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.

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

 

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 Old Fashioned Peanut Blossom cookies at the bottom of the post.

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

How to Make Peanut Blossom Cookies from scratch:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Sift flour, baking soda and salt.
3. Add sifted ingredients, peanut butter, and shortening to mixing bowl; mix until creamed together.
4. Combine white and brown sugars, and 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.
7. Shape cookies into rounded 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!

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

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.

Notes About Old Fashioned Peanut Blossoms:

• These Peanut Blossoms 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.

Peanut Butter Dessert Recipes:

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