Great for Holidays and events!

These Holiday Peanut butter kiss cookies are so easy to make with minimal ingredients and basic techniques. Your Friends and family are sure to love them at whatever celebration. I love to drizzle them with a basic royal icing to add a little color and an extra creamy element.

The holidays can be a stressful time of year for everyone. With all the jolly making comes a lot of work, memories of loved ones lost, and possibly even a sense of loneliness. There’s often a certain feeling of isolation or illusion that, “everyone else is happier than me.” I assure you all we are all stressed and a mess this time of year. First and foremost, it’s a good idea to consult your doctor or visit a therapist to keep yourself centered during the holidays. There’s no homemade decoration, perfect tree, or even Christmas cookie that can fix your mental health. As your concerned internet auntie please take care of yourselves.

When I’m stressed the perfect combination of peanut butter and chocolate are a go to. Reese’s peanut butter cups are my most favorite candy of all time. These peanut butter kiss cookies are sure to bring a smile to every peanut butter lover out there.

When baking the balls should be no bigger than 1 1/2″. The peanut butter should be creamy for a fluffy and light cookie. If your cookies come out flat, you may be pressing them down too much. Just a light pat out from the ball form will suffice. For the kiss element to the peanut butter kiss cookies, you can add the kiss a few extra minutes before the end of the cooking time if you want to be able to spread the chocolate. I personally just add them a minute before the end of the cooking time because I want the bottoms just melted enough to stick to the cookie.

I like to add my flour as the last ingredient. This way I can add things like baking soda and salt and get them thoroughly mixed in without the risk of over stirring or not getting them mixed in all the way. Most people will mix dry ingredients separately and then add, but my problem with that is that then I have two dirty bowls when I could have just had one. Maybe it’s cutting corners or maybe it’s a sleepy girl life hack, but you got to do whatever it takes to save on energy.

Peanut butter kiss cookies

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar (packed)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I use Jiff)
1 egg
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose white flour
25 Hershey’s kisses unwrapped

INSTRUCTIONS

First preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a mixing bowl or stand mixer add together the sugars and butter and cream completely.
Drop in one egg and the peanut butter and cream together again.
Next stir in the salt, baking soda, and vanilla and mix.
Lastly add in the flour and mix until a soft dough forms. It should still be sticky but able to easily form balls without attaching to your hands.
Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper for an easy to clean nonstick surface. Roll the cookies into 1-11/2″ balls and space 2 inches apart. Gently press down to slightly flatten each dough ball.
Bake for 6-7 minutes. Remove tray from oven and quickly and gently press in the chocolate kisses into the center but not going all the way to the bottom of the cookie.
Place the cookies back in the oven for 1-2 more minutes to get a firm placement of the kiss melted in. cool on sheet 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Optionally drizzle the cookies with icing or caramel once cool. Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.