Perfect Peanut Butter Blossoms.
When it comes to peanut butter blossoms, I always use the recipe on the back of the Hershey Kiss bag. Always.
And I really had no intentions of sharing said recipe with you, because while it is my favorite cookie of all time, it’s so well known that I figured most of you had the recipe. And if you didn’t, it’s only a drive to the grocery store away.
So, this may not be as exciting as cake batter bark, but I’m going to let you in on a little secret.
I posted my holiday baking list and had over one hundred requests for “my” peanut butter blossom recipe. Really?!
So there you have it – my recipe comes from the back of the bag!
But do you know who’s didn’t? Mother Lovett’s. I don’t know if I mentioned it before, but I would help Mother Lovett bake Christmas cookies every year. Not because she wanted my help. But because she was blind and deaf and unless we wanted charred rocks on Christmas Eve, someone needed to be there to hear the oven timer go off.
Peanut Butter Blossoms were especially tricky, because you had to hear the timer go off the first time to push the kisses in, then the second time to remove the cookies to cool.
This never went well for Mother Lovett, who often ended up with crisp, burnt peanut butter slabs with puddles of chocolate in the middle.
Every year, even though we had a bag of Kisses ready to go, she’d search high and low for that recipe. Â We couldn’t possibly just use the one of the bag, the one right in front of us. Just like some of her others, it is typewriter-typed on a yellowed index card, with a note on the back, “I got 49 cookies in 1999.” That is often how she kept track of how many cookies each batch yielded.
Don’t you just want to dive into that batter?
So here’s the deal. Most peanut butter blossom recipes call for shortening. I do have shortening, but I know that many of you don’t. And why buy it for one recipe? Â I knew that somewhere along the way I had made these with butter before, so I tried them out with butter and it worked perfectly.
Mother Lovett kept most of her cookies stored in the garage, in tattered, worn Horne’s or Kaufmann’s boxes with reused foil and saran wrap. It may sound disturbing, but she kept everything fairly clean – it was that whole depression era thing. Sometimes I wish I caught that gene as I can be so wasteful.
Every December, after the cookies were baked and stored in the garage, it was a race to see which grandchild got into the boxes first. I remember entering her house through the garage and suspiciously opening the peanut butter blossom box, careful not to disturb her perfect wrapping, grabbing a handful of cookies, lowering the box lid and darting up the stairs. Many times the peanut butter blossoms didn’t even make it to Christmas Eve.
Make sure you leave some out for Santa!
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1/2 cup sugar, for rolling
- 2 bags Hershey Kisses, you only need ~48, unwrapped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Cream butter and peanut butter together until smooth. Add sugars and cream for 2-3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Stir in vanilla. Add flour, baking soda and salt, just mixing until combined, then add in milk. Cover and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes or up to 2 days.
- Roll cookies into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar. Lay on baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake at 375 for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and push Kiss down into the middle of each cookie. Return to oven and bake for 2 1/2 more minutes. Remove and let cool completely.
Did you make this recipe?
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Now for the real question. If you could only choose ONE cookie to make this holiday season, which would it be? This would be mine. Hands down.
181 Comments on “Perfect Peanut Butter Blossoms.”
growing up my mom used to make these with peanut butter cups and it was definitely my favorite cookie
We love these in our house! I love old school cookies like this :)
These are classic…can’t deny! :) As for my favorite cookie for ever ‘n ever…It’s also a cookie “classic” in our family…Can’t remember a Christmas without Black-Raspberry Coconut Thumbprints!
love,
cathy b. @ brightbakes
Those are my FAVORITE kinds of cookies!! I LOVE putting reece’s cups in the middle instead of hershey’s kisses because I am a peanut butter junkie :-) Your pictures of the cookies always turn out so well! For some reason photographing sweets is harder than taking pictures of food for me – they never turn out well!
These cookies do seem to scream Christmas. I feel like they disappear for the whole year and then re-appear at Christmas time. Only ONE cookie? Maybe spritz? Or mexican wedding. Loves those things
I know! Why is that??
I really hate Hershey Kisses for some reason, so my mom always makes it with a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup for me. SOOOO GOOD! And it brings in more peanut butter, so what could be bad about that?
I don’t really like Kisses on their own either. I’m a chocolate snob.
How funny…I’m waiting for the oven to preheat so I can make peanut butter blossoms this morning. My confession…I use the Betty Crocker bagged mix instead of making the dough from scratch…and no one ever suspects.
If it makes it easier, I say do it! I’ve also heard of using the refrigerated log of peanut butter cookie dough in the dairy section!
please send recipe i have better crocker mixes just need to no what other ingredrients to follow with
Those really are perfect. Truth? I haven’t had one in YEARS. This needs to change.
My mom recently gave me a recipe for Mexican Chocolate Chrinkles. My grandmama used to make them; apparently they are just balls of cookie. I’m making them for a baking afternoon I’m having with my sisters-in-law. :-P
Peanut butter blossoms are hands down, one of my all-time favorite cookies. I LOVE how soft the kiss gets!
I love ML stories- truly! I feel like I knew her! ;)
I haven’t made these yet, but I’ve gotten requests. Last night I made some amazing bon bons with candy cane kisses- no worries, that recipe will be up next week! :)
Those sound delicious!
Aww these are so cute! Some of the best recipes are on the back of packages – I only make chocolate chip cookies with the recipe on the back of the Hershey bag! (Not sure if it’s still there because I haven’t done it in a while, but it’s a verrry good recipe!)
My other grandma also ONLY used the chocolate chip cookie recipe on the back of a bag!
I hope you wrote on the back of your index card that your recipe only made 48 cookies this year. :)
LOL!
Great job. There’s something so nostalgic about peanut butter blossoms even if I never loved them that much.
My favorite Christmas cookie most definitely is an Italian anise cookie with icing.
I just love stories about Mother Lovett – she’s an amazing part of you and your blog! Oh, and the food too… :D
Aww those look like the perfect little treats! (The pictures make me want to grab one of them this very minute). I have never had peanut butter blossoms, but now I most certainly will!
Oh, and I have both butter and shortening on hand, so which do you think is better for this recipe?
I have had both versions and think both taste wonderful (and I can’t tell the difference). I say use whichever you want!
My Mom would make those cookies when I was growing up and she really got into a holiday baking mood. I could go through 3 or 6 at a time back then.
If I had to make one cookie it would definitely be Mexican wedding cookies. So crumbly and melty with a sweet nutty flavor!
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This was always my FAVORITE cookie to make when I was little because it was so easy for me to “help” my mom make them. I would unwrap the Hershey Kisses and smoosh (technical term) them on when they cookies came out of the oven. They will forever hold a special place in my heart (and belly!) ;)
This is my all-time favorite cookie, too. I’ve made them before and the cookie turned out completely flat, but it was still delicious. I don’t know if I’ve ever partially baked and then put the kiss in them. I’m going to have to try that this year!
P.S.-I really love your stories about Mother Lovett. My maternal grandmother died before I was born and my paternal grandmother always lived pretty far away, so I never got to have many “grandmother” experiences. I love to have them through you!
Aw, that means so much to me. So sorry about your grandmothers. I can’t imagine not having them in my life. I am so happy you are enjoying the stories!
I always loved these growing up! Okay, who am I kidding, I love them now too :)
Uh, yeah…totally this one! Always the ones I looked for as a child and still do. Now I make them for my husband’s triplet 10 yr. old brothers who think I’m “the bomb” b/c it’s their favorite cookies as well.
One of my favorite all time cookies!! Just so darn good. And you are right about driving to the store ;)
This is my favorite cookie that my grandmother makes, but she’s NEVER shared the recipe! Thanks! :)
Would you believe I’ve never made these, or anything that resembles these?? Since we don’t really “do” Christmas and I rely on other people for my celebratory treats, I take what I can get… but my favorite cookie are these by far.
You must make them!!
Is it weird that i’d take a slice of apple pie over a cookie? or carrot cake. I’m boring. BUT if I had to pick a COOKIE I’d say a double chocolate chunk cookie. Yum!
xoXOxo
Not weird at all. I’d probably take cheesecake over cookies and pie.
My one cookies would be frosted sugar cookies. I have yet to make them, but I think I am saving them for when my sister visits me the week before Christmas :)
Perfection! :)
I love reading about your grandma. She sounds a lot like mine. I have trunks full of hand-written recipes on scraps of paper that don’t make much sense, but they made perfect sense to her. She saved her electricity bills for years because they sent a recipe with each bill. Wouldn’t it be great if they still did that? Oh, and my grandma saved and re-used foil and saran wrap too. I sometimes do it with foil, but I haven’t been able to do it with saran–too much of a germ-aphobe.
Thanks for subbing butter for shortening in a cookie recipe–I’ve been thinking about doing the same today for gingersnaps but I wasn’t sure they’d turn out the same. I’ll give it a try now :)
Oh my gosh… there are bills/etc in her recipes too! I love that.
So THAT’S where the box storage comes from :) I love it.
These are in my top 3 faves of holiday cookies. I have made them before with shortening, and like you said, then never used the shortening again. I will definitely be trying them with butter, and probably this week;) Love the story as always!
This cookie is one of our family traditions! Can’t have Christmas without em!
I was looking for a dessert cookie recipe to take to a family gathering…this is it! Thank you for the recipe…
These cookies are one of my faves! I call them thumprints though..hmm why is that?
I think they are similar to thumbprints, but actual thumbprints are ones where you literally press your thumb in the middle mid way thru baking and then frost!
Peanut butter blossoms are always a favorite and yours would go fast on any cookie platter. By the way, I’m holding a giveaway on my blog (open to everyone) for Orglamix Organic makeup and you’re welcome to come by and enter. http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2010/12/orglamix-organic-mineral-makeup-review.html
Mmmm, those look delish! So funny how these kisses hold up so much better than the candy cane ones. I’m definitely going to be borrowing this recipe one day soon. Thanks!
This would be my pick to make too! By far my favorite Christmas cookie.. oo but then theres apricot horns and russian tea cakes too… But heck who doesn’t love peanut butter and chocolate together in cookie form? I’ll be making these cookies very very soon!!
Love these!!!
I love thumbprint kind of cookies. And even though I’m not really a fan of PB, that looks seriously appealing! Might try making it too, in hope that I begin liking PB!
I’ve never made these before. Don’t know why. I always love them when I go somewhere and they’re on the cookie platter. I’m going to remedy that this holiday season. *smile* (I’d definitely make ’em with butter rather than shortening. Haven’t had shortening in my house for about a dozen years now.)
These are one of my favorites. Can’t get much better than peanut butter and chocolate in the same dish. I have a recipe for a Peanut Butter and Chocolate Pudding cake. It’s one of those one dish wonders. Mmmmmm….. http://windowontheprairie.com/2010/08/17/peanut-butter-and-chocolate-pudding-cake/ Suzanne
That looks unreal. Thanks for sharing!
No way! I was JUST about to make these!! Good to know they’re perfect :) They sure look that way!
I came to your site to find a recipe for a holiday cookie exchance next week and BAM – I don’t even have to go past the first page! Yay! Can’t wait to make these :)
This is so weird. I was looking for a recipe for these last night everywhere! I finally used the one from the Hershey’s website. I went to the store for the ingredients this morning and they are now sitting on my kitchen counter fully baked. What funny timing!
And I definitely bought shortening for it. An organic tub from WF. It doesn’t expire until 2012 thankfully.
Didn’t even know you could get organic shortening! I’ll have to look next time I’m there.
I love these! Great recipe!!
I love them.
They are so cute!
That is hilarious!! My grandma has always kept her Christmas cookies and treats in the garage! I have snuck in there every year for 24 years to find the stash! She claims it acts as a fridge since it’s so cold in PA that time of year anyways, and the cookies are always stored in metal tins that are least 40 years old. :)
Something about PA and cold and garages and cookies… :)
Definitely a Classic Christmas Cookie!
I am an almond shortbread junkie, but if I could choose just one cookie recipe to make, it would probably be Mama Pea’s Dough Balls…and I haven’t even made them yet! I figure if they taste HALF as good as a look, they’re making it on my baking list this year!
You must make them! I have already made them multiple times and they are out of this WORLD. I refuse to make them again until the week of Christmas because I keep eating them.
I love these!!!!! THey are adorable!!!
i love those…and there’s a reason those recipes are on the back of the bag! tried and true… :)