Homemade peanut butter blossoms are the quintessential Christmas cookie and trademark of any holiday cookie tray. My classic recipe yields soft, peanut buttery, and easy-to-make festive cookies!
I originally published this recipe in 2016 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and a few more success tips.
One reader, Donna, commented: “These have always been one of my favorite cookies, and this is by far the best recipe. Follow it exactly and you will not be disappointed. Very simple and worth it. Thanks, Sally, for another home run. ★★★★★“
Peanut butter blossoms are easily one of the best Christmas cookies on this planet because they’re (1) easy to make, (2) super cute, (3) peanut butter + chocolate, and (4) peanut butter + chocolate. (Have to list that twice!)
This soft-baked-style peanut butter cookie is a tried and true favorite (you can even find the recipe in my cookbook, Sally’s Candy Addiction). This recipe has been well loved since I first published it—while small, these cookies pack a mighty peanut butter punch, and that’s what everyone loves about them!
What Makes These the Best Peanut Butter Blossoms?
- Simple + straightforward recipe using the same base dough as my flagship peanut butter cookies recipe (note that today’s recipe uses 1 Tablespoon less flour)
- Mega peanut butter flavor
- Extra soft & thick
- Only 1 hour needed for dough chilling, so they’re relatively quick
- Rolled in granulated sugar for an extra sparkle—use colorful sanding sugars for a festive touch
Key Ingredients in Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
Here’s what you need to make this classic Christmas cookie recipe. You can find the full printable recipe below.
- Flour: We use all-purpose flour as the base of these peanut butter cookies. You may look at the recipe and wonder why there’s so little flour. Did you know that nut butters act as a binder and can actually replace some or all flour in cookie recipes? See these flourless almond butter cookies and flourless monster cookies. Using more flour will dry out the cookies, so stick with the recipe below.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda helps the cookies rise.
- Salt + Vanilla Extract: Use both salt and vanilla extract for flavor.
- Sugars: We use a combination of granulated sugar and brown sugar in this recipe. Both for sweetness, and brown sugar for extra softness.
- Egg: One egg binds everything together.
- Butter: Butter adds flavor and structure. Make sure you have proper room temperature butter before beginning.
- Peanut Butter: Peanut butter is the most important ingredient for peanut butter cookies. For best results, use processed peanut butter like Jif or Skippy—the same I recommend for my peanut butter balls and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.
- Chocolate Kiss Candies: A necessity! This is the “blossom” part of these cookies.
And you have candy options! Instead of a Hershey’s Kiss, try a peanut butter cup or chocolate heart like I do in my peanut butter cup cookies and sparkle sweetheart cookies. Or fill with jam like in my peanut butter jam thumbprints.
These Step-by-Step Photos Will Help
You can find the full written recipe below, but let me walk you through these steps. These cookies are quick and simple—a welcome recipe during the busy holiday season.
Make the dough. You’ll combine the dry and wet ingredients separately, and then together. Expect a very soft cookie dough:
Chill the dough for at least 1 hour to help solidify it, which helps guarantee your peanut butter blossoms will hold shape in the oven. Cold dough is also easier to portion and roll. After the dough chills, roll into 1 heaping Tablespoon balls and then roll each in sugar or sanding sugar sprinkles:
Bake the cookies and then cool them for 5 minutes before adding the chocolate candy.
Prevent the Hershey’s Kisses From Melting on Peanut Butter Blossoms
Press the candies into the center of each slightly cooled cookie. And then, here is my trick:
Stick the peanut butter blossoms in the freezer to prevent the chocolate kiss candy from melting. This ensures the chocolate kiss stays nice and snug in the cute little peanut butter cookie. The refrigerator works too, but the freezer is most effective at preventing any melty problems. This also helps cool the cookies quicker so you can immediately hoard them for yourself. I mean… share with your family.
My freezer usually doesn’t have room for a large baking sheet, so I place the slightly cooled cookies on a smaller tray or plate before placing in the freezer. This is the same process I use when I make red velvet blossoms, too!
Can I Make These Nut-Free?
For a nut-free version of this recipe, swap the peanut butter for sunflower seed butter or Biscoff spread. However, you’ll have better luck (and a tastier cookie!) if you make these sparkle sweetheart cookies and replace the Valentine’s Day heart candies with Hershey’s Kisses. Or try my candy cane kiss cookies or red velvet blossoms.
Other Classic Christmas Cookie Recipes
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Christmas Sugar Cookies
- Spritz Cookies
- Butter Cookies and Chocolate Butter Cookies
- Snowball Cookies
- Peppermint Mocha Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Lace Cookies
- Chocolate Ginger Cookies
- Shortbread Cookies & Pinwheel Cookies
- Cranberry Orange Icebox Cookies
Classic Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes (includes chilling)
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
- Yield: 24 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These homemade peanut butter blossoms are extra soft and thick, super simple to make, and delightfully peanut buttery. So many reasons why this is a classic holiday cookie recipe! Don’t forget to place the cookies in the freezer for 10 minutes to prevent the chocolate kiss candy from melting.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/4 cups (156g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (about 185g) creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 24 chocolate kiss candies, unwrapped
Coating
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- OR: 1/4 cup (50g) green sanding sugar and 1/4 cup (50g) red sanding sugar
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute on high speed until creamy. Switch to medium-high speed and beat in the brown sugar and 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar until completely creamed and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and beat until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed. Add the peanut butter and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and beat on low speed until combined. The dough will be very creamy and soft. Cover and chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, and up to 3 days.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) Set aside. Also, make sure there’s room in your freezer because the cookies will need to be placed inside to prevent the chocolates from melting.
- Roll & Bake: Scoop and roll cookie dough, about 1 heaping Tablespoon of dough each. Roll each ball in the 1/2 cup of sugar (or sanding sugar) and arrange on the baking sheet about 3 inches apart. Bake for 11–13 minutes or until the tops begin to slightly crack. Remove cookies from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes.
- Set the chocolate: Press a chocolate kiss candy into the center of each, then, using a thin spatula, immediately transfer the cookies to a large plate or a few smaller plates (gently—they’re soft). Place the plate(s) of cookies in the freezer for 10 minutes to quickly set the chocolate in the cookie.
- Remove from the freezer and serve.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Silicone Spatula | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Cooling Rack
- Granulated Sugar: You’ll only need 1/4 cup of granulated sugar for the cookie dough and the other 1/2 cup will be for coating in step 5. Or you can use sanding sugar to coat the cookies instead, noted as optional in the ingredient list. If using sanding sugar, you do not need the extra 1/2 cup of granulated sugar listed under Coating. If you’re shopping for sanding sugar online, I like the sugars from this holiday set, these multicolor, these green, and these red (affiliate links).
- Peanut Butter: Creamy peanut butter is ideal for this recipe because crunchy peanut butter creates an overly crumbly cookie. For this particular recipe, it’s best to use processed peanut butter such as Jif or Skippy. If you decide to use natural peanut butter, make sure it’s at room temperature, stirred well, and expect a slightly crumblier cookie.
- Can I use almond butter or other nut butter? Yes, you can use almond butter or another nut butter in this cookie recipe; however, expect a crumblier cookie. I have not tested this recipe with Nutella.
- Can I make these without nut butter? For a nut-free version of this recipe, swap the peanut butter for sunflower seed butter or Biscoff spread. However, you’ll have better luck (and a tastier cookie!) if you make these sparkle sweetheart cookies and replace the Valentine’s Day heart candies with Hershey’s Kisses. Or try my candy cane kiss cookies or red velvet blossoms.
I give this 5 stars because they turned out so good! But really I feel that cooling the cookies, then adding the kiss, then putting in freezer is not the best plan. Not everyone has a big freezer in order to do this, plus who wants a warm pan to warm up everything in your freezer? Freezing the kisses and then putting the kiss on the cookie right after removing from oven works amazingly well! Other than that the recipe is great! I will also say that you have to be careful to not overbake, even just a little. Have to really watch that first batch to get the timing right. I made 5 times the recipe all in one batch and kept dough in fridge overnight. They were beautiful and a big hit!
These were delicious, I always love Sally’s recipes. However, they crumbled apart on me and I see others have had the same issue. I weigh my ingredients, and I don’t believe they were overbaked. Flavor was spot on, but they fell apart.
I use a natural peanut butter and there was some crumbling but that’s because the oil isn’t replaced with shortening in natural peanut butter but still yummy
The cookie part tastes just like a butter cookie, even better when frozen! Absolutely delicious, just a hint of peanut butter but not overwhelming, it adds just the right touch
Recipe turned out great. Followed it precisely except used chunky peanut butter because that is all I had on had. Had never heard of putting in freezer after applying the kisses to make them set and that tured out well too.
Best homemade peanut butter cookies by far!
These turned out great! I followed the recipe (used a tad more vanilla) and baked them for about 11 minutes. I rolled them in a mixture of half regular granulated sugar and half red sanding sugar, so the result was pink. You have to be very gentle when pressing the kiss into the cookie, as sometimes the cracks deepen, but you can just push the cookie back together. I brought them to a gathering at my friend’s house, and everyone loved them. Thanks, Sally!
These cookies were a big hit in our house. Everyone loved them! I followed the recipe with no changes.
Sally, these are amazing!!! I previously used two other website recipes and they were terrible. I should have come here to you first! You ARE, after all, the GURU of all baking! Those other two recipes created hard Kisses and flat cookies. Your recipe, on the other hand, was absolute perfection! Picture perfect! I have never made a more beautiful cookie! I did use peanut butter I ground here at home and they still came out absolutely beautiful! I did not freeze the cookies but instead froze the kisses before I put them on the warm cookies which worked like magic. Thank you for all these amazing recipes, particularly this one!
Cookies came out perfectly! Follow the directions and you can’t go wrong
The cookies were great and got a lot of takers and compliments! I intended to follow directions and tips, but realized when ready to bake that I only had chunky PB and no time to run to the store. So I added about 20% PB to account for the peanut chunks. The cookies came out wonderfully — with yummy chunks and not crumbly at all. I will continue to make the cookies this way with chunky PB going forward. Thanks for the great recipe!
The recipe is good however when you take the cookies out of the oven let them cool a bit then put a kiss right on them. best to refrigerate the kiss and not the batter. when the cookie is still warm and soft place the kiss on.
Would this recipe work with gluten free flour?
Hi Christine, we haven’t tested a gluten free version of this recipe, but let us know if you do!
Are we not gonna talk about how close this recipe is to the one on the Hershey kiss bag?
Thank you for sharing. I originally published this recipe in 2013, with Valentine’s Day heart candies. It’s the same recipe as my regular peanut butter cookies, too. I do see the Hershey’s recipe uses shortening, less sugar, includes milk, and uses more flour. Peanut butter cookies usually all have very similar ingredients, like most cookies. Peanut butter, flour, baking soda, sugars, etc.
I’ve made peanut butter blossoms countless times, but this recipe has a couple tweaks from the basic Betty Crocker and Hersheys one that made it way better! I was on the hunt for a recipe without shortening, which is how I found this one. I don’t eat sugar or flour so I couldn’t taste test for myself, but my family all said this Christmas’s batch was the best one ever. Thank you so much!
They turned to sand!! Crumbled apart and I followed directions and recipe ! What happened??
My go to recipe for peanut butter blossoms! I usually roll the balls larger than stated in the recipe, freeze, and bake at a later point. I don’t do the freezer step at the end with the kisses. I just stick a kiss on, and if it gets soft quickly sometimes I put another kiss on top to flatten it and have double the chocolate. Delicious and soft!
These cookies did not turn out well. I baked them about 15 min. because they did have cracks. When I did take them out of the oven these just crumbled and fell apart. As they cooled they stayed together but when I bit into them, they crumbled. I turned the kisses upside down to keep them in the cookie. When I tried to put them right side up the cookie cracked apart. It was embarrassing in front of my daughter-in-law because she was expecting chewy peanut butter cookies with a kiss. I don’t know what I did wrong. Can you help me, please.
Hi Elaine, we’re sorry you had troubles with these cookies. 15 minutes was likely a bit too much time, causing them to become dry and crumbly. How did you measure your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to ensure the flour isn’t over measured, which can cause cookies to become dry and crumbly. Hope this is helpful for next time, and thank you for giving these a try!
I’m so disappointed. I followed the recipe exactly and my cookies fell apart. Usually the recipes from this website work so well but this one unfortunately did not.
I’ve made a number of your recipes to great success but this one just doesn’t work for me. The kisses don’t “stick”. The cookies are super crumbly to the point of not staying together. The flavor is fine but not overly amazing. It’s too much a a pain (bake, rest, kisses, freezer) for a really underwhelming outcome. That being said, we did eat them all. Many positive reviews so maybe I messed something up.
I Love this recipe. The cookies were delicious. I used a small scooper and it made 40 cookies. Perfect size
can i double the recipe or should i make two separate batters
Hi Nancy! We recommend making two batches for best results.
I made these last year and they turned out perfectly. This year they’re more flat instead of thicker? Any idea why this happened? They still taste great!
Hi Nicole, there are quite a few reasons that cookies can go flat—this post with 10 tips to prevent cookies from spreading will be a helpful place to start. Thank you for including these cookies in your annual holiday baking!
My batch is in the freezer right now but I need some kind of consistency example.
Its way to wet. I think.
Hi LRobinson, the dough is very soft. If you take a look at the blog post, there is a helpful photo under “Step-by-Step Photos” that shows what the dough should look like when mixed together. The video at the end of the post may be helpful for you, too. Hope you enjoy the cookies!
These are wonderful as is. I also made them with unsweetened peanut butter and without rolling them in sugar to reduce the sugar content a bit, and they were still delicious.
Can you form the cookie dough into balls and dip into sugar and then refrigerate? Would that work out OK?
Hi Laura, that will work fine. We find it is easier to roll the dough after chilling, but you can roll if before if you prefer.
Not sure what these reviews are on about- these cookies turned out great. Followed recipe exact however, I used organic creamy peanut butter (slightly more runny) my cookies crumbled slightly but were extremely soft and just peanut butter chocolate goodness. I did let my cookie dough chill in the fridge for two days prior to baking (cookie day round one wore me out) but cookies turned out deliciously! I also did not set in freezer (I like when the kisses get stuck to the cookie with a little melty action!) Added to my yearly holiday rotation!