I recommend decreasing the amount of salt by half.
Freeze
These cookies can be wrapped, placed in an airtight container and stored in the freezer for up to 1 month.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can I use crunchy peanut butter?
Yes, but there will be little bits of crunchy peanuts in your cookies!
These are amazing!!!
What can I use as a substitute for Hershey kisses as I don’t like them😪🫤?
I LOVE using peanut butter cups instead of kisses. Or pieces of a dark chocolate bar – yum!
I have 3 GO-TO Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes- I am The Original (OG) COOKIE MONSTER!
I just made (4) batches of this recipe. INCREDIBLE.
I Just replaced (3) of my cookie recipes… I have one with toffee bits that I LOVE, haha
But… enough about me and back to YOU!!! AMAZING recipe, thank you.
Simple & Super easy- I even made one batch without a mixer (melted the butter accidentally- still came out great).
I’ll send pictures later. Made big to BIGGER 2TBspn & 3TBspn All came out great and delicious.
The ONLY problem is that now everyone at work wants me to make them a batch or two for their families. I told them that my wife made them and that she only bakes for me.
These are my favorite holiday cookies and I made them on Friday 1/1/2021! It was my first time making these. They were fantastic and it will be a tradition to make (even outside of holidays!) 🙂
These are perfect. I make peanut butter blossoms every Christmas, but I’ve only ever made the Wilton recipe that uses Crisco. I love that recipe is made with butter. I will be making this recipe from now on. My boys agreed that these were better!
I just made them, my son and I loved them. Great recipe, very thorough. Will be making these again in the near future.
Thank you Jess! These are some of my favorite cookies 🙂
I have a recipe I love so never tried making these until tonight. LOVE THESE MORE!
I can’t wait to make these for our Christmas caroling cookie plates! 🙂