I love Christmas. This is why.
I get my sense of compulsive baking from my dad. Every December our kitchen turns into the front lines of Christmas. We literally have to schedule who is baking (on what night and what cookies), otherwise we end up running out of brown sugar and flour and facing off in front of the oven in a very un-Christmasy sort of way.
He wins if he's making peanut butter blossoms. I'm not a big peanut butter cookie fan (I'm more Team Sugar Cookie) but we make these every Christmas. They're tradition.
And can I tell you? They're addicting.
(He even sent me a couple dozen when I was away at college.)
Make them. No regrets.
Santa thanks you ahead of time.
Peanut Butter Blossoms
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Hershey kisses
1/4 cup granulated sugar to roll cookies in
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a bowl with a mixer, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and peanut butter. Then beat in egg and vanilla.
In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture and beat until well blended.
Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls and roll in 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Set ball 1 1/2-inches apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until slightly darker brown.
Place 1 chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie; dough may crack. Return to oven and continue to bake until chocolate is shiny and soft, about three more minutes. Cool and then serve.
Source: Sunset Magazine, December 1998
