Baking · American
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Soft, sugar-rolled peanut butter cookies, each crowned with a milk chocolate kiss.
- Hands-on
- 25 min
- Hands-off
- 32 min
- Oven preheat
- 15 min
- Total
- 57 min
- Makes
- 48 cookies
- Serves
- 24
The oven heats while you unwrap the candies and mix (preheat overlaps prep). Total = 25 min hands-on (mixing, rolling, pressing in the candies) + 32 min hands-off: two rounds of baking at 10-11 minutes and 10 minutes resting on the sheets. Add time on the rack for the softened chocolate to firm up before you stack or pack them.
Oven 190 °C · 170 °C fan (375 °F)
Pan baking sheets, ungreased or lined with parchment (US: cookie sheets, ungreased or lined with parchment)
- easy
- vegetarian
- christmas
- cookie-exchange
- holiday
- cookies
Verified against at least two trusted test kitchens or food-safety guides · Last checked · What this means
Scaling? Uses 1 egg, so halving isn't clean. For more, mix a second batch. Bake time per sheet stays the same; just bake more rounds and keep the waiting dough cool. Some items (like eggs) don’t halve neatly: beat them, then measure out half.
Ingredients
You need: large bowl and medium bowl · electric mixer · 2 baking sheets · parchment paper (optional) · small bowl for the rolling sugar · scant-teaspoon cookie scoop (optional) · wire racks · oven mitts
Contains: peanut · egg · milk · wheat
Method
Heat the oven, unwrap the candies
Heat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan, 375°F). Unwrap all 48 chocolate candies and set them on a plate. Line the baking sheets with parchment, or leave them ungreased.
Otto tried this firstOtto bakes the first tray, then starts unwrapping 48 tiny foils one by one while the cookies cool and harden. By the time he's done, the candies won't stick and the cookies crumble. Unwrap first.Cream
Beat the 113 g (8 tbsp) butter and 204 g (3/4 cup) peanut butter in a large bowl until well blended. Add the 67 g (1/3 cup) granulated sugar and 71 g (1/3 cup) brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
Egg, milk, vanilla
Beat in the egg, 2 tbsp milk and 1 tsp vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients
In a medium bowl, stir together the 180 g (1 1/2 cups) flour, 1 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt. Beat this into the peanut butter mixture a little at a time until a soft dough forms.
Shape and roll in sugar
Put the 67 g (1/3 cup) rolling sugar in a small bowl. Shape the dough into 2.5 cm (1 in) balls, roll each one in the sugar, and set them about 4 cm (1 1/2 in) apart on the sheets.
Bake
Bake for 8 to 12 minutes; start checking at 8.
Ready when: Lightly browned on the bottom edges, puffed, and the centres look just set rather than wet and shiny.
Press in the chocolate right away
As soon as the sheet comes out, press one unwrapped candy into the centre of each hot cookie. The edges will crack around it; that's the classic look.
Rest and cool
Leave the cookies on the sheet for 10 minutes, then move them to wire racks to cool completely. Bake the rest of the dough the same way.
Swaps
- Instead of 113 g (1/2 cup) butter: 1/2 cup vegetable shortening, same volume The classic version of these cookies is made with shortening.
- Instead of milk chocolate kiss candies: chocolate chunks Press one into each hot cookie the same way.
Don’t swap
- 'natural' peanut butter (the oil-on-top kind) for regular creamy peanut butter
Make ahead, store & reheat
- Storage
- Keep well wrapped at room temperature for up to 1 week. Freeze for longer storage.
If something goes wrong
- Dry, crumbly cookies that shatter when you press in the candy Why: Too much flour: it was scooped straight from the bag, which packs it.
Weigh the flour (180 g), or spoon it into the cup and level it off. - Candies won't stay put Why: The cookies cooled before the candies went in.
Press them in the moment the sheet leaves the oven, while the cookies are soft.
Good to know
- A scant-teaspoon cookie scoop makes even 2.5 cm (1 in) balls.
- Unwrap every candy before the first sheet goes in.
Safety
- These contain peanuts. Keep them well apart from cookies made for anyone with a peanut allergy, and label them on a cookie tray.
- Don't eat the raw dough: it has raw flour and raw egg. Wash hands, bowls and counters with warm soapy water after mixing.
- Pressing candies into hot cookies on a hot tray is an adult job; kids can unwrap the candies and roll the balls in sugar.
- Chocolate candies often contain soy as well as milk. Check the label.