Hi hi hello! These cookies are evvverythinggggg. Buttery and fluffy and soft and peanuty and filled with the most gorg pool of dark chocolate in the middle… I MEAN what more do you need in life? Let me be honest with you, though. As a total cookie lover and peanut butter fanatic, peanut butter cookies were never my go-to. Chocolate cookies, sugar cookies, snickerdoodles, cream cheese cookies…get in my belly. But peanut butter cookies? Meh. Where’s the chocolate, yo? But Jeff adores peanut butter cookies. I think he likes them more than he likes me. I took his true love for peanut butter cookies and my deep dark chocolate obsession (and ok fine, way too many HERSHEY’s kisses for my own good) and set out to make those wonderful little peanut butter blossoms I remembered from childhood. While I didn’t grow up making Christmas cookies per se (I’m Jewish!), I’ve eaten my fair share of them over the years. I used to take cooking classes with the most awesome lady named Betty Buns. I have vivid memories making meatloaf and banana bread and chocolate chip cookies at the ripe age of ten. The passion started when I was just just a tot! So you can imagine my excitement when I found my beloved Betty Buns cookbook while searching my mom’s cookbook cabinet for recipe inspiration.
A healthier spin on the classic!
I took Betty Buns’ Peanut Butter Blossoms recipe and worked my magic. The holidays are as a good a time as ever to indulge, but I saw no harm in taking out a bit of the sugar, swapping the white flour for white whole wheat, and using less refined sugars like coconut sugar + organic cane sugar. Oh, and a wee flax egg! The good news is that you don’t need a big fancy mixer to make these. I don’t have a big fancy mixer. Even though Great British Baking show makes me feel like I need one yesterday. If you don’t own one of these super affordable hand mixers, get it on your holiday list stat! You also don’t have to chill the dough. I KNOW, it keeps getting better.
Ingredients tips and substitutions
White whole wheat flour: I love white whole wheat flour because it’s less wheaty tasting than regular whole wheat flour. You could also use all purpose flour, or a mix of half and half. I haven’t tried it, but I bet this all purpose gluten free baking flour would also work.Peanut butter: Use natural salted peanut butter with peanuts and salt as the ingredients.Vegan butter: Earth Balance buttery sticks are my go-to, but you can use whatever vegan butter or real butter you fancy. Make sure it’s room temperature for foolproof creaming.Organic sugar: For sweetness, structure, and moisture! You can use regular granulated sugar, too. I’m not sure how coconut sugar would work here, but I know they’d be darker.Coconut sugar: Because the mix of white and brown sugar is fab for flavor and moisture. You can also use brown sugar.Flax: Our vegan sub for an egg, which helps the cookies bind together.Chocolate kisses: I use HERSHEY’s dark chocolate kisses. The key is adding them at the end so they don’t melt into a chocolate pool you want to swim in.
I found that the key to getting the chocolate kisses to stick was the bake these bad boys for 8 minutes, quickly dot each cookie with a kiss (so cute), then bake for one minute more.
Tools to make perfect peanut butter blossoms
More holiday treats to love!
Healthy SnickerdoodlesHealthy Monster CookiesVegan Ginger Molasses CookiesVegan Peanut Butter Cup CookiesCoconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies with PomegranateVegan Peppermint Chocolate Skillet Cookie
P.S. I definitely accidentally spilled the milk in these photos and decided it looked cool. Does it look cool or no?? If you make these healthy peanut butter blossoms, please let me know by leaving a comment and star rating. I’m so grateful for your feedback! GLUTEN FREE: If you’re looking for gluten free cookies, I’d recommend these Peanut Butter Cup Cookies!
