Old Fashioned Peanut Blossoms

Old Fashioned Peanut Blossoms are called America’s Favorite Christmas Cookie for a reason. They are the perfect marriage of peanut butter and chocolate, and kids (and adults) go nuts for these classic holiday cookies.

Classic Peanut Blossoms

If you’ve never had an Old Fashioned Peanut Blossom cookie, then let me explain. Imagine a perfect peanut butter cookie with a soft interior and slightly crunchy exterior topped with a milk chocolate Hershey’s Kiss. It’s the perfect marriage of peanut butter and chocolate, my two favorite dessert flavors.

The trick of these cookies is to pull the out of the oven when they are soft, and add an unwrapped Hershey’s kiss. When you press down the kiss into the cookie, the edges should begin to crack.  If the cookie is already cracked when you pull it out of the oven, you’ve let them bake too long.  Then, the tray gets returned to the oven to continue to bake until the chocolate melts just enough that it sets into the peanut butter blossom.

Hershey’s Peanut Butter Blossoms Ingredients

Find the full recipe for these Peanut Butter Blossom cookies at the bottom of the post.

• All Purpose Flour
• Baking Soda
• Salt
• Peanut Butter
• Crisco (Shortening)
• Granulated Sugar
• Brown Sugar
• Large Egg
• Milk
• Vanilla Extract
• Sugar (to roll cookies)
• Hershey’s Kisses

How to Make Peanut Blossom Cookies from scratch

Step by Step Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Sift flour, baking soda and salt.
3. Add dry ingredients, peanut butter, and shortening to mixing bowl; mix until creamed together with a hand mixer or electric mixer.
4. Combine white and brown sugars, and add gradually while mixing.
5. In a separate small bowl, whisk together egg, milk, and vanilla.
6. Add the wet ingredients to the creamed mixture, and blend until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
7. Shape cookies into 1-inch balls by the teaspoonful; roll in sugar.
8. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
9. Bake for 8 minutes; remove from oven. Press a Hershey’s Kiss into the center of each cookie, pressing down so the cookie cracks around the edge.
10. Return to the oven for an additional 2 – 5 minutes. Be sure to watch them so the chocolate doesn’t burn!
11. Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Storage Instructions

Let cookies cool completely before transferring to an airtight container. Freeze in a single layer in a freezer container for up to 3 months.

For the full instructions for Old Fashioned Peanut Blossoms, scroll to the bottom of this post. 

Recipe Variations

• Use crunchy peanut butter instead of smooth.
• Stir in chopped nuts into the cookie dough.
• Use dark chocolate, white chocolate or any other flavor of Kisses.
• Top with a Reese’s Cup instead of a kiss.

Recipe FAQs

• These Peanut Blossoms cookie recipe are made with Crisco, also called shortening.  To make it easy, buy the Crisco sticks. It’s as easy as cutting the sticks on the marked lines.
• One bag of Hershey’s Kisses work for this recipe (unless you snack on more than you use for the recipe.)
• This recipe calls for a two-step baking process.
  • Bake for 8 minutes. The cookie should be slightly under baked.
  • Then you remove the pan from the oven, add a chocolate kiss to each cookie, and return the sheet pan to the oven to finish baking.
• The peanut blossom cookies should crack as you push the Hershey kiss down into the cookie.

Can I use crunchy peanut butter in my peanut blossom cookies?

The answer is Yes. Substitute crunchy peanut butter for smooth peanut butter, if desired.

Why are my peanut butter blossoms falling apart?

Cooking your peanut blossoms too long can cause a crumbly texture that falls apart.  Try under-cooking the cookies instead for a softer texture.

Our Favorite Cookies for your Christmas Cookie Tray

These easy Peanut Butter Blossoms have graced Mom’s holiday cookie tray for as long as I can remember.  I would rank them right up at the top of our families’ list of favorite Christmas cookies.

Mom’s tray of Christmas cookies is packed full of old fashioned flavors and textures. Here’s a list of our must-haves:

• Dainty Logs
• Three Layer Chocolate Squares
• Fudge Nut Bars
• Pride of Iowa Cookies
• French Buttercreams
• Chocolate Nut Logs
• Granny’s Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies

Peanut Butter Dessert Recipes

We love using peanut butter in our dessert recipes. From cookies to pies to candies, peanut butter can be the star of the show. Here are some of our favorite dessert recipes featuring peanut butter.

Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Pie

Salted Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chunks

White Chocolate Peanut Clusters

Easy Homemade Candy Recipes

• Simple Pretzel Kiss Candies
• Grandma’s Fantasy Fudge
• Sweet and Saltines Candy
• Spanish Peanut Crisps Candy