I make desserts from scratch because premade desserts contain palm oil which makes my son sick. I wanted to discuss making peanut butter blossoms — aka Hershey Kiss cookies — to teach you how to make them without palm oil. It’s easy to do! This recipe calls for:
- Butter instead of shortening
- Palm oil free peanut butter
- Milk Chocolate Hershey Kisses or Milk Chocolate with Almonds Hershey Kisses
Butter vs Shortening – You do not need to use shortening to make peanut butter blossoms. Shortening typically contains palm oil. Use real butter instead.
Peanut Butter – Most peanut butter in the grocery store contains palm oil. However, using Skippy’s Creamy Peanut Butter — not their Naturals line — means you can make these cookies palm oil free. Be sure to read ingredient labels to be sure you buy the correct peanut butter.
Do not buy peanut butter that advertises “No stir” or “Easy to stir” as these typically contain palm oil — which makes them easy to stir.
You can choose peanut butter with just peanuts and salt but it will be harder to mix the dough. I often use Skippy’s Creamy Peanut Butter in baking for this reason. See our list for many choices of palm oil free peanut butter. You can also learn how to make peanut butter which is fast and easy as well.
Hershey Kisses – While there are many Hershey Kisses flavors, only three do not list palm oil ingredients on their labels. These are Milk Chocolate (silver foil), Milk Chocolate with Almonds (gold foils), and Special Dark (purple foils).
Milk Chocolate Kisses (they are available in silver foils year round and in different colors for various holidays) are the traditional Hershey Kisses used in classic peanut butter blossom recipes.
Peanut Butter Blossoms Recipe
There’s nothing like the taste of peanut butter Kiss cookies made from scratch. The delicious combination of chocolate and peanut butter plus sugar and butter — what’s not to love? These iconic Hershey Kiss cookies are soft, chewy and delectable.
Use Skippy’s Creamy Peanut Butter in this peanut butter blossoms recipe
Use these step-by-step directions to make this fast and easy cookie recipe. What’s also great is this recipe uses just one bowl. Also, you don’t have to chill the dough before baking but you can if that is your preference. You do want the cookies to spread a bit so if you chill it, push down on the cookies gently instead of keeping them in a ball.
The best tip is to refrigerate the Hershey Kisses and take them out just before placing them on the cookie. You can unwrap them and then refrigerate them or unwrap them just before using them.
Prep time is 15 minutes and baking time is 15 minutes. This means in less than an hour, you can be enjoying Hershey Kiss cookies.
Peanut Butter Blossoms Ingredients
- ½ cup granulated sugar (white sugar)
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- Stick of butter (½ cup) softened
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- Extra granulated sugar to roll the cookie dough in
- 30 Hershey Kisses Milk Chocolate
Hershey peanut butter blossoms
How to Make Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Refrigerate Hershey Kisses if you haven’t already. You can unwrap them or keep them wrapped.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Sprinkle white sugar on a plate and set aside.
- Using a large bowl, add in the granulated sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, softened butter, and egg. Mix well by hand or with a hand mixer.
- Add in flour, baking soda and baking powder and mix. You can chill the cookie dough for 20 – 30 minutes if you wish but it isn’t necessary.
- Scoop dough into 1-inch balls. Round them out in your palms so they make nice round balls.
- Roll dough balls in sugar and place on ungreased baking pan. Space them out so there are 12 on the tray. If you chilled the dough, you may want to gently press down on the cookies to help them spread out.
- Place in preheated oven and bake for 13 – 15 minutes, or until the edges are brown.
- Use this time to shape the remaining cookie dough. Roll each in sugar and set aside or place on second baking tray, if you have one.
- Remove peanut butter blossoms from the oven. Place a Hershey Kiss in the center of each cookie. You may need to gently push them in the cookie so they set.
- Gentry remove each cookie with a spatula and place on a cooling rack.
Makes 30 peanut butter blossoms.
Making Hershey Kiss cookies
Pro Tips
Refrigerating Milk Chocolate Hershey Kisses
Placing the Hershey Kisses in the refrigerator — either wrapped or unwrapped — will prevent them from melting when you set them in the warm cookies. If you unwrap them while the cookies are baking, be sure to set them back in the fridge so they don’t start to melt in the warm kitchen.
Roll out the remaining dough
A time-saving tip is to use the time when baking the first batch of peanut butter blossoms to roll out the remaining dough into 1-inch balls, and then roll them in sugar.
Softening the butter
Leaving a stick of butter on the counter to soften before using it will do a few things when baking cookies.
- It will make it easier to mix into the dough than if you were to use it cold.
- When baking, the cookies will spread out faster than they would if you use cold butter chunks but slower than if you use melted butter in the raw dough.
Chilling the dough tips for making peanut butter blossoms
As I mentioned above, you don’t have to chill Hershey Kisses cookies before baking. Even though this recipe calls for butter instead of shortening, it is not necessary to chill it.
I have made peanut butter blossoms both ways: chilling the dough and not chilling it. In my oven, I would say that the cookies turned out better when I didn’t chill the dough. This is because they spread out better with less cracking.
If you do chill the cookie dough before baking, instead of making the dough into balls and baking them, you can make them into balls and then gently press down so they are a little bit squatter. This makes them spread out better.
Cracks in the cookies
Cracks are part of this classic peanut butter blossom cookie, but you don’t want the cracks to be too large. If you have large cracks. you need to be sure they set completely on the baking tray before transferring them to a cooling rack. Also be sure they are fully baked through.
Shape the cookie dough into 1 inch balls, and then roll in sugar
Other Names for PB Blossoms
This peanut butter blossom recipe is my family staple for cookie exchanges around the holidays though we enjoy them year round.
I grew up calling these Hershey Kiss cookies. As an adult, I learned they were officially called peanut butter blossom cookies. Other names for these iconic cookies are:
- Peanut butter kiss cookies
- Hershey Kisses cookies
- Peanut butter cookies with kisses
Easy recipe for peanut butter blossoms
FAQs
Why are my peanut butter blossoms dry?
This classic cookie recipe should be soft and chewy with a bit of firmness. It’s the perfect cookie in every way. If the cookies are dry, you may have used too much flour. If you use peanut butter with only peanuts and salt, the cookies may be drier as the added oils in Skippy’s Creamy Peanut Butter (not their Naturals line which contains palm oil) add moisture to the peanut butter blossoms recipe.
How long do peanut butter blossoms last?
You can keep them on the kitchen counter for up to 5 days. If you want to make them last 7 days, you can set them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You can also make the dough in advance and use it within 3 – 4 days.
Roll cookie dough in sugar before baking
How to store peanut butter blossoms?
Once the peanut butter blossoms are completely cooled, you can store them. Choose a covered container or cover with plastic wrap. You can keep them on the kitchen counter, out of direct sunlight, for up to 5 days. If your kitchen is warm, you can keep them in the refrigerator. Let them sit out on the counter so they soften up before eating them.
Why are my peanut butter cookies so crumbly?
Using real butter helps to solidify cookies and create the right consistency. If you use a butter substitute, they can be crumbly. Also, if you didn’t use enough butter, they can crumble.
Why are my peanut butter blossoms flat?
Your peanut butter blossoms may be flat if you used melted butter rather than softened butter in the recipe. Because the dough is immediately wetter, it spreads out faster resulting in a flat and wide cookie.
Another reason they may be flat is if you flattened the cookie dough prior to baking. Rolling the cookie dough in 1 inch round balls and then setting them on the cookie tray to bake should eliminate the issue in future batches.
I do recommend lightly pushing down the dough balls if you chill the dough in advance. The cookies need to spread out.
How sweet are peanut butter blossoms?
Peanut butter blossom cookies are sweet from the Milk Chocolate Hershey Kisses but aren’t overly sweet. The cookie part tastes like a peanut butter cookie. You taste more peanut butter than sugar.
When making Hershey peanut butter blossoms, refrigerate the Hershey Kisses before putting them on the cookies
Gluten Free Peanut Butter Blossoms
I have had great success using Bob’s Red Mill 1-for-1 Gluten Free Flour when baking peanut butter blossoms. You can also use King Arthur Measure for Measure Gluten Free Flour.
If you aren’t making them gluten free, you can use any flour, including Gold Medal Flour, Bob’s Red Mill, King Arthur, store brands, organic flour, etc.
Hershey Kiss Cookies
I only buy palm oil free candy and bake all of our desserts from scratch. I do this so we can avoid palm oil. The great thing about this cookie recipe is that it uses Hershey Kisses Milk Chocolate. These are such as staple in my house, and I’m so grateful that Hershey’s still makes them palm oil free that I wrote an entire post about Hershey Kisses flavors.
Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies
Peanut butter cookie recipes are a perfect treat to satisfy that sweet tooth. They are a quick and easy way to make something sweet and delicious.
Peanut butter is a common ingredient in many recipes, and it’s a versatile ingredient to use in baking. It provides a sweet and creamy flavor that, when paired with a little bit of sugar and butter, creates a really nice flavor and texture.
Peanut butter kiss cookies
There are so many palm oil free desserts you can make with peanut butter. Try some of my favorite easy peanut butter cookie recipes, including:
I love making peanut butter blossoms with Hershey Kisses, with real butter, and with palm oil free peanut butter. These iconic cookies are easy to make with pantry staples you may already have. Best of all, you don’t need shortening to make them.
Homemade cookies are a delicious treat that can be made with the simplest of ingredients. This recipe for peanut butter blossoms is very easy to follow and takes just 30 minutes from start to finish. It requires only nine simple ingredients. They are always devoured at parties and make for a great after school snack or dessert.
Did You Make This Recipe?
It’s easy to learn how to make peanut butter blossoms aka peanut butter cookies with kisses. If you make this recipe, please leave me a note in the Comments. Did you chill the dough? What peanut butter did you use?
Easy Peanut Butter Blossoms Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup granulated sugar white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- stick of butter ½ cup softened
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- extra granulated sugar to roll the cookie dough in
- 30 Hershey Kisses Milk Chocolate silver wrapper, refrigerated
Instructions
- Refrigerate Hershey Kisses if you haven't already.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Using a large bowl, mix together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, softened butter, and egg. Use a hand mixer or mix by hand.
- Add in flour, baking soda and baking powder and mix. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Round them out in your palms so they make nice circles.
- Place on ungreased baking pan, 12 on the tray. If you chilled the dough (not necessary), you may want to gently press down on the cookies to help them spread out.
- Sprinkle white sugar on a small plate, and roll the dough balls in the sugar.
- Place in center rack in preheated oven, and bake for 13 - 15 minutes, or until the edges are brown.
- While the cookies are baking, shape the remaining cookie dough, rolling each in sugar. Set aside or place on second baking tray, if you have one.
- Remove peanut butter blossoms from the oven. Place a Hershey Kiss in the center of each cookie. You may need to gently push them in the cookie so they set.
- Using a spatula, remove each cookie and place on a cooling rack.