Welcome to the 12 weeks of Christmas Cookies!.......Peanut Blossoms

I'm super excited about the next 12 weeks.  I have joined a group of other bloggers who will be posting a Christmas cookie recipe every Friday for the next 12 weeks.  Links to the other bloggers will be at the bottom of this post so be sure to check out their cookies as well.  Thanks to April from Abby Sweets for organizing this group event. 

I will be sharing with you a variety of cookies.  There are so many types to choose from.  Drop, Bar, Rolled, No Bake, Refrigerator, Molded, Pressed.  My challenge will be to not gain any weight during the next 12 weeks.  And that goes for my husband and daughters as well.  They are HUGE cookie eaters!  Especially my home baked ones. : )  Friends, co-workers and neighbors....be prepared for some cookie sharing!  

 I decided to go with a classic, kid-friendly and all-around yummy cookie for my first post.  Peanut Blossom Cookies was a Pillsbury Bake-Off recipe in 1957 by Freda Smith from Ohio.  She wasn't the winner but she's a winner in my book.  I remember these cookies when I was young and how cool that I can pass them on to my daughters. I guess that's what makes a classic, a classic.  How can you go wrong with a peanut butter cookie and a Hershey chocolate kiss on top?  

Click HERE for the original Pillsbury Bake-Off recipe and HERE for the Hershey's recipe.

Both of these recipes use shortening in their recipes.  I didn't have this ingredient in my pantry so I went with the recipe from Joy of Baking which uses all butter instead.  Please click HERE for a printable version of the recipe.

I used Milk Chocolate Kisses and Hugs (milk chocolate and white chocolate swirled together).  There are several flavors that you can choose from now that would change this cookie up a bit.  How about their Special Dark or Caramel Filled Kisses?  Hershey's has a new Kiss out called Meltaway Milk Chocolates with a smooth meltaway center.  Have fun with it and come up with your own flavor combinations. 

So, are you ready to bake up some Christmas Cookies now?  

These cookies are so much fun to look at and fun to eat too!  Your kids will love making these cookies with you.  My daughter, Marissa, unwrapped the chocolate kisses and put them on top of the cookies when they came out of the oven.  The heat from the cookie starts to melt the chocolate kiss which becomes the "glue" to keep the kisses secured to the cookies.  Genius! 

See you next Friday with another cookie recipe.

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson:  Gift/Packaging Idea:  Pick up some inexpensive, but cute, Christmas plates.  The one above is an acrylic plate I got on clearance at Target last year, only 75 cents.  I picked up a few to use for this year.  Put some Peanut Blossoms on the plate with Hershey Kisses scattered around.  Wrap with some clear or colored plastic wrap or use cellophane to wrap up around the plate and tie with a pretty Christmas ribbon at the top.