I wanted to make a recipe for peanut butter blossoms that were soft & chewy with a better chocolate center. The original recipe, from 1957, turned these cookies into a Christmas tradition, but I didn't want the dry texture and hard kiss center anymore.
First, in order to ensure the cookies were soft, I had to find out what exactly made a cookie that way. It turns out melted butter, brown sugar, corn starch, and a hot oven all help make them soft.
Second, I wanted a center that was also soft and more chocolatey than the waxy Hershey Kisses. I made a truffle-like chocolate center that's super easy and only uses 2 ingredients! (Heavy cream and high quality baking chocolate).
The end result is a chewy peanut butter blossom cookie with a rich, chocolate center. You can roll the cookies in chopped, seasonal roasted peanuts for an even stronger flavor.
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Recipe
Ingredients
Peanut butter cookies (wet ingredients)
- ½ cup butter, melted 112 grams
- ¾ cups packed brown sugar 160 grams
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup peanut butter 135 grams
Dry ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour 160 grams
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Chocolate ganache
- 4 ounces high quality dark chocolate 115 grams (see note for chocolate)
- 3 ounces heavy cream (½ cup) might be labeled "heavy whipping cream"
Peanut butter blossom coating
- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar 25 grams, optional
- ¼ cup chopped peanuts 35 grams, optional
Instructions
Make the cookie dough
- You can easily make this dough by hand, or use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
- Mix wet ingredients: mix together the melted butter, brown sugar, and vanilla. Then add each egg, one at a time, mixing in between. And finally, add in the peanut butter and mix until it's all combined, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Mix in dry ingredients: Whisk together the dry ingredients, then slowly add them into the bowl, mixing gently. Stop once it's combined and don't overmix (or it can make the cookies tough).
- Choose: bake now OR chill in fridge. The cookies stay ultra soft for 1 day, and after that they are still soft, but start to dry out and lose their perfect texture. The dough can stay in the fridge for several days in an airtight container (to keep the dough from drying out).The dough will be somewhat sticky right when you make it. You can shape them into balls now, or chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes to make it easier to handle. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375℉ and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Shaping into balls: make the cookies between 25 and 50 grams each. See the post for pictures on what each size looks like. Measuring them for even size helps them bake at a similar rate without over cooking some of them (which would dry them out).
- Roll in nuts and sugar: Roll the balls in sugar, then chopped peanuts (if using both). Otherwise, roll in just one or the other (or neither). Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 8-12 minutes at 375℉. The cookies will just start to turn golden on the edges and the tops should be cracked and start to look dry. The centers might still seem doughy, but that's ok, it keeps them soft. Check the internal temp to be between 165℉ and 185℉. They will be softer at the low end of the temperature spectrum.
- Remove cookies from the oven, then remove from the baking sheet (so they don't dry out from the residual heat). Let cool on the drying rack for a few minutes so the centers continue to set. Then use the back of a tablespoon to indent each cookie.You can fill the cookies with the ganache while they are still warm, or completely cooled - both ways work.
Make the ganache
- Notes: You want to use the ganache while it's warm, so make it when you're ready to fill the cookies, not before.
- Finely chop the chocolate (the finer it is, the easier it will melt). Then place it in a heat-proof bowl (you'll be pouring hot cream over it).
- Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat, until it start to lightly simmer (about 180℉). Don't bring it to a boil - it's too hot and might 'break' the chocolate emulsion (chocolate hates to be overheated). Remove cream from heat and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for 3-5 minutes to start melting the chocolate.
- Stir the heavy cream and chocolate together until it's smooth. Then use a tablespoon to pour the chocolate into each cookie's indent. Let sit to cool and harden. It will harden to a truffle-like consistency.
Storing cookies to keep them soft
- When you store the cookies, put a slice of white bread in with the cookies' airtight container. The moisture from the bread will transfer to the cookies to keep them from drying out. These can be stored at room temperature (see post for more info).And don't store these with other types of cookies - the moisture will try to equalize, softening hard cookies (like gingersnaps) and drying out moist cookies (like peanut butter blossoms).
Notes
Nutrition
Storing the peanut butter blossoms
These cookies can be stored at room temperature, even with the chocolate ganache. Certain types of confectioneries like this can be stored at room temperature, and it has to do with having high fat and sugar, and low water content. For example, buttercream frostings are ok to store at room temperature.
Peter Greweling says in his Chocolate & Confections book, "Refrigeration of Ganache: One of the defining qualities of confections is that they are preserved by a low water-activity level and require no refrigeration."
Hill Country Chocolate also echos this, saying "When stored properly, the ganache will last up to two weeks at room temperature (68-72F)."
Since these peanut butter blossoms are soft, you'll want to keep them that way with proper storage. Put a slice of basic white bread in the container you store the cookies. Its moisture helps keep the cookies from drying out.
Lastly, don't store these cookies with any other type of cookie. The moisture tries to equalize. So if you store them with a hard cookie, the hard cookies will loose their crispness, and the peanut butter blossoms will become dried out.
Peanut butter blossom cookie sizes
A lot of recipes claim to make way more cookies than I ever seem to make, even if I'm making them small. Or at least what I assumed to be small. For example, the chocolate chip cookie recipe on the back of a bag of chocolate chips claims to make 4-5 dozen - I don't ever get that close! Do you?
Maybe I like large cookies?
Anyway, when it comes to peanut butter blossom cookies, most recipes say they make around 36-40 cookies. Some claim to make only 1-2 dozen for large cookies. But few actually tell you the specific size to make the cookies, so I put it to the test.
I baked some peanut butter blossoms, weighing the dough as follows:
- 25 grams
- 30 grams
- 40 grams
- 50 grams
At 25 grams, this recipe made 25 cookies. I thought those were the perfect size. In order to make 36 cookies, they'd have to weigh about 17 grams each (about ⅔rds the size of the smallest ones I made).
I thought the small, 25-gram cookies were the perfect size, actually. So that's what I suggest in my peanut butter blossom cookie recipe card, but you can adjust to suit your preferences.
How to get the soft & chewy texture
Peanut butter blossoms are a Christmas cookie staple. The original recipe was entered into a Pillsbury baking contest (and won 2nd place). But they are usually dry and crumbly. By itself, that's fine. But during the holidays, so many other traditional cookies are also dry and crumbly, like spritz's, sugar cookies, sandies, gingersnaps, etc.
I'm always on the lookout for cookies with a different texture and was determined to make a soft & chewy peanut butter cookie. I looked into all of the way to make a soft cookie in order to come up with this recipe.
Soft cookies
Why are these peanut butter blossoms soft when other's aren't? It comes down to a few ingredient choices.
- Melted butter produces chewier cookies (as opposed to a higher-rise from creaming room-temp butter)
- Brown sugar makes softer cookies than white sugar (and helps them rise)
- Corn starch also acts as a softener (it absorbs liquid without developing gluten)
- Hot oven - bakes the cookies faster, without drying out in the hot air
- Commercial peanut butter - I'm a big fan of natural peanut butter, however, the commercial ones (Jif / Skippy) keep the cookies softer.
Chilling the dough is also supposed to help keep them soft, however when I tested this, I didn't notice a difference. That said, it won't hurt!
Soft chocolate center
While I do enjoy an annual Christmas peanut butter blossom, I've never been that thrilled at the texture of the Hershey Kiss. It's awkward to bite through and the flavor could be much better.
That's when I came up with the idea to fill them with a chocolate ganache. The ganache cools to a truffle-like texture and is a perfect companion to the soft & chewy cookies.
On top of that, the chocolate flavor is 10x better. It's not waxy and it melts in your mouth. I usually have some fancy Valrhona chocolate in my pantry that I use, but it is pricey. You can use the Guittard baking bars in the baking aisle (they seem to always be on the top shelf, above the chocolate chips).
If you're interested in the Valrhona chocolate, I use it all of the time for tempering. Here's the link on Amazon or on King Arthur Baking (along with another top brand, Belcolade). These are affiliate links so I get a small commission if you buy something. I've personally bought these brands from both sources.
Fresh peanuts
Once I had the texture figured out, I wanted to see if I could make the cookies taste nuttier. The peanut butter flavor definitely comes through, but could I make them even more peanuty?
Natural peanut butter would bring out a nuttier flavor, however that can dry out the cookies. So I turned to fresh roasted peanuts.
Simply rolling the cookies in peanuts (along with the sugar) did make them taste slightly nuttier. You can use any peanut you want. I found that salted and toasted paired well with the sweet cookie & chocolate center (like salted caramel, in a way).
I tested mass produced nuts and ones that were freshly roasted. The fresh ones did impart a slightly more peanut flavor (though it was slight!).
How to make the cookies
Step 1: Make the cookie dough
I made this peanut butter blossom cookie dough in a stand mixer, but you can easily make it by hand since it uses melted butter. As a reminder, the melted butter helps make the cookies more soft and chewy than using cold or room temperature butter.
While I love natural peanut butter, I found regular Jif or Skippy type peanut butter was more consistent. Natural peanut butters can vary dramatically in texture and ingredients, I wanted to make sure you could replicate this recipe at home. So I used Jif in one batch, Skippy in another, and they turned out the same (as expected).
The dough will be pretty sticky, but you should be able to work it by hand if you want to bake the cookies right away. If not, just pop it in the fridge for 30-60 minutes to stiffen it up.
Step 2: Roll into balls & bake at 375F for 8-15 minutes
In order to keep these cookies soft, they need to not be over-baked. That means the cookie balls should all be the same size, or some with over bake and some might under bake.
I know it's an extra step, but if you have the time, weigh each cookie dough ball. I thought the cookies that weighed 25 grams (raw) were a perfect, snackable size.
Roll the cookies in sugar and (or) nuts. Then place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake the cookies for 8-12 minutes. Smaller cookies will be done faster than larger cookies. If you have an instant-read thermometer, the peanut butter blossoms are done when the center reaches 165-185F. (The lower the temp, the softer they will be). Don't worry about poking a hole in the cookie, it will be filled with the chocolate ganache.
Step 3: Make indents
Once the cookies have cooled for a few minutes, use the back of a tablespoon (or something similar) to make indents. You want little wells for the chocolate ganache.
Step 4: Make the chocolate ganache & fill the cookies
If you've never made chocolate ganache, you'll be surprised at how incredibly easy it is to make. To ensure your success, let's break down each element of the recipe.
Chocolate is actually a really interesting ingredient. It takes on all sorts of properties depending on how hot it's gotten or what it's mixed with. Tempered chocolate turns hard and crisp, whereas a ganache is rich and soft.
The trick with ganache is to gently melt the chocolate. You don't want to microwave it because it can create really hot areas with uneven heating (and if it gets too hot, it can ruin the consistency or separate out the fat into greasy puddles).
That's why you want to chop the chocolate. The finer you chop it, the easier it melts.
The heavy cream's job is to be warm enough to melt the chocolate (and add delicious fat and flavor). Heat it until it just starts simmer, but not boil! Then pour it over the chocolate.
Let the cream and chocolate sit for a few minutes while the chocolate softens. Then stir it until it's smooth and creamy.
Pour the warm, liquid chocolate into the cookie indents. The chocolate will harden to a truffle-like consistency as it cools. That's it - you now have the most flavorful, soft and chewy peanut butter blossom cookies.
Christmas cookies: peanut butter blossoms
Every year I make 5-6 types of cookies for Christmas. I believe every cookie tray should have a variety of flavors and textures.
Flavors can include chocolate, peppermint, plain, peanut butter, coffee, ginger, jammy, and even citrusy. Texture can include soft & chewy, hard and snappy (gingersnaps), lofthouse style sugar cookies with frosting, oatmeal cookies, chewy bars, and shortbread.
I think it's important to not overlook the texture portion, especially since most traditional Christmas cookies are hard and crumbly: spritz's, sandies, peanut butter cookies, sugar cookies, short bread, and gingersnaps.
I like these soft peanut butter blossoms for their chewy texture and outstanding flavor. My plan last year included these cookies along with soft spiced rye ginger cookies, peppermint patties, cardamom snaps, and maple pecan shortbread cookies.
More recipes & resources
For more peanut butter holiday treats, try some of these recipes:
- Soft & thick peanut butter cookies by Sally's baking (the kind without chocolate)
- Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies from Handle the Heat
- Peanut cookies (that look like chocolate chip cookies, but with peanuts instead), from Epicurious
- Chocolate-frosted peanut butter bars from Our Best Bites
For other winter recipes, check out my seasonal go-to's.
If you're wondering what else is currently in season, check out my calendars to see what produce is in season each month (and coming up soon).
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