Easy Peanut Butter Blossoms {Hershey's Kisses}

Quick and easy peanut butter blossoms recipe, requiring simple ingredients. These classic peanut butter thumbprint cookies with Hershey's chocolate kisses center are soft and tender.

*Thank you Vital Proteins for sponsoring today's post so that I can share the recipe with all of you. As always, all opinions are mine.*

This might probably the most classic cookie recipe out there. I am sure most of you have either baked them yourselves or with your families or bought them from bakeries. They are especially popular during Christmas time and the Holiday season since they are perfect for cookie exchanges and Homemade Christmas Cookie Boxes. I seem to have a weakness for thumbprint cookies, in general. Some of my all-time favorites are these Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies and these Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprint Cookies.

This recipe has no butter, shortening, margarine, or lard. Instead of those ingredients, I use coconut oil and I promise you can't even taste the coconut and it makes the cookies a wonderful soft texture. You may have heard of a gluten free peanut butter cookie without flour, but they fall way below my expectations every time. This recipe, on the other hand, is my family's no fail recipe. They are ready in just 20 minutes and taste amazing, packed with peanut butter flavor and complimented by the chocolate flavor from the Kisses.

Jump to:

• Key ingredients
• Variations
• How to make peanut butter blossoms without shortening?
• Tips and techniques
• Recipe FAQs
• Storage
• More peanut butter desserts
• Recipe

Key ingredients

• Coconut oil- You want it in a solid state, not melted.
• Peanut butter- I like to use the creamy version best.
• Vanilla Extract- Brings in that warm aroma.
• Milk- The higher the fat content, the creamier the cookie.
• Sugars- You will need both brown and granulated for this recipe.
• Flours- Use your classic all-purpose flour along with a bit of whole wheat.
• Baking powder and baking soda- Used as rising agents.
• Salt- A little bit goes a long way.
• Egg- Be sure it is large and at room temperature.
• Collagen peptides- Optional, but brings in nutrition.
• Hershey's Kisses- Used for filling the cookies.
• Melted chocolate- I like to drizzle it on top, but this is optional.

Variations

• Use a different chocolate candy- Reese's cups or Rolo candies can easily replace Hershey's kisses. Make sure they are the mini ones, though.
• Christmas blossoms- Fill the center with festive candies, such as crushed peppermint candy canes, colored chocolates, and more.
• Chocolate chip version- Stir ½ cup mini chocolate chips into the dough.
• Add nuts- Such as peanuts, cashews, almonds, pecans, walnuts, and more.
• Place various sprinkles- Into the divot to celebrate different holidays and events.
• Fill with frosting- Like this Chocolate Ganache Frosting, German Chocolate Cake Frosting, or Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.
• Use your favorite spread- Such as Nutella, marshmallow cream, or Biscoff.
• Try Chocolate Ganache- Topped with shredded coconut, chocolate pieces, crushed pretzels, or desiccated coconut.
• Add gel food coloring- To the cookie dough to get Christmas red velvet cookies or orange cookies for Halloween that you can stick candy pumpkin in.

This time, I added a packet of Vital Proteins collagen peptides in this recipe. It's a superb way to add a boost of nutrition to your food without affecting the flavor, color or texture. No one, including kids, could tell these cookies had them. Now that is awesome.

How to make peanut butter blossoms without shortening?

My recipe below uses no shortening. Start off by mixing together coconut oil, peanut butter, milk, vanilla extract, granulated sugar, brown sugar. Then, add whole wheat and all purpose flour, egg

Tips and techniques

• You must use both granulated sugar and brown sugar- Don't replace one with the other because the texture of these cookies will change.
• Use creamy peanut butter- This means the kind without any crushed peanuts since that yields the best results.
• Coconut oil can be replaced with unsalted butter- Without affecting the recipe, but coconut oil is a healthier alternative obviously.
• If the dough is too dry and crumbly- Add a little more milk so that it becomes easier to form balls.
• Recipe can be easily doubled- In order to feed a bigger crowd during holiday parties or other events and get-togethers.
• Do not use only whole wheat flour- I use both all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour to give these cookies the best chewy texture.
• The thumbprint in the cookies will fill in during baking- To fix that, press the back of a wooden spoon in the center again after baking before cookies have a chance to cool down.
• Keep them soft- By storing them in a sealed cookie jar. This helps prevent them from drying out.
• Make it easier to fill cookies- By heating up the peanut butter in the microwave for a few seconds.
• Chill tray and cookie dough balls- Before placing, because this will prevent spreading when baked.
• Beware of fails- Be sure the oven isn't too hot and you don't cook them too long so that the Kisses don't melt too much and give a poor presentation.

Recipe FAQs

Storage

• Make ahead- These are easy to make in advance. They stay good on the counter for up to 3 days, in the fridge for up to 5, and you can even freeze them for up to a month before serving.
• Room temperature- Store them in a sealed container or cookie jar for up to 3 days.
• Refrigerate- Place in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
• Freeze- After making cookie dough balls and coating them in sugar, place them on a cookie tray and freeze the tray until the balls become hard. Then, transfer these unbaked cookie dough balls into a sealed ziploc bag or freezer bag, making sure to get rid of all the air, to prevent freezer burns. Place this bag in the freezer for up to 1 month. When you are ready to bake, remove as many of these balls as you like. Place them on a cookie tray and bake for 2-3 minutes longer than the time, stated in your recipe. There is no need to thaw them first. Enjoy.

More peanut butter desserts

• Homemade Granola Bars (Peanut Butter Granola Bars)
• Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bars (Eggless)
• No Bake Peanut Butter Bars
• Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Energy Balls
• Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars

Recipe