We were shocked to learn that these peanut butter kiss cookies are mostly known by an entirely different name – peanut butter blossoms. Many seem to associate them with the holidays. We associate them with anytime we need a chocolate-and-peanut-butter fix. In our house, that’s pretty much all the time.
A Short History of Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies aka Peanut Butter Blossoms
We can’t lay any claim to this recipe. We are merely sharing it as a gesture of goodwill to the world. The Pillsbury Corporation should be thanked for the successful proliferation and preservation of this recipe.
Freda Strasel Smith of Gibsonburg, OH invented this recipe. She substituted Hershey’s Kisses for chocolate chips in a batch of peanut butter cookie dough. Smith entered the cookie under the name Black-eyed Susans, in to the 1957 Pillsbury Bake-Off contents. The cookie won the third prize and recorded in the cook book produced on the occasion of the Bake-Off. Pillsbury later changed the name to Peanut Butter Blossom. Both Pillsbury and Hershey then joined forces to popularize the cookie (and promote their own brands). Smith unfortunately didn’t live long enough to see her cookie become a runaway success. Her daughter, Jo Anne Smith Lytle, however, enjoyed her 15 minutes of fame. She appeared in a 1965 commercial produced by Pillsbury baking her mother’s cookies. In 1999, hungry Curators inducted the cookie into the Pillsbury Bake-Off Hall of Fame at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
Peanut Butter and Chocolate
Like salt and pepper, like macaroni and cheese, like Batman and Robin, we would argue that there is no greater combination than peanut butter and chocolate. If you’re as fanatic as we are on that subject, you might enjoy these other peanut butter and chocolate combinations:
Useful Tools for Making Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies
First and foremost, you’ll need a cookie scoop! Wondering what kind of cookie scoop to buy? Check out our in-depth analysis here. And, here are a few other useful tools…
Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies
Equipment
- baking sheet
- silicone baking mat
- parchment paper
- small cookie scoop
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar plus more for rolling
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 30 Hershey's kisses (half of one 11-oz package) foil removed
Instructions
- Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, using a paddle attachment, cream together butter, peanut butter, sugar, and brown sugar, until smooth.
- Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat until well blended.
- Add the flour mixture, mixing thoroughly.
- Refrigerate the dough for an hour.
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Scoop cookies using a small (2 tbsp) cookie scoop. Roll cookies in sugar and place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake until very light brown and puffed, 8-10 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and lightly press a candy kiss into the center of each cookie.
- Return to oven until light golden brown, an additional 2-3 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack.
Notes
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These look like winners!
Thanks, Daniel! They’re pretty tasty.