Best Peanut Butter Blossoms Ever
This easy peanut butter blossoms recipe is the perfect classic cookie to bake with kids. They will love rolling the peanut butter balls and topping them with the sweet chocolate Hershey kiss!
If you're looking for the best peanut butter blossoms recipe, where else would you go but Peanut Blossom's blog??
Since this is my website's signature cookie recipe, I took the time to research every question you might ever have about baking the classic Hershey kiss cookie.
If you are an expert baker with no questions, you can jump right to the recipe in the link below.
I hope you agree they are the best cookies you've ever tried.
Jump to:
- What is a Peanut Blossom?
- Why This is the Best Recipe
- Ingredients
- Make the Peanut Butter Cookie Dough
- Roll the Dough in Sugar
- Baking Instructions
- Make Ahead Tips
- How to Freeze
- FAQ
- Easy Peanut Butter Blossoms Variation
- Variations
- More Classic Cookies to Bake with Kids
- Festive Cookies to Bake with Kids
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
What is a Peanut Blossom?
If I only had a penny for every time I've heard that question! You've most likely already eaten one but just didn't know the cookie's name.
A peanut blossom is a peanut butter cookie that has been rolled in sugar or sprinkles and then baked.
A chocolate Hershey kiss candy is pressed into the top while the cookies are still warm and melts just a little to stick to the cookie.
They are a classic Christmas cookie and have appeared on countless dessert trays over the years.
Why This is the Best Recipe
As the author of The Ultimate Kids' Baking Book, I take my dessert recipes very seriously. I think this is the best peanut blossom cookie because:
- Easy Peanut Butter Cookie Dough: This easy cookie recipe doesn't require any fancy equipment. Got a mixing bowl and a hand mixer? You're all set.
- Delicious Cookie, Easy Variations: There are so many fun ways to play with this festive little cookie.
- Make Ahead Friendly: The holiday baking season is busy, this is a great cookie recipe for making ahead for easy baking later.
- Freezer Friendly: Need even more time to plan ahead? You can freeze the cookie dough for baking directly from the freezer later.
Ingredients
You will love baking these cookies again and again just because of how simple the shopping list is! All you need to make them is:
- Creamy Peanut Butter: Crunchy peanut butter will not work for this recipe.
- Butter
- Sugar
- Brown Sugar
- Egg
- Flour
- Baking Soda
- Vanilla Extract
- Salt
- Hershey Kisses Candies: You can use absolutely any Hershey kisses flavor you want, this is a fun way to mix things up once in a while.
Make the Peanut Butter Cookie Dough
You do not need a stand mixer to make this simple cookie recipe.
Simply place the softened butter, peanut butter, sugar, and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl.
Beat them together with a hand mixer until light and fluffy.
Add the egg, vanilla extract, and salt, beat them in.
Add the flour and baking soda and beat them in until the dough forms.
Roll the Dough in Sugar
Chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes so the cookies are easier to roll into balls.
Portion the dough into scoops just smaller than a golf ball.
Roll each cookie ball in sugar and then place on a large baking mat lined with parchment paper.
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Baking Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Bake the cookies for 8 - 10 minutes or until they are just golden around the edges.
Set a timer for 1 minute and then press one Hershey kiss candy into the top of each cookie.
Let the cookies cool completely on the cookie sheet.
Make Ahead Tips
Once you've baked the Hershey kiss cookies, they will last 3 - 5 days in an airtight container while still keeping fresh and soft.
You can make the peanut butter cookie dough 3 - 4 days ahead of when you want to bake the cookies.
Store the cookie dough in an air-tight container in the fridge.
If you need longer than that, freeze the cookie dough up to 6 months.
How to Freeze
Freezing the fully baked and assembled peanut blossom cookies is not recommended.
The chocolate kiss can develop a white film on it when it freezes that is unattractive.
It is a better idea to freeze the peanut butter cookie dough itself for up to 6 months and then thaw and bake the cookies when you need them.
Roll the cookie dough into cookie balls and place them in an even layer on a cookie sheet.
Freeze the cookie dough balls until hardened and then transfer the dough balls to a plastic air-tight container or ziptop baggy.
You can bake the frozen cookie balls without thawing, just add 2 - 3 minutes to the total baking time.
FAQ
Yes, absolutely. We used Skippy Natural peanut butter when testing this recipe and the peanut blossom cookies came out perfectly.
Just be sure to stir the peanut butter well if the oils have separated in the jar.
Yes, use an equal amount of sun butter as is called for in the cookie recipe.
We've also heard of bakers using Nutella as a peanut butter substitute with great success.
This sounds like a totally delicious variation on peanut butter blossoms that we want to try just because!
Easy Peanut Butter Blossoms Variation
Hershey kiss cookies are one of the best-ever semi-homemade cookies to bake with kids.
We love using the Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie dough mix pouches that are sold at the grocery store every holiday season.
You can see my girls having a blast making these fun semi-homemade Christmas cookies here.
Variations
You can play around with the chocolate candy you press into the top of the peanut butter cookie base.
Some of our favorite ideas include:
- Rolo candies
- Heart-shaped Dove chocolates for Valentine's Day
- Peppermint candy cane flavored kisses with Nutella replacing the peanut butter
- Mini Reese's peanut butter cups
More Classic Cookies to Bake with Kids
If you love to bake with kids as much as I do, be sure to try these classic cookie recipes that every beginner baker should know how to bake!
Our sugar cookies recipe can be turned into fun cookies all year round for any special event.
Everyone needs an amazing chocolate chip walnut cookie and classic peanut butter cookie. But my husband would argue that the chocolate peanut butter chip cookies are the best of the bunch.
Festive Cookies to Bake with Kids
If it is a holiday you're baking for you probably want all the best Christmas cookie recipes you can get.
Your kids will love making cut out gingerbread cookies for Christmas.
My M&M cookies with cornflakes are an easier drop cookie for little ones. The sweet and spicy Mexican hot chocolate cookies are my kids' favorite and we absolutely have to make the easy pumpkin butterscotch cookies every fall!
📖 Recipe
Easy Peanut Butter Blossoms
Ingredients
For the Peanut Butter Cookie Dough
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 8 tbsp (1 stick) butter softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
For Finishing the Cookies
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 48 Hershey kisses unwrapped
Instructions
Make the Peanut Butter Cookie Dough
- In a large mixing bowl, add the sugar, brown sugar, butter, and peanut butter. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the ingredients together on medium speed until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl down with a spatula.
- Add the egg, vanilla, and salt. Beat them into the dough on medium speed until just combined.
- Add the flour and baking soda to the bowl and mix together on low speed. Be sure to scrape the bowl and check for dry flour pockets. Once everything is combined and smooth, cover the dough with plastic wrap.
- Chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes. You can make ahead the cookie dough up to 3 days in advance of baking and just store it in the fridge in an airtight container.
Baking Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Set out 2 cookie sheets and place the remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl. Unwrap all the kisses and place them in a small bowl.
- Roll the peanut butter dough into small 1 1/4 inch balls (just a bit smaller than a golf ball). Roll each cookie ball in the sugar and place on the cookie sheet 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 8 - 10 minutes or until the cookies are just very lightly golden brown.
- Set a timer for just 1 minute and then gently press 1 chocolate kiss candy into the center of each cookie. The cookies will crackle a bit. You can gently push them back together if they crack too much. They will set as they cool and firm up.
- Kisses will remain soft for hours, you don't want to stack them or the kisses will get smooshed.
Recipe Notes
To Freeze:
Don't freeze the fully baked cookies, rather freeze the peanut butter cookie dough formed into cookie balls separately. You can then bake the cookie balls directly from frozen by adding 2 - 3 minutes to the baking time.Save This Recipe to Your Recipe Box
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Love these cookies.
Well i've only eaten a warm cookie but it was great. Excited to share then tomorrow on Christmas eve! The only thing i found was that my yield was only about 24 cookies! Maybe i screwed up somewhere but i rolled them into 1 inch balls abs they came out great and look like the photo! Anyways, delicious. Just not as many as i was hoping for
Always love these cookies! Another thing I do to present too much melting is to freeze the kiss chocolate before I put them on the cookies. And I never thought to roll them in colors. How fun!
Always love these cookies! Another thing I do to present too much melting is to freeze the kiss chocolate before I put them on the cookies. And I never thought to roll them in colors. How fun!