Peanut Blossom Cookies

Even though I have eaten peanut blossom cookies many times, I have never made them until recently.  I have made and posted many peanut butter cookies and desserts.  For this blog, I have made peanut butter cookie brookies, peanut butter cup filled peanut butter cookies, chocolate sugar cookie bars with peanut butter frosting, and peanut butter rice crispy treats.

These peanut butter bars are a family favorite.  They were introduced to my family by one of my sister in-laws.

I have also posted many peanut butter breakfast items.  Some peanut butter based breakfast items on my blog are peanut butter waffles with bacon; peanut butter and banana muffins with peanut butter cups; peanut butter pancakes with chocolate chips; peanut butter, banana, and chocolate baked oatmeal; peanut butter and blueberry muffins; chocolate and peanut butter granola; and peanut butter and jelly muffins.

Phew! Clearly I like peanut butter.  This isn't even a comprehensive list.  I had forgotten making some of these recipes before looking back on some of my posts.

Now I can add peanut blossom cookies to my long and illustrious list of peanut butter recipes.  I like these cookies because they have stage presence but are so simple to make.  

The cookies look so dramatic with their chocolate kisses and creviced exteriors.  I rolled the cookies in sugar so they glisten and sparkled.  So fancy!

The recipe came Land O'Lakes.  I didn't make a single alteration to their recipe.

The ingredients are 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup softened butter, 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 cup white sugar, and 48 milk chocolate candy kisses.  I think I used fewer kisses.  I must have made larger cookies.

I beat together 1/2 cup of white sugar, the brown sugar, and butter.

I beat in the peanut butter.  I continues mixing until the mixture was well creamed.

I added the  egg, vanilla, and salt.  I stirred the batter thoroughly.

I added the flour and baking soda.  I stirred until all the ingredients were just combined.  I scraped the sides of the bowl to make sure all the ingredients were evenly incorporated.  

I formed the dough into one inch balls.  I think my dough lumps were larger than one inch in diameter, but I like big cookies.  I rolled the raw cookies into the remaining fourth of a cup of sugar until the dough was encompassed with an even layer of sugar.

I placed the dough mounds two inches apart to allow the cookies room to spread.  The cookies didn't spread much because it was a stiff dough.

I baked the cookies for ten minutes at 375 degrees.  I placed an unwrapped kiss in the center of each cookie as soon as I removed the cookies from the oven.  This wasn't a complicated step, but I took many pictures to document my progress.

I let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack.

These cookies were pleasurable.  They were nutty and dense.  The texture was tender but substantial.

Rolling the cookies in sugar made them glisten attractively and gave the cookies a crunch exterior.

Peanut butter and chocolate are always a perfect pair, and they didn't disappoint in these cookies.  The kisses were sweet, milky, and smooth.

I ate these using two methods.  Sometimes I tried to get a bite of chocolate with each bite of the cookie.  Other times I left the candy center intact until the end.  Just like peanut butter cups, there is no wrong way to eat these cookies.

These were satisfying and inviting cookies.  I had no problem eating my share.