Peanut Blossoms
There’s no way that I WASN’T going to have a recipe for peanut blossoms on this site. While the Christmas chocolate chip cookies are a close second, the peanut blossoms always win the Christmas cookie contest. Always.
The cookie itself
The actual peanut butter cookie tastes like the inside of a Reese’s cup. No joke. An extra egg yolk, more brown sugar than white sugar, and honey-sweetened peanut butter are a few important tweaks.
The egg yolk adds a little more richness and also helps keep the peanut blossoms tender even after sitting out for a few days. The brown sugar adds moisture while lending that butterscotch-y flavor, too.
The peanut butter is kind of a matter of preference. KIND OF. I used the kind that’s sweetened with honey and labeled “no-stir.” Whether or not you use sweetened or unsweetened is the preference part. But stay away from anything labeled “natural.” And if you do get natural, make sure it says “no stir.” The kind of peanut butter you DO have to stir will give you a drier, more crumbly cookie. It isn’t the worst thing, but that’s not the texture we’re going for.
Size
When it comes to peanut blossoms, yes. Size matters. I really don’t like having this huge raft of peanut butter cookie and then this tiny island of chocolate. Plus, if the cookies are bigger, you won’t get as many out of a batch. That spells more work for you if you’re giving these as gifts.
I use a small cookie scoop, which is equal to 1 tablespoon of dough. Be sure to not heap the dough on the flat side of the scoop when creating the dough balls. Press it against the side of the bowl to flatten it as you pack it into the scoop.
This recipe will yield 40 peanut blossoms, providing you use the smaller tablespoon sized scoop. That’s a lotta dough!
Decorating & Storage
Red and green sanding sugar are favorites, along with plain granulated sugar or nonpareils. Be creative!
Peanut blossoms will soften as they cool and stay soft at room temperature. No need to refrigerate them, but eat any leftovers in about a week or so.
Peanut Blossoms
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Chilling Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 47 minutes
- Yield: 40 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert, Cookies & Brownies
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These cult classic Christmas cookies taste like the inside of a Reese’s cup!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup each of red and green sanding sugar for rolling
- 40 chocolate kiss candies, unwrapped
Instructions
- Sift the flour, baking soda and salt together in a mixing bowl and set aside. Wait to preheat the oven.
- Combine the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Use the paddle attachment to beat on low speed until everything is mostly incorporated and there are not streaks of butter remaining. This should take about a minute.
- Increase the speed to medium high and beat for another minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Return to medium high speed and beat for another minute.
- Scrape down the bowl and add the egg, and beat until well mixed. Repeat with the egg yolk and vanilla extract. Scrape down the bowl once more.
- Add half of the flour mixture and beat on low speed until incorporated. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture.
- Use a small sized cookie scoop (1 tablespoon) to create dough balls. Gently roll each ball between your palms to smooth it out. Roll the smoothed balls in the sanding sugar and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. You can easily fit 12 cookies on each baking sheet.
- Set the trays of cookie dough in the fridge and chill for 30 minutes. As soon as the dough is in the fridge, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- After 30 minutes, bake one tray of cookies at a time for 11-12 minutes. 12 minutes will give you more pronounced crackles on your cookies.
- Press a chocolate kiss onto the top of each baked cookie, and return the tray to the oven for another 30 seconds to set the chocolate. You can cool the cookies right on the baking sheet or transfer them to a cooling rack after about 5 minutes.
- Peanut blossoms can be stored at room temperature for up to a week and a half.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 finished cookie
- Calories: 107
- Sugar: 7.7 g
- Sodium: 70.2 mg
- Fat: 5.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.4 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 12.1 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 15.8 mg
