Peanut Blossoms

1 ¾ cup flour or 1 ¾ cup Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF flour or 1 ¾ cup ATK flour + ½ tsp xanthan gum or 1 ¾ cup of your favorite GF flour + ½ tsp xanthan gum (omit if your flour already contains)

1 tsp baking soda

 ½ tsp salt

½ cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup butter, softened

½ cup peanut butter (I use smooth, but chunky works too) or Wow Butter (see notes)

1 egg

2 tbsp milk

1 tsp GF vanilla

Sugar (for rolling cookies in before baking)

About 1 bag Hershey’s kisses or other small chocolate candy (see notes)

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, xanthan gum (if using), baking soda & salt. Set aside.

Beat together sugars, butter, & peanut butter until creamy. Add egg, milk & vanilla. Beat until completely blended.

Gradually add flour mixture until completely incorporated.

Shape dough into balls. Dough is not particularly sticky, but it is very soft, so use a gentle touch when rolling into balls. If it is too soft to handle, chill in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes until it is firm enough to handle.

Roll in sugar until coated.

Bake on ungreased baking sheet (or baking sheet lined with parchment paper) at 375° for 10-12 minutes (8-10 minutes if using GF flour).

Remove from pan to wire rack or large cutting board & top immediately with a kiss, gently pushed into top of cookie.

Notes:

The original recipe called for regular Hershey’s kisses. But there are SO MANY varieties available now! Dark chocolate & peppermint are my personal favorites. Just make sure they are GF if that’s what you are going for. Most packages I’ve seen are marked GF. But in case it isn’t labeled GF, you can go to www.thehersheycompany.com, click on “what’s inside” on the top, then click on “gluten free” on the left side, then scroll down & click on “Hershey’s Kisses”, they give you the list.

I recommend opening the kisses before you put the pan in the oven. It’s easy to get distracted & forget, & the kisses really need to placed on top of the cookies right away. That way the cookie is still soft enough to squish down just a little, & it helps keep the kisses stuck to the top of the cookie. When I was a little kid, my mom would have me help her make these. My job was to count how many cookies on each tray, then count out the correct number of kisses, then open them for her. Pretty smart on her part – it kept me busy & helped with my counting skills!

Resist the temptation to adjust where you have placed the kiss. They will get warm very quickly after you put them on the cookie & will squish down if you touch them again! This really doesn’t hurt anything, but they won’t look quite as pretty as the others.

 If you are dealing with a peanut allergy, I have found that Wow Butter works well. (See my blog post “A guide to peanut butter substitutes”)