Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar + more for rolling
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 egg*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1¼ cups flour**
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1–2 tablespoons milk***
- 24 chocolate candy kisses or other shapes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Line two large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, and brown sugars.
- Add peanut butter, egg, and vanilla to the mixer bowl. Mix again on high until light and fluffy. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the side of the bowl.
- Add flour, baking soda, and salt to the bowl and mix on medium until a dough forms. Check the consistency of the dough by rolling a small amount into a ball with your hands. If it’s dry and crumbly, add a little milk (see note below). The dough should be soft and pliable but not too sticky.
- Roll the dough into 24 to 30 ping-pong size balls. If desired, roll each ball in sugar. Divide the balls among each baking sheet. Bake, one pan at a time, on the middle rack of the oven for 9-12 minutes or until the cookies are puffed and lightly golden brown on the bottoms. Repeat with the second baking sheet of cookies. While the cookies are baking, unwrap the chocolates.
- Remove baking sheet from oven and immediately (within 30 to 60 seconds) press one chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. The texture of the cookies will become soft and chewy as they cool.
- Store cookies in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 1 week or freeze for longer storage.
Notes
*For an egg-free version, omit the egg and use a flax egg instead. To make a flax egg, mix together 1 tablespoon flax meal and 3 tablespoons water. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes to thicken, then add it to the recipe just as you would a normal egg
**You may use unbleached all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour, depending on what you need. For gluten-free flours, we recommend Bob’s Red Mill One-to-One Gluten-Free Baking Flour or King Arthur Measure-for-Measure Gluten-Free Flour.
***How much milk, if any, you use will depend on how runny or “wet” your peanut butter is. If the dough feels dry and crumbly after mixing (i.e. your peanut butter was on the drier side) then add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough is soft and pliable but doesn’t stick to your hands when you roll it into balls.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 165
- Fat: 11 g
- (Sat Fat: 4 g)
- Sodium: 43 mg
- Carbohydrate: 17 g
- (Fiber: 1 g
- Sugar: 9 g)
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 14 mg