Baking Recipes,  Cookies

Spring and these yummy Peanut Butter Blossoms on my mind

Chewy peanut butter cookies with Hershey’s dark chocolate Kisses for hearts! These Peanut Butter Blossoms are as tasty as they look!



There are three things I love about these Peanut Butter Blossoms. First of all, it has peanut butter, which is about the only spread I am willing to eat out of a jar everyday. Second, it has chocolate involved, and that is something I actually do eat a bit of everyday. The last thing I like about this recipe is its name, which is one of the most dainty names ever.

I think these are actually kind of a contrast to how one might imagine a cookie with the word “blossom” might look. To anyone unfamiliar with Peanut Butter Blossoms, the first thing that comes to mind upon hearing the name is probably not a cookie with a piece of chocolate Kiss stuck in the center. But to anyone who likes the peanut butter and chocolate combo, this brings out as big a smile as the first blooms of spring. Is that why these are called Peanut Butter Blossoms?

Whether you call them Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies or Hershey Kiss Peanut Butter Cookies, these cookies are probably one of the most giftable because they offer quite a classic pairing. They are kind of hard to turn down, and they also look really cute inside a box! Then again, what’s not to love in a cookie that is packed with peanut butter taste, firm on the outside but chewy on the inside, with a nice hit of chocolate when you bite into the middle?

I already imagined myself eating these cookies the moment I came across them on Simply Recipes. Especially now that the weather here in the Philippines is hot, the Kisses will tend to get just a little melty at room temp. Somehow, it makes the eating experience even better.

These cookies are on the sweet side, because you have to roll the peanut butter dough in sugar before baking. To keep things in control, I highly recommend using the dark chocolate variant of Hershey’s Kisses. I personally also enjoy munching on dark chocolate more so milk chocolate Kisses will probably never find their way into my mouth and my baking, but in this case, I really think going dark will keep the sweetness in check.

Recipe notes

There isn’t really that many things to say about this recipe because it is super easy. The trickiest part is maybe the placing of the Kisses on each cookie, but it’s not really difficult per se. You just want to be fast at the step at the end is all. The recipe starts off just like any other cookie recipe, having you cream the butter with the sugars and egg. Make sure to incorporate the sugar into the butter well so that your cookies will bake up nicely.

The 1.5 Tablespoon-scoop is just the perfect size for these cookies. You don’t want to make it too big and you don’t want it to be too small either. You want to have just enough chubby cookie surface around the Hershey’s Kiss so that neither component overpowers the other. As I mentioned, the cookies will be on the sweet side because you have to roll them into sugar before baking, so just make sure you don’t roll the dough any more than you have to! If you want very visible sugar crystals on the surface of your cookies, use a sugar that is less fine.

As these cookies bake, they spread a little and crack on top, but not to worry because we will be putting the Hershey’s Kiss right at the very center to make them very pretty. The moment your cookies are ready to come out of the oven, you have to make sure you already have the Hershey’s Kisses unwrapped and ready to stick into the yet-soft cookie centers.

The cookies will firm up on the inside as it cools (but it stays chewy), so you want to take advantage of its softness while it’s still fresh from the oven. Gently press down the chocolate Kiss about halfway through and just let the heat melt the bottom of the chocolate to help it stick. The look of these just uplifts the mood!

Peanut Butter Blossoms are one of those things that seem to be made for taking places. They transport well, not to mention the name brings to mind spring picnics. The best part is that these pair well with milk or black coffee, which also make these a great sugary pick-me-up. I hope you give these a go and enjoy them! 

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Chewy peanut butter cookies with a Hershey's dark chocolate Kiss heart! These cookies are as tasty as they look, especially if you're a fan of the peanut butter-chocolate combo!

Ingredients

  • ½ cup 113 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • ½ cup 129 grams peanut butter
  • ½ cup 100 grams granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
  • ½ cup 110 grams packed brown sugar
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • cups 187 grams all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 24 Hershey's Dark Chocolate Kiss candies, unwrapped

Instructions

  • 1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F (180˚C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • 2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter, and both sugars until smooth. (You can use an electric or stand mixer, or you can do it by hand with a wooden spoon or spatula.) Add in the egg and mix until well-combined and smooth.
  • 3. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  • 4. Add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture in three additions, mixing until the cookie dough is formed.
  • 5. In a small bowl, add about 2 tablespoons of sugar. Using a 1.5-Tablespoon measure, scoop the dough and form into balls by rolling between your hands. Drop into the sugar to coat.
  • 6. Place the formed and sugared dough balls on the prepared baking sheet, making sure to space them a couple of inches apart to allow room to spread.
  • 7. Bake the cookies on the middle rack in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes, until cookies are slightly spread out, domed on the top, and golden on the bottom. Take out from the oven and immediately press a chocolate Kiss in the center of each cookie halfway in. (The heat from the cookies will melt the bottom of the chocolate Kiss and help it adhere.)
  • 8. Let the cookies cool for a couple of minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

Notes

Cookies will keep fresh for 3 days stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Adapted from Simply Recipes blog

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