Simple, classic, and iconic, these Peanut Butter Blossoms are Christmas baking at its best! They are soft and chewy, coated in crackly, sparkling sugar, and topped with a chocolate Hershey’s Kiss. They are one of our all-time favorite Christmas cookies!
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When it comes to Christmas cookies, these peanut butter blossoms are the first to be made in our house every single year. Everybody loves these Hershey’s Kisses cookies, and they always make it onto my holiday cookie trays.
Peanut butter blossoms are a classic Christmas cookie, although I’m not sure why or how, as there’s nothing inherently Christmas-y about them. However, this peanut butter blossom recipe is perfect for taking to a cookie swap or leaving out for Santa on Christmas Eve.
My tips for this classic recipe are more like un-tips. There are no finicky steps for creaming this or that. This is one of the only recipes where I literally just put all the ingredients in a bowl at the same time, turn on the electric mixer, and let it do its job for a minute or two.
I don’t cream the butter and peanut butter or gradually add in the sugar. I don’t scrape the sides of the bowl. I don’t gently stir in the flour or chill the dough or do any other steps you might see in other peanut butter blossom recipes.
If you are looking for other cookie ideas for the holiday season, I’ve got you covered! Try these Chocolate Dipped Toffee Pecan Shortbread Cookies, Toffee Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, or why not try something a little different with these Double Lemon Glazed Cookies.
Some of my favorite and more traditional cookie choices are these Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies or these Classic Gingerbread Men!
Why We Love This Recipe
- Customizable for whichever holiday or occasion you’re making them for by using different candy, or a colored sugar coating.
- This is a great recipe for making with the kids – just put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix.
- It’s a quick and easy recipe, they’re ready in just over 20 minutes!
What You’ll Need
Scroll down to the recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
- Granulated Sugar – White sugar is best, and you’ll need some for making the dough and some for rolling the cookies in.
- Brown Sugar – Light brown, firmly packed sugar is best for
- Butter – Salted butter works best with these cookies to help balance the sweetness. It needs to be softened to room temperature.
- Peanut Butter – Smooth and creamy natural peanut butter works best to get a smooth cookie.
- Egg – To bind the dough together and help it rise a bit to make it nice and chewy!
- Milk – 2% or whole milk is fine.
- Vanilla Extract – Adds a subtle sweetness to the cookies.
- Flour – This recipe will work with all-purpose flour. You can use a gluten-free alternative, but the quantities may vary if you use a grain-free alternative.
- Baking Soda – To help the cookies rise and get chewy.
- Salt – To enhance the flavors.
- Hershey’s Kisses – I use their original milk chocolate ones, but you can use your favorite to mix it up.
How to Make Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
Prepare baking sheet. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Unwrap the Hershey’s Kisses and set them aside.
Make cookie dough. Put ½ cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, egg, milk, vanilla extract, flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Mix with an electric mixer or hand mixer on medium speed until combined. Do not over-mix.
Coat cookie dough balls with sugar. Shape tablespoonfuls of dough into balls by rolling them between your palms. Then roll each ball in the extra sugar in a shallow bowl. You can do this easily and more evenly with a cookie scoop, but you can use tablespoons if you don’t have one.
Bake. Place on a baking sheet spaced an inch or two apart, then bake for 8 to 10 minutes until slightly golden brown. Don’t let them over-bake. I almost always pull them out at the 8-9 minute mark.
Add Hershey’s Kiss. Gently press an unwrapped milk chocolate kiss candy into the center of each of the freshly baked cookies as soon as they come out of the oven. The chocolate will melt from the heat of the cookie, sticking the candy to the top of the cookie. It will then cool and harden again.
Cool and serve. Place cookies on a wire rack to cool completely, and then serve!
Recipe FAQ’s
The original recipe for these cookies originated in 1957 in a Pillsbury Baking Competition in Ohio. The cookies were made and entered by contestant Freda Smith, who originally called them Black-Eyed Susans. After succeeding in the competition, Pillsbury renamed them to the more descriptive name of Peanut Butter Blossoms.
Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Freezing cookies: You can freeze peanut butter blossoms once they have completely cooled, and the chocolate is solid again. Simply put them in an airtight container in a single layer and keep them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Freezing cookie dough: Alternatively, you can freeze peanut butter cookie dough balls for up to 3 months by placing the balls on a baking tray and in the freezer until solid. Then, remove the tray from the freezer and put the frozen cookie dough balls in a Ziploc bag and back in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Tips for Success
- Make your cookie dough balls, and cookies, the same size so that they all cook evenly in the same amount of time.
- If you like the chocolate to stay firm, you can refrigerate the chocolate kisses until you need to use them. This way, they won’t melt too much when pressed into the cookies. Although we like to watch until the Hershey’s Kiss is perfectly melted and then eat them right in that moment.
- Using a cookie scoop will ensure your cookies are the right size every time.
My not-so-secret secret to PERFECT peanut butter blossoms is to keep the balls of dough very small so make your cookie-to-Kiss ratio just right. A tablespoon or a tablespoon and a half of dough is the best way to get small, perfectly balanced, peanut butter blossoms everytime.
Substitutions and Variations
- You can use different Hershey’s Kisses to suit your taste or the season. You can use kisses with a filling for added flavor, or even the candy cane ones like in these Peppermint Blossoms for added festivity!
- Use another candy, like Mini Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups, or add more candies to the top of your peanut butter blossoms to suit your taste preference.
- Roll the cookies in a red or green colored sanding sugar or coarse sparkling sugar coating before baking to make them extra Christmassy.
- Drizzle some icing over the top of your cookies after they have cooled, or dust them with powdered sugar.
- Add chocolate chips to the cookie dough mix to make them extra chocolatey.
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
- Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Copycat Crumbl Cinnamon Swirl Cookies
- Soft & Chewy Molasses Cookies
- Eggnog Cookies with Eggnog Frosting
- Mexican Wedding Cookies [aka Russian Tea Cakes]
Did you make this recipe?
Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.
Perfect Peanut Butter Blossoms
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup salted butter softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar + ¼ cup for rolling
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar firmly packed
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 36 unwrapped Hershey's Kisses a little less than one bag
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Unwrap the Hershey's Kisses and set aside.
- Combine butter, ½ cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, egg, milk, vanilla extract, flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Mix with an electric mixer until combined. Do not overmix.½ cup salted butter, ½ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup light brown sugar, ½ cup creamy peanut butter, 1 large egg, 2 tablespoons milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- Scoop out small, tablespoon size amounts of dough and roll into balls between your palms, then roll each ball in the extra sugar in a shallow bowl. Place on a baking sheet spaced an inch or two apart, then bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Don't let these overbake – I almost always pull them out at the 8-9 minute mark.
- Immediately upon removing the cookies from the oven, gently press an unwrapped Hershey's Kiss in the center of each cookie. It will melt from the heat of the cookie and then eventually harden again as the cookies cool completely.36 unwrapped Hershey's Kisses
Video
Notes
- These cookies are very forgiving. You could cream the butter and sugars separately, then add the eggs and mix again before stirring in the flour, but I have always just thrown everything together and they turn out incredible. People always ask me why my peanut butter blossoms are so soft and I feel like this might be the real reason why.
- Storage: Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- Freezing cookies: You can freeze peanut butter blossoms once they have completely cooled, and the chocolate is solid again. Simply put them in an airtight container in a single layer and keep them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Freezing cookie dough: Alternatively, you can freeze peanut butter cookie dough balls for up to 3 months by placing the balls on a baking tray and in the freezer until solid. Then, remove the tray from the freezer and put the frozen cookie dough balls in a Ziploc bag and back in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
This post was originally published in December, 2016. The photos and content were updated in November, 2022.
The cookies were great. Thank you.
You are welcome!
Will these cookies freeze well until Christmas?
Yep, they should freeze just fine!
They are delicious.. I was wondering how long it will take for the kisses to harden so I can store them? I don’t want the cookies to get crispy.
Thanks
The chocolate should firm up after probably about 2 hours at room temperature.
Warning!!! I would advise Everyone to Not make these cookies!! Can’t stress enough! You will be absolutely hooked. They are so Wonderful. Best P.B.K. EVER!!!! Chewy, soft and stay that way into next days If not missing before You get Your next chance to indulge once again. Used Natural Jiff cheamy & chunky P.B., land o lakes salted butter, unbleached flour for last ingredient. Mixed all in one bowl and removed at or near the 9 minute mark as stated, added kisses. I have made these several times and they were always Good but Seem to be missing something. Found it!!!! Need to add running now to weekly excersise. Lol No joke!
I can’t stress enough how Amazing these ingredients make the Perfect cookie. Thank you!!!!
Lol – thanks for your hilarious and glowing review Cheri! Sorry for failing to mention the exercise requirement, haha! 🙂
Excercise!!! Amendent to cookie post.
Warning!! May always cause You to misspell words due to cookie rush.
These cookies are awesome! My family says these are the best peanut butter blossoms I have ever made! The instructions were easy to follow and I appreciated the tip regarding baking time. Amy you rock!
Thanks you for the 5-star review! I’m so glad your family likes them!
i’ve made thee for years, but,today, they seemed to go flat, instead of being a little rounded. they were hard and crispy. help!!
On no! I would recommend replacing your baking soda and seeing if that is the culprit.
Amy! I’ve never made these, {gasp!} but we’re hosting a Christmas party on Friday and they seem perfectly festive! I searched for Peanut Butter Blossoms and your recipe was the one that came up first! Excited to use your recipe!
WHAT?! LeAnne, I’m so surprised you have never made peanut butter blossoms! I hope you like them!
Did you use kraft style peanut butter with added sugar? Or a natural peanut butter?
Just regular Skippy peanut butter. But I’m sure it would work with natural peanut butter as well.
This easy recipe is a keeper! It rendered 38 cookies. I ate waaaay too many, bad girl, ha ha
Okay so mine went totally flat! Like ridiculously flat. Followed the recipe to a “T” and I have new backing soda so idk what couple be the issue. I feel like maybe the dough needs so be chilled first?
That’s so weird! No, I have never chilled this dough. I wonder if your butter was too soft?
These turned out perfect and so delicious! First time making these from scratch and I will certainly be keeping this recipe!
Wanted to confirm the cookies go on an ungreases sheet correct?
Yes, I never grease cookie sheets. Although I almost always use parchment paper or a silpat mat when making cookies.
Do you use salted or unsalted butter?
I always use salted butter.
I made the cookies and they turned out great. I did have one problem (which may have been due to the butter being a bit too soft… parts of it was liquid) in that the cookie dough was really sticky. I added a half of cup of flour and that made it less sticky.
Of course, that also meant that many more cookies were produced…. Sigh… my quality testing work is NEVER complete.
I’m glad it worked out!
Perfect for the kids to bake and they turned out AMAZING!! We added some Christmas colored sugar and they loved them!
These are a Christmas hit !!!
Could you freeze the dough and save to cook later?
Yes, I would just wrap it up really well and freeze for up to 2-3 months, then defrost in the fridge overnight. Or shape into balls and freeze that way.
The best recipe!!! I made these every other day in December! I scored serious points from my mother in law and brother in law! These are amazing! Before my brother in law returns back to Germany, he requested that I make these for him again! Done! Hooked! I think I even have the recipe memorized!
how long can these cookies last for if in tight sealed Tupperware (not frozen)
How long can these cookies store for in Tupperware (not in freezer)
These will keep for up to 5 days on the counter in an airtight container. But they really do freeze amazingly well!
The original name for these cookies was “king’s crowns “hence why they are staples at Christmas.
I have never heard that! You learn something new every day! Thank you!
They taste so good.
My daughters and I make this recipe every single Christmas. We love them! We make a double batch, half with kisses and the other half with Christmas m&ms that we stick into the cookies right after baking. So so good! Thank you!
Perfect recipe. This is my go-to recipe at Christmas time and the cookies come out perfect every time!
We made it exactly as is but with Bob’s Gluten Free 1 to 1 flour and they were perfect!!! Soft, chewy and delicious! Thank you!
Came out perfect! I timed it for 8-9 minutes!
5 Stars!
Even though it is 80 degrees here in November, my teenager decided to make these after school today. Recipe was easy and he loved them. Just like my mom used to make me ❤️
This is such a great treat to make! quick and easy! It’s never too hot to have a cookie! 😉