One of the most popular holiday cookies is peanut butter blossoms. My favorite thing in the world is to add peppermint Hershey's kisses! Don't ask me why mint and peanut butter go together. But you can only get them during the holiday season and I crave them all year long!
Peppermint kisses can be difficult to find. I had the hardest time this year and opted to add some dark chocolate mint into the mix as well. But usually they're lurking in the holiday section of the grocery store next to the candy canes!
I use the quintessential Classic Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies by Betty Crocker. I've been making this recipe for at least a decade and would never imagine using any other!
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What to Make Along w/ Peanut Butter Blossoms
For the rest of the recipes that I made during Christmas this year, along with a breakdown of how to get them all in and out of the oven in time for dinner! Check out my blog on the pandemic holiday season. I also have various other Christmas cookies throughout the years.
Peanut butter blossoms are a staple holiday cookie. They're one of my all-time favorites and I make them every year! I'm particularly fond of swapping out the traditional milk chocolate Hershey's kiss for peppermint versions during the Christmas season. Today I have both peppermint kisses and dark chocolate with mint.
Add softened butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and peanut butter to a large bowl. Whisk until light and fluffy.There is also no over beating at this point! This is when you want to really go for it. Whisk until as light as possible. You won't be able to get them as fluffy as you would with cookie recipes that don't have peanut butter in them. But airiness during this step is absolutely essential. When you think that you've whisked them enough, whisk a little bit longer!
Add the egg and mix until just barely incorporated.Do not over beat! It's better to have the egg not incorporated enough than too much. You just don't want the egg to be liquid on top.
In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and baking powder together. This is highly recommended because it will help to incorporate more easily into the butter mixture, which is essential to getting the correct consistency of cookies. But I do skip it sometimes if I'm in a hurry! For me at home? I probably won't. When baking for other people? Yeah, I'll go the extra mile! It's not like it's that tedious or time consuming.
Add the flour to the butter mixture and similarly just barely incorporate.This is the exact opposite of the butter mixing process! When you add flour, over mixing will make thee cookies dense and texturally unpleasant. In order to keep the airiness, mix as little as possible to stop seeing white pockets of flour.
Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place 1 ½ inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until just barely golden brown.It's better to undercook slightly than overcook. When you go to press the Hershey's kisses into them, you want the cookies to be soft. Overcooking will harden them and the cookies may even break apart when you attempt this!
Meanwhile, unwrap the chocolate pieces.Make sure that these are not too softened by the ambient temperature of the room during baking the cookies! It can be helpful to keep them in the fridge until this point.
Let rest for 1-2 minutes on the baking sheet and then immediately place a Hershey's kiss in the center of each cookie.You want the cookies to still be warm, but not hot. They have to still be soft enough to press the chocolate into them. But not so warm that the chocolate melts.
Move cookies from the baking sheet and place on a cooling rack or in the refrigerator to set completely.
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
For more information on the Fundamentals of Baking Cookies, check out my article on the matter. For instance, I recommend making cookies by hand with a fork and adding slightly less flour than called for.
I also don't dip the cookies in granulated sugar after baking. I don't know why people do this. This cookie recipe is so sweet as it is. You already have a sugar cookie topped with chocolate. They don't need to be dipped in sugar again!
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