When I told Christian that I was going to take on a roster of one dozen varieties of Christmas cookies, he had one request. Peanut butter blossoms.
I didn’t want to make them. I love peanut butter, but Hershey’s kisses? Please. I still sort of feel that way, which is why I give you a modification option here—use ganache instead! Both varieties satisfy the taste buds in different ways, which makes it fun to have both around. For nostalgia, the Kisses hit every time. For a satisfying texture and rich compliment to the sweet cookie, ganache is a home run. Even Christian admitted that the ganache version had a slight edge…
We’re rounding the corner to the finale of cookies. Are you having fun?! Thanks for being here for all of these cookies. Until tomorrow—love you <3
PEANUT BUTTER BLOSSOMS
Makes 24ish cookies
1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup dark brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 cup creamy peanut butter*
1 teaspoon vanilla
Turbinado sugar, for garnish
Chocolate kisses, for garnish
Chocolate ganache, for garnish (use the same recipe from the shortbread!)**
*I used natural peanut butter here, and I prefer it. Just make sure you mix it well—has anyone told you to store unopened peanut butter upside down? When you bring it home from the grocery, put it in your pantry upside down and this will help with the mixing! And, if yours doesn’t have salt added, like my favorite brand does, I would up the salt in these cookies by ½ teaspoon. AND if you only have the old school Jif or Skippy, no worries! I would decrease the granulated sugar by ¼ cup.
**If you’re making ganache, have this already made and chilled in the refrigerator before baking your cookies. It’ll be easier to scoop for the filling.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl mix together the butter and both sugars on a medium speed. Like many cookies, we want this to cream together so that the sugars sort of melt into the butter as it whips up. It’ll take 5-8 minutes usually, depending on the temperature of your butter and your mixer, etc. It should lighten in color by two shades.
Add the egg and mix just barely to incorporate. Add the peanut butter and vanilla, again just until combined.
Add the dry ingredients at once and mix on low until just a few flour streaks remain. Use a spatula to finish mixing. The texture will fall in between chocolate chip cookie and shortbread. Slightly crumbly, but not dry.
Wrap the dough well, either in the bowl or in a rectangle directly into some plastic wrap. Let this chill for at least an hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper and unwrap Kisses, if you’re using, and/or get your ganache out of the fridge if you’re using that. Put about ½ cup turbinado sugar into a small bowl.
Scoop roughly 1 ½ tablespoon sized cookies. I like to line them up on one of my sheet trays, then I go back and roll them all into balls. Then I go back and roll them all in the sugar before lining them up to bake. They’ll spread a bit, so leave some space. I could fit 12 on my sheet tray.
Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes or until they start to crack slightly and they’ve started to turn golden just slightly around the edges. While they’re baking, if you’re using Kisses, unwrap them. If you’re using ganache, scoop and roll little balls roughly 2 teaspoon-sized—like you’re making truffles—and set the aside for your cookies.
While warm from the oven—maybe at most, 2 minutes after you take thee cookies out of the oven—place a Kiss or a small ball of ganache right in the center and press down gently. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.
These are delicious for days, maybe up to a week. As most of these Christmas cookies, they also freeze well so long as they’re wrapped tightly!
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