Sunday, December 12, 2010

The 12 Days of Christmas Cookies - Day Two - Peanut Butter Kisses

These are the peanut butter cookies with the Hershey's Kiss in the center.  They are very easy to make and delicious when they're done.  The biggest part of the job is unwrapping all of the Kisses.  Don't wait until the cookies are baking to do this as you will need to have them ready as soon as the cookies come out of the oven.


Set the oven to 375 degrees and gather together the following ingredients:



Starting at the top and working clockwise we have one stick of butter at room temperature, 3/4 cup of creamy peanut butter (I have never tried this with chunky, only creamy), 1/3 cup of granulated (white) sugar, 1/3 cup of firmly packed light brown sugar, one egg, 2 tablespoons of milk, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour and 1 teaspoon baking soda mixed with 1/4 teaspoon salt.  In the center are 48 Hershey's Kisses.  The 12 ounce bag is plenty and you will have Kisses left over for munching on.

Mix the butter with the peanut butter in a large bowl (or use a mixer).  Add the sugars, egg, milk and vanilla, beating continually until all ingredients are well blended.  Mix the baking soda/salt in with the flour and add this mixture to the peanut butter mixture gradually.  I do this one large spoonful at a time.  Once the dough is all mixed together, separate it into four equal pieces.

Form each piece into a ball and cut the ball into twelve equal pieces as shown below:


Cutting like this will ensure that the cookies are all about the same size.  Or, you can weigh the large ball and divide it by 12, then weigh each ball that you make from the large ball, adding to it or subtracting from it as necessary but that seems like entirely too much work.  The finished balls should look something like this:



Roll the balls in granulated (white) sugar and place them on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Note that in the picture below they're spaced rather far apart.  This isn't necessary as they don't spread very much when they're baking.


Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until they're a golden brown.  Immediately upon removal from the oven, and while they're still on the cookie sheet, press a Kiss into the center of each cookie.  As soon as you've finished adding the Kisses, remove the cookies to a wire rack and allow them to cool completely,

The finished product will look something like this:


Bon appetit!


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