Soft & chewy peanut butter blossoms

A recipe for soft and chewy peanut butter blossom cookies.

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Soft & chewy peanut butter blossoms

Make soft peanut butter blossoms by using melted butter, more brown sugar than white sugar, a little corn starch, and cook them in a hotter oven.

Prep Time20

Cook Time10

Ganache10

Total Time40

Servings: cookies (see note)

Calories: 171kcal

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

Servings: This makes 25 cookies that are about 25 grams of dough (raw, before baking). For large cookies, it would make about 12 at 50 grams each. I prefer the smaller ones. See post for size comparison.

Ganache: do not swap whole milk in for the heavy cream, and do not change the ratios of chocolate to heavy cream. Doing so will affect the texture and it won't be able to be stored at room temperature.

Nutrition is calculated with the optional ingredients (with the chopped peanuts and sugar). The optional ingredients account for 12 calories per cookie.

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Nutrition