Peanut Butter Blossoms (Soft and Chewy Christmas Cookies)

These peanut butter blossoms are the Christmas cookies that disappear first from every tin I fill — a soft, chewy peanut butter cookie rolled in sugar with a milk chocolate kiss pressed into the middle while it is still warm. I have made them every December since I was tall enough to unwrap the kisses, and after a lot of flat, crumbly or dry batches I finally have the version I trust: 36 cookies in 25 minutes, no chilling, edges that crackle just right around the chocolate and centers that stay soft for days. They are the one cookie I bring to every cookie exchange, next to my pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and a tray of pecan pie bars, and the first thing my kids ask for once the Christmas breakfast casserole comes out of the oven.

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Why these peanut butter blossoms come out soft every time.

• Brown sugar plus a splash of milk keeps them chewy. Most peanut butter blossom recipes are all white sugar, which bakes crisp and sandy. Half brown sugar and two tablespoons of milk hold moisture in the dough, so the cookies stay soft and chewy for days instead of turning into crumbly pucks by the second afternoon of the cookie exchange.
• Regular creamy peanut butter, not natural. The oil in natural peanut butter separates and makes the dough greasy and the cookies spread flat. Standard creamy peanut butter (the shelf-stable kind) has the emulsifiers that keep the dough fluffy and the cookies domed — the same reason it works in my cottage cheese cookie dough.
• Pull them early and press the kiss right away. Nine minutes at 375°F looks underdone — pale, puffed, barely set. That is right. The cookies finish on the hot pan, and pressing the kiss into a just-baked cookie makes those signature cracks without snapping the cookie in half. Wait too long and the cookie firms up, the kiss does not sink and the edges crumble.

Here's what you'll need.

Creamy peanut butter, softened butter, brown and granulated sugar, one egg, milk, vanilla, flour, baking soda, salt and a bag of milk chocolate kisses — a classic Christmas cookie pantry, nothing special to buy. Unwrap the kisses before you start; you will not have time once the first tray comes out.

Here's how it all comes together.

STEP 1 — Cream the butter, peanut butter and sugars.

Beat the softened butter, peanut butter, brown sugar and 1/3 cup of the granulated sugar in a large bowl on medium for 2 full minutes, until pale and fluffy. This traps the air that keeps the cookies soft and domed. Beat in the egg, milk and vanilla until smooth.

STEP 3 — Roll into balls and coat in sugar.

Scoop a level tablespoon of dough (about 20g), roll it into a smooth ball between your palms and roll it in the remaining 1/3 cup granulated sugar. Smooth, crack-free balls bake into round, evenly crackled cookies.

STEP 4 — Space them on the pan.

Set the sugared balls 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet — 12 to a standard sheet. Do not flatten them; they spread into a soft dome on their own.

STEP 6 — Press a kiss into each cookie.

The moment the pan comes out, press one unwrapped chocolate kiss straight down into the center of each cookie, until the edges crack and spread a little around it. Let them sit on the pan 5 minutes, then move to a rack. The kiss stays glossy and soft for about 20 minutes, so do not stack them yet.

STEP 7 — Cool until the chocolate sets.

Leave the cookies on the rack 30 to 40 minutes until the kisses are firm again (a few minutes in the fridge speeds it up for a cookie exchange). Then stack, tin or freeze.

If you are trying to keep the holidays a little higher in protein between cookie trays — a 3g-protein cookie is still a cookie — the make-ahead breakfasts and high protein meals in the Ultimate GLP-1 High Protein High Fiber Cookbook.

Things I learned while testing this recipe.

• Weigh or level the flour. My first batches were dry and crumbly because I scooped the flour straight from the bag, which packs in 20% extra. Spoon it into the cup and level it, or weigh 190g. Too much flour is the number one reason peanut butter blossoms fall apart when you press the kiss.
• Unwrap the kisses first, and freeze them. Thirty-six kisses take five minutes to unwrap — do it before the oven is on. Ten minutes in the freezer means they keep their point instead of melting into a puddle when they hit the hot cookie.
• Underbake on purpose. At 9 minutes the cookies look pale and soft and I always want to give them one more minute. Do not. They set as they cool and stay chewy; at 11 minutes they are crisp by dinnertime and sandy by tomorrow.
• Cracks are the goal, crumbles are not. Fine cracks around the kiss are the signature of a good blossom. If the cookie splits in half, the dough had too much flour or sat too long before the kiss went in. If it does not crack at all, press firmer and sooner — right out of the oven.

Your Christmas cookie timeline (these freeze better than almost any cookie).

• Up to 3 months ahead: freeze the dough balls. Roll and sugar the balls, freeze them on a sheet pan, then bag them. Bake straight from frozen at 375°F for 10 to 12 minutes — no thawing. I keep a bag going from Thanksgiving onward and bake a dozen whenever someone stops by.
• Up to 1 month ahead: freeze the baked cookies. Once the kisses are fully set, layer the cookies between parchment in an airtight container. Thaw at room temperature for an hour; the chocolate does not bloom if you keep them sealed while they thaw.
• The week of: bake, tin, done. A double batch is 72 cookies in under an hour, which covers a cookie exchange, the neighbors and a tin for the office with the Greek yogurt chocolate bark alongside. Each cookie is about 115 calories with 3g protein — small enough that nobody counts, which is the point of Christmas cookies.

Here's what I'd serve with this.

• Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies — the other soft cookie on my holiday tray
• Greek yogurt chocolate bark — the lighter, higher protein thing for the same cookie tin
• Pecan pie bars — cut small, they are the cookie exchange bar everyone asks about
• Cinnamon apple cake — the cake I serve when the cookies are for later
• High protein overnight oats — what I eat the morning after a night of cookie testing (updated today)

Just in case you have leftovers.

Storing: Once the kisses are set, keep the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days — a slice of bread in the tin keeps them soft. In the freezer, layered with parchment, they keep for a month; frozen dough balls keep 3 months.

Reheating: They are meant to be eaten at room temperature, but 8 to 10 seconds in the microwave makes the kiss melty again if you want that fresh-from-the-oven moment. Bake frozen dough balls from frozen, adding 2 minutes.

More easy Christmas dessert recipes...

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies Pecan pie bars Apple pie bars Greek yogurt chocolate bark

This is the second of my Christmas recipes this season, after the make-ahead Christmas breakfast casserole. For the rest of the holiday table, the crockpot turkey breast, green bean casserole and homemade stuffing cover Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, and when you need something healthy between the cookie trays, the freshly updated high protein overnight oats are my reset breakfast.

Balancing cookie season with real meals?

Christmas cookies are non-negotiable in my house. The way I keep the rest of December on track is the make-ahead breakfasts and high protein dinners in the Ultimate GLP-1 High Protein High Fiber Cookbook — filling meals that leave room for a blossom or two.

Get the cookbook on Amazon

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