Subscribe Now

Ingredients:

Peanut Blossom Cookies:

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup (185 grams) smooth peanut butter

1/3 cup (65 grams) light brown sugar

1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated white sugar

1 large egg (50 grams out of shell), at room temperature

1 teaspoon (4 grams) pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour

1 teaspoon (4 grams) baking soda

1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) fine kosher salt

Garnish:

36 Chocolate Kisses, unwrapped

Printer Friendly Page

 


Instructions:

Peanut Blossom Cookies: Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of your electric stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter until smooth. Add the peanut butter and sugars and beat until light and fluffy (about 1 to 2 minutes). Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the peanut butter mixture and beat until incorporated. If the batter is soft, cover and chill for about an hour, or until firm enough to roll into balls.

Form the batter into round balls using about 1 tablespoon (20 grams) of batter (I use a cookie scoop). Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart.

Bake the cookies for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until the cookies are just set around the edges (they will still be soft). Rotate your baking sheet front to back about halfway through baking. Immediately upon removing the cookies from the oven, place an unwrapped Chocolate Kiss into the center of each cookie, pressing down gently until the cookie just starts to crack. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes about 36 cookies.

 


Description:

Peanut Blossom Cookies are a peanut butter cookie with a Hershey's Chocolate Kiss sitting happily on top. Some say these cookies resemble little hats and, in fact, Maida Heatter tells us in her excellent book "Maida Heatter's Cookies" that this recipe is an "old American recipe that is sometimes called Sombreros".

Peanut Blossoms couldn't be more American; combining two of our favorites; peanut butter and Hershey's Chocolate Kisses. Both have been with us since the early 1900s, but we don't know exactly how they came together in this cookie. The theory is that the recipe must have been invented by home economists in the Hershey's Test Kitchen. Hershey's Kisses are individually foil wrapped, bite sized chocolates, and they were invented in 1907. Hershey's tells us that "while it's not known exactly how KISSES got their name, it is a popular theory that the candy was named for the sound or motion of the chocolate being deposited during the manufacturing process".

When making these cookies, the unwrapped Kisses (use whatever type you like) are placed on top of the peanut butter cookies immediately after baking. Be sure to press the Kiss gently but firmly into each cookie, just until you see the cookie start to crack. That way the Kiss will stand upright.