Description
Peanut Butter Blossoms – Three Ways is a delightful cookie recipe featuring classic peanut butter cookies topped with chocolate kisses, with optional variations to make crinkle cookies or thumbprint cookies filled with jam. These cookies are perfectly soft, chewy, and offer a fun way to enjoy peanut butter treats with different textures and flavors.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 pinch salt
Wet Ingredients and Sugars
- ½ cup butter (softened)
- ½ cup peanut butter (creamy)
- ½ cup brown sugar (lightly packed)
- ½ cup powdered sugar (sifted)
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
For Rolling and Topping
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup powdered sugar (sifted)
- 24 unwrapped chocolate kisses
- ¼ cup jam or filling of choice for thumbprint cookies
Instructions
- Prepare Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, baking soda, and salt. Set this mixture aside for now.
- Cream Wet Ingredients: In another medium bowl or stand mixer, cream together the softened butter, brown sugar, powdered sugar, and peanut butter until the mixture becomes fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract, beating until just combined.
- Combine Ingredients: Gradually add the dry flour mixture to the wet mixture, and beat on low speed until the dough is just combined. Avoid over mixing to keep the texture tender. Cover the dough bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour to firm up.
- Shape Dough: After chilling, shape the dough into balls approximately 1 inch (2 cm) in diameter, a bit smaller than a golf ball. Roll these dough balls in sugar and arrange them 2 inches (4 cm) apart on parchment-lined cookie sheets.
- Optional Variations: For crinkle cookies, roll dough balls first in granulated sugar and then in powdered sugar for a perfect crinkle effect. For thumbprint cookies, roll dough balls in sugar and use your thumb or the back of a wooden spoon to make an indentation in the center of each dough ball. Chill the shaped cookies while the oven preheats.
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C) to prepare for baking.
- Bake and Finish: Bake cookies for about 12 minutes. If making Peanut Butter Blossoms, immediately after removing from oven, press an unwrapped chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie while still warm. For thumbprint cookies, press down again to deepen the indentation after baking. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, fill thumbprint cookies with your choice of jam or filling. For crinkle cookies, cool on the cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool fully before enjoying.
Notes
- Do not overmix the dough after adding the flour to ensure cookies remain tender.
- Refrigerating the dough for at least an hour helps the cookies maintain their shape while baking.
- Rolling the dough balls in both granulated and powdered sugar creates a beautiful crinkle effect for those cookie variations.
- Chocolate kisses should be placed immediately after baking while the cookies are still warm to ensure they slightly melt and stick.
- Thumbprint cookie indentations should be re-pressed right after baking to hold the jam filling perfectly.
- Use room temperature egg for better incorporation into the dough.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Peanut Butter Blossoms, Peanut Butter Cookies, Chocolate Kiss Cookies, Crinkle Cookies, Thumbprint Cookies, Holiday Cookies, Easy Cookie Recipe
