Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Kisses

There’s nothing like chewy peanut butter cookies to take you back to Grandma’s kitchen. When you bite into one of these luscious baked goods you get a mouthful of creamy milk chocolate and a silky taste of peanut butter. There’s a golden crunch on the outside while the center is soft and sugary.
Indulging is a luxury we all need to partake of now and then. And what’s more luxurious than peanut butter cookies with creamy chocolate kisses? Throw in an ice-cold glass of milk, and there ya have it, a little slice of heaven on earth.

This recipe has been around my family for as long as I can remember. They bring back wonderful childhood memories of sitting around the kitchen table after school with a milk mustache and melty chocolate all over my face.  Oh, the good ‘ole days when I could eat whatever and whenever. Those days are long gone, but I do give myself permission once in a while to gratify those “baser” desires.

Why I love this Peanut Butter Cookie recipe:

This recipe makes one of the softest and chewiest peanut butter cookies I’ve ever tasted. I’ve never been able to fully appreciate a thin, dry and crunchy cookie. When I sink my teeth into a sugary delight of this kind, I want it to be thick and fluffy without crumbling all over the place. This recipe is exactly what a real peanut butter cookie should end up being.

There’s nothing better than the alliance of peanut butter and chocolate together. If I could, I would kiss the person who concocted this delectable merger. Peanut butter and chocolate come together perfectly in this cookie combination. When you place the chocolate kiss on the “right out of the oven” cookie, it mellows to a delicate softness and joins with the peanut butter cookie that becomes irresistible to the palate.

These are a fun baking project to make with your kids or grandkids. This recipe is almost like playing with play-dough. Each cookie must be rolled into balls and semi-flattened with the prongs of a fork. It’s a great afternoon activity that ends with the devouring of deliciousness. Memories are made because of moments like this.

Start with Crisco, Peanut Butter, and Sugars (White and Brown)

This list of ingredients is quite simple and you probably have everything in your kitchen pantry, except possibly the chocolate kisses. Which, BTW, should actually be a staple on hand anyway. Start with the sugars (white and brown), Crisco and creamy peanut butter.

Don’t Skip the Creaming Process

Creaming isn’t about stirring or mixing ingredients together but it’s about whipping air into the fat and sugar until it is feathery and fluffy. You can’t see the air that has been added but you can see the results. The batter itself becomes plumb and lighter in texture which in turn creates a cookie that is thicker and fluffier.

The creaming step is so vital to any cookie recipe that you absolutely don’t want to skip it, and particularly this peanut butter one. Start with the peanut butter, Crisco and both sugars and beat with either a hand or standing mixer. It takes about five minutes to get the ingredients to the consistency that you are looking for. The longer you beat these ingredients you’ll notice the color is becoming paler.

Continue to Beat After Each Egg is Added

The beating needs to continue after the addition of each egg, one minute per egg. That gives you a total of seven minutes before you ever add in the dry ingredients. Although the beating definitely increases the time involved in this recipe, the outcome is so worth it.

Pure Vanilla vs Imitation

Once all of these have been properly creamed, add in the teaspoon of vanilla. I’m partial to “pure” vanilla extract for most recipes.  What I’ve learned though, in baked goods anyway, there is no substantial difference of taste in either imitation or pure. And if you’ve looked at the cost of both, you would definitely lean toward the imitation vanilla since the price tag of pure is so steep.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some low-heat sweets and desserts (like puddings) that definitely require the “real deal” if you want the taste of authenticity. Or consider the seeds of the vanilla bean, when making, for instance, Classic Crème Brûlée. But beware, the sticker price will shock you for those little specks.

When Stirring in the Dry Ingredients Do Not Over Mix

In a separate, medium-size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt and add them to the creamed mixture. Using a rubber spatula, make sure and scrape around the bowl in order to get all the creamed ingredients mixed into the batter.  Be careful not to over mix otherwise, you can end up with cookies that are tough. Once the dry ingredients have been fully combined, your mixing job is complete.

Roll the Dough into 1-1 1/2 inch Balls

Now comes the fun part of making these cookies. Roll the dough into 1-1 1/2 inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. Using a fork dipped in granulated sugar, make criss-cross marks as you press down on the balls to flatten them slightly. Not too much though, as we want thicker results. Sprinkle a little extra sugar on each cookie before going in the oven to add more texture.

Test a Couple Cookies in Your Oven Before Baking a Whole Batch

I’ve recently moved into a new home and wasn’t sure about the temperature of my oven. I didn’t know if it cooked hot or not. So I placed two cookies on the cookie sheet, to begin with, and baked one for 10 minutes and the other I left in for 12. The 12 minutes created a more crispy cookie especially when it was cooled. So I went with the 10 minutes for the rest of the batches. I would recommend you doing the same with your first batch just to see how your oven bakes.

No Need to Grease the Cookie Sheet with this Recipe

There’s no need to grease your cookie sheet with these Peanut Butter Cookies. Between the peanut butter and Crisco, there’s enough fat in these cookies for them to not stick to the pan. If you grease the pan with high-fat cookies, it can cause them can to spread too much and create a thin cookie. Which is not what we’re going for here.

Remove the Cookies from the Hot Pan Immediately

It’s important to remove the cookies from the hot pan when they come out of the oven. Otherwise, they will continue to cook. To help the cooling process, place the cookies on a wire baking rack which allows air to circulate around the cookie. If you place them directly on the countertop, they tend to sweat because of the heat and can cause condensation to build up on the bottom of them.

The Kiss is What Counts

The “icing on the cake” so to speak is the chocolate kiss placed on the hot cookie as it comes out of the oven. Press down on the kiss to make a small indentation into the baked cookie. The chocolate softens into a luscious bite of goodness but does not melt into a blob on top. The kiss retains its shape but is creamy and CRAZY good. You can leave off the kiss, but why in the heck would you. In my opinion, it’s what makes the entire cookie come alive.

Freezing the Cookies

These cookies freeze wonderfully. Make sure they are completely cooled before heading to the freezer. First of all, place them individually on a cookie sheet until completely frozen. Then place six to eight cookies in a quart freezer ziplock bag and then place the smaller ziplock bags in a gallon size freezer bag. This way if you only need one bag, you won’t get air into the others which tend to cause freezer burn.  Cookies will last anywhere from six to eight months depending on how well they were sealed.

When you are ready to take them from the freezer, I would recommend letting them thaw completely. The chocolate kiss tends to stay hard unless reheated in the microwave. If you’re only heating one or two cookies, 10-15 seconds works perfectly.

A Classic Recipe that Never Gets Old – Peanut Butter Cookies

So, there you have it, an old fashioned recipe that stands on its own in all its classic beauty and taste. There are some things that NEVER go out of style. I would have to say these Peanut Butter Cookies have stood the test of time and are still one of my “all-time” cherished favorites. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna return to my pretend “days of old” when I was younger with the milk mustache and chocolatey goodness all over my face.

If you like this recipe, you’re gonna love my Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe.

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