Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

If you have only known me for about one minute, you will probably know that there are few things that I love more than combining peanut butter and chocolate. Whoever first decided to combine peanut butter and chocolate is, in my book, a total genius. Yesterday, I was feeling in the mood to make some cookies. Around Christmas time, I wanted to make peanut butter cookies and never did. I also wanted to make something with ingredients that we had on hand.  Scott was not 100% on board with peanut butter and suggested chocolate chip. We didn't HAVE any chocolate chips, and he said, "Just chop up some Hershey's Kisses."

I wasn't totally on board with that either. (READ: Don't get me wrong, chocolate chip cookies are in my Top 5 Most Favorite Cookies List....not that I actually have a list....It's a mental list....). So, in the spirit of good marriage, I compromised, and Peanut Butter-Kiss Cookies were born. I used my trusty Kitchen Aid mixer and the Peanut Butter Cookie recipe from my also trusty Betty Crocker Cookbook. I also made some additions from the Peanut Butter Cookie recipe in the Kitchen Aid Mixer cookbook. The directions are a combination of the recipes, as well.

Becky's Peanut-Butter Kiss Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (Neither recipe specifies creamy or crunchy. I only buy crunchy, so that's what I used. :))
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 25 Hershey's Kisses, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375*.

2. Place peanut butter, butter, and shortening in the mixer bowl. Use the flat beater to mix on Speed 6 until mixture is smooth.

 
3. Scrape the bowl then add the egg, vanilla, and sugars. Beat on speed 4 until mixed.
 
4. Using the stir setting, add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
 
5. If you have chocolate chips, feel free to use those. I would say to use about 1/2 of what you would use for chocolate chip cookies. I do think that these cookies would be better with the semi-sweet taste of a chocolate chip as opposed to the Kiss. If you're using kisses like me, unwrap the kisses and toss them in a food chopper or processor.



 
6. Add the chopped up Kissed to your dough, and stir.


 

7. Roll dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. (Let's get real here. I have NO idea what that size looks like, and I definitely didn't grab Scott's tape measure to try to figure it out. Just don't make huge rolls of dough because even the smaller ones I made expanded and touched each other. Which is PROBABLY why the directions say to place them 2-3 inches apart. Again, to do this, one would have to use way more cookie sheets, and I prefer to get 1 dozen on each sheet. Also, the picture is of the last sheet I put in. I realized I had forgotten to take a picture of this step, and that is why there isn't a dozen on it!)

8. Use a fork to push down the dough in a crisscross pattern.

 

9. Put the cookies into the oven and bake for 9-10 minutes. (My cookies were done in 9 minutes.)

Cool however you usually do. I asked for and received a set of cooling racks for my bridal shower last year. I LOVE them. Of course, with the size of these cookies, I had to eat one from each of the first 2 dozen to make them fit.....hahaha :) Enjoy!