Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies: Classic Chocolate Kiss Recipe

When it comes to peanut butter blossoms, I always reach for the recipe printed on the back of a Hershey’s Kiss bag. It’s my go-to every holiday season — familiar, reliable, and honestly the best cookie I know.

I hadn’t planned on sharing it here because it’s so widely known that I assumed most people already have it. If not, it’s literally a quick trip to the grocery store away. Still, since so many readers asked after my holiday baking list, I’m happy to share the version I use.

These cookies have a lot of family history for me. I used to bake with my grandmother — a woman I call Mother Lovett — every holiday. She was blind and had trouble hearing, so I helped so nothing burned while the timer ran. Peanut butter blossoms were one of the trickiest because the timing requires two short bakes: one to start the cookie and a quick return after you press a Kiss into the center.

Mother Lovett kept a typed index card version of many recipes, with little notations like “I got 49 cookies in 1999.” Even though we had the Kiss-bag recipe right there, she’d still hunt for her own version. That’s the charm of family recipes — familiar, a little ritualistic, and threaded through with memory.

Most classic recipes call for shortening, but I know many people don’t keep shortening on hand. I’ve made these with butter and they turn out beautifully — slightly richer and wonderfully tender. My grandmother stored her finished cookies in repurposed department store boxes in the garage, carefully wrapped. It was a little thrift-store magic from the Depression era: practical, tidy, and deeply comforting. The grandchildren would race to see who could sneak from the garage first; peanut butter blossoms rarely lasted long.

Make sure you save a few for Santa — and maybe a hidden stash for yourself.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Peanut Butter Blossoms

These are perfect peanut butter blossoms! My favorite cookie at christmastime has always been classic peanut butter blossoms and my grandma had the recipe nailed. These are super easy, delicious and will make a lot of cookies!

Ingredients

• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 cup sugar, for rolling
• 2 bags Hershey Kisses, you only need ~48, unwrapped

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Cream together the butter and peanut butter until smooth. Add the sugars and cream for 2–3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated. Stir in vanilla.
• Add flour, baking soda, and salt, mixing just until combined, then stir in the milk. Cover and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes or up to 2 days.
• Roll dough into 1-inch balls and roll each in the 1/2 cup sugar. Place on a baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake at 375°F for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and gently press an unwrapped Kiss into the center of each cookie. Return to the oven and bake 2 1/2 more minutes. Remove and let cool completely.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

If you had to pick only one cookie to bake this holiday season, which would it be? For me, without question, it would be these peanut butter blossoms — rich, nostalgic, and perfect for sharing.