Christmas Peanut Butter Blossoms - Soft, homemade peanut butter blossoms with chocolate kisses decorated like Christmas trees. They're the perfect addition to your holiday cookie tray.
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Peanut Butter Blossoms are quite possibly my favorite Christmas cookie of all time. And from so many of the conversations I've been having lately about holiday baking, I've learned I'm not alone. The rest of the world seems to love them as much as I do.
I don't think anyone is ever shocked to see them as part of a cookie tray, in fact, I think they're expected to be there. But this year, surpass everyone's expectations and make this fun holiday version.
The little decorated chocolate kisses are going to bring on all the oohs and ahhs and your cookies are sure to be the talk of the party.
After all, Christmas just isn’t Christmas without this cookie - dressed up or not.
Ready to start some baking and decorating? I thought so. Let's get started!
HOW TO MAKE CHRISTMAS PEANUT BUTTER BLOSSOMS
To make these festive cookies, you'll need:
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Butter
- Shortening
- Peanut butter
- Light brown sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Egg
- Chocolate kisses
- Sugar
- Almond bark
- Colorful nonpareils
- Candy stars
Once you have your ingredients together, go ahead and preheat your oven to 350℉.
Grease a baking sheet and set it to the side. Then, call the kids and/or grandkids into the kitchen to help unwrap the chocolate kisses - and set those to the side as well.
Now, let's start mixing up the cookie dough.
PREPARING THE COOKIE DOUGH
The first thing you'll want to do is whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder) in a bowl. Set that aside and let's focus on the dough.
- Add the butter, shortening, and peanut butter to a medium mixing bowl and beat until smooth and creamy.
- Add the brown sugar and mix until smooth.
- Mix in the egg and vanilla to the peanut butter mixture and blend until everything is incorporated.
- Slowly add the flour mixture (you had set to the side) to the peanut butter mixture. Blend on low, scraping down the sides for about 30-seconds.
When the dough is ready, begin shaping it into 1-inch balls.
Roll each ball into granulated sugar.
Then place them on your cookie sheet 1-inch apart.
Bake the peanut butter cookies for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom.
DECORATING THE COOKIES
- After you pull the cookies out of the oven, immediately top each cookie with a chocolate candy kiss. Let the cookies sit for about 5-minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
- Place the almond bark in a small microwaveable dish and heat the bark in the microwave at 30-second intervals until the bark is fully melted.
- Transfer the melted bark into a ziploc bag. Cut a small corner off of the bag to use it as a piping bag. Pipe the melted bark around each chocolate kiss to make strands of lights.
- Sprinkle the small sprinkles onto the strands. Then, using a small amount of the melted bark, stick a candy star on the top of each chocolate kiss.
Allow the chocolate to harden, then serve and enjoy!
WHY ARE MY COOKIES FLAT?
If you have flat cookies, it may be that you added too much sugar. Sugar is solid at room temperature, but when it is heated, it liquifies.
This means that if you packed your sugar a little too much, the cookies will spread out and become flat instead.
CAN I USE A PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE MIX?
Yes, you can! Using a store-bought mix is a great time saver when you are in a hurry!
Follow the instructions on the bag for making the cookies and then continue with the directions shared here when pulling them out of the oven.
HOW TO STORE LEFTOVER PEANUT BUTTER BLOSSOMS
You can store any leftover cookies at room temperature. Just place them in an airtight container on your counter and they will be good for about a week.
You can also store them in plastic storage bags if you don’t have an airtight container.
READY TO BAKE MORE CHRISTMAS TREATS?
- Christmas Sugar Cookie Cake Bars
- Christmas Peanut Butter Balls
- Cranberry Crumble Bars
- Chocolate Kiss Snowball Cookies
- Crockpot Peanut Clusters
- M&M Cookie Dough Fudge
- Christmas Crunch Snack
- Mint Chocolate Lush Dessert
- No-Bake Peanut Butter Clusters
Christmas Peanut Butter Blossoms
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 5 tablespoons butter (softened)
- ⅓ cup solid shortening
- ½ cup peanut butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 24 milk chocolate kisses
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 2 ounces almond bark
- Colorful nonpareils
- Small candy stars
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º Fahrenheit.
- Grease a baking sheet and set aside.
- Unwrap chocolate kisses and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
- In large bowl mixing bowl, combine the butter, shortening, and peanut butter and beat until smooth.
- Add the brown sugar and mix until smooth.
- Scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl. Blend again.
- Add the egg and vanilla and blend until uniform.
- Slowly add the flour mixture and blend on low until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and blend another 30 seconds.
- Shape dough into small 1-inch balls.
- Roll balls in granulated sugar and place on the prepared cookie sheet at least 1-inch apart.
- Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until light golden brown on the bottom.
- Remove cookies from the oven.
- Immediately top each cookie with a milk chocolate candy kiss, pressing down firmly so the cookie lightly cracks around the edge.
- Allow the cookies to sit on the pan for 5 minutes then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- In a small dish, melt white bark in 30-second intervals until smooth.
- Transfer melted bark into a plastic sandwich bag. Be careful because it may be hot.
- Cut a very small corner of the bag off.
- Pipe the melted bark around each chocolate kiss to make the strands of lights.
- Sprinkle small sprinkles onto the strands.
- Using a very small amount of melted bark, stick a star on the top of each chocolate kiss.
- Wait until the chocolate kisses and white bark have hardened before storing in an airtight container.
Notes
- You can use homemade peanut butter cookie mix or store-bought cookie mix.
- When making these cookies, make sure not to pack in your sugar too much or it will cause your cookies to become flat.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
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