Why are my peanut butter blossoms falling apart?

To keep your Peanut Butter Blossoms from falling apart, make sure you don't add too much flour or over-bake them . Everyone measures flour differently, but try not to overpack or pack your measuring cup too tightly when scooping the flour.

What happens to the water in butter as the cookie dough cooks?

If you brown your butter (cook the butter until the milk solids brown and it gives off a rich, nutty aroma), this causes the water content of the butter to evaporate, lending no extra moisture to the dough , yielding a very dense, but richly flavoured cookie.

Why are my peanut butter blossoms dry?

Rescue dry peanut butter blossom cookie dough with oil or milk. According to baking site Creme de la Crumb, if you find your cookies to be crumbly, it is because you've used too much flour.

Why are my peanut butter blossom cookies flat?

Why are my peanut butter blossoms flat? If you do not chill your dough before baking , the cookies will spread and look flat.

What happens if you use melted butter instead of softened for cookies?

Cookies made with melted butter often deflate and become denser when they cool, resulting in a perfectly cooked fudgy center — a similar textural result to brownies that get rapped (aka banged against an oven rack mid-bake to deflate them) or Sarah Kieffer's iconic pan-banging cookies that turn out pleasantly compact.

What happens if you don't put enough butter in cookie dough?

Butter is an emulsifier and it makes cookies tender. It also adds in the crispy-around-the-edges element. Adding too much butter can cause the cookies to be flat and greasy. Adding too little butter can cause the cookies to be tough and crumbly .

What happens if you put too much butter in cookie dough?

it's going to beat too much air into the butter. and it will cause the cookies to spread way too much. so those are the main issues that can cause too much spreading.

How do you keep peanut butter cookies from falling apart?

Use more granulated sugar than brown sugar . When making chocolate chip cookies, I always prefer to use more brown sugar than white sugar because that ratio produces a softer cookie. With all of the peanut butter in this cookie dough, however, too much brown sugar made the cookies so soft that they fell apart.

How do you keep peanut butter from separating?

When you're ready to spread, turn the jar right-side-up (which lets the oil re-distribute evenly) and open the lid slowly . Game, changed. Repeat the flip every few days if you're a frequent peanut butter eater. The upside-down trick works on all types of natural nut butter, including almond and cashew.

How do you keep peanut butter cookies from being crumbly?

Why are my cookies dry and crumbly? This is most likely a classic case of using too much flour . It's crucial to properly measure the flour in this recipe, as even 1 extra tablespoon of flour can completely change the structure of the cookies. You also might have over baked them!

Peanut Butter Blossoms Recipe - An Italian in my Kitchen (2024)

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These Peanut Butter Blossoms are a delicious simple cookie recipe topped with a chocolate kiss, or why not change it up and turn them into crinkle or thumbprint cookies? So good you will wonder why you never tried them before.

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Personally I love anything peanut butter, from spreading it on my toast in the morning to Thick Peanut Butter Cookies or even these Easy Peanut Butter Cookies, I have to admit these are one of the best cookies I have made and eaten in the last while.

I brought my cousin back as a recipe tester so that I could get these cookies just right. And perfect we did! Nothing like a crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside peanut butter cookie.

The first batch we made the dough was too soft and the cookies spread. So instead of using granulated sugar I substituted with icing/powdered sugar which helps keep cookies from spreading.

I also added a bit more flour and of course I chilled it for a full hour and again once the cookies were formed, while the oven was pre-heating. We both produced one of the best Peanut Butter Blossoms holiday baking has yet to see, at least in our opinion!

Table of Contents

Why are they called Peanut Butter Blossoms?

In 1957 Freda Strasel Smith entered her cookie recipe in a Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest. She called her cookies “Black Eyed Susans.” Pillsbury changed the name to “Peanut Butter Blossoms”. She did not win the contest, but her cookies went on to become one of the most popular Christmas Cookie today.

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Recipe Ingredients

Flour – all purpose at least 11.5% protein
Baking soda
Salt
Butter – softened, I use salted butter, if you use unsalted a little more salt
Peanut butter – smooth creamy peanut butter
Brown sugar – lightly packed, golden brown sugar
Powdered sugar – also known as icing or confectioners sugar
Egg – room temperature
Vanilla

Extras

Sugar – granulated
Powdered sugar – also known as icing or confectioners sugar
24 unwrapped chocolate kisses

Tip: For the best results, let the refrigeratedingredientsstand atroom temperaturefor an hour before making the cookies.

How to make them

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

In a medium bowl cream the butter, sugars and peanut butter until fluffy, add the egg and vanilla, beat to combine. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until the dough is just combined. Do not over mix. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

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Shape the dough into balls, about 1-inch balls, roll them in sugar (I rolled some in sparkling sugar and some in granulated sugar) and place on the prepared baking sheet.

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If you decide to make crinkle cookies or thumbprint cookies, then for crinkle cookies roll the balls first in granulated sugar than powdered sugar, this helps them to crinkle up perfectly. If making thumbprint cookies then roll the balls in sugar and with your thumb or wooden spoon make an indentation in the middle of the cookie dough.

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How to tell when the cookies are done

They are done when the tops of the cookies are lightly brown, when you take them out of the oven they will still be a little soft, but they will firm up as they cool.

Why do cookies spread?

Cookies can spread for a number of reasons, the most common being that the dough has not been chilled, or that you are using a low protein flour. I find a flour with at least 11.5 and up of protein works perfectly. Never use pastry or cake flour for these types of cookies. Also using powdered sugar helps to keep cookies from spreading.

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Why are my cookies dry?

They could be dry because your oven temperature is off, if your oven runs high then they will too quickly and either come out too dry or crunchy on the outside and not completely baked on the inside. It is also best to use regular peanut butter rather than natural. Natural seems to dry out the cookies.

How to store them

The cookies should be stored in an airtight container and will keep at room temperature for up to 1 week. They can also be frozen in a freezer safe bag or container, place parchment paper between the layers so they don’t stick together. They will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.

The unbaked cookie balls can also be frozen for up to 3 months, freeze the balls first on a cookie sheet then move to a freezer safe container. They can be baked without thawing although they will take a bit longer to bake.

What other cookies can I make with the dough?

I am not a big Chocolate Kiss lover, the chocolate always tasted strange to me, so I decided I would use the dough to make a crinkle cookie and a thumbprint cookie with jam (peanut butter and jam) in the centre.

So if you or someone knows is a big Peanut Butter lover than I hope you give these Peanut Butter Blossoms a try and let me know what you think. Enjoy! Happy Baking.

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More Christmas Cookies

3 Ingredient Shortbread Cookies
Easy Lemon Squares
Easy Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies
Italian Almond Cookies
Crunchy Twisted Cookies

Peanut Butter Blossoms – Three Ways

Rosemary Molloy

These Peanut Butter Blossoms are a delicious simple cookie topped with a chocolate kiss, or why not turn them into crinkle or thumbprint cookies?

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Chilling Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 42 minutes mins

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch salt*
½ cup butter (softened)
½ cup peanut butter (creamy)
½ cup brown sugar (lightly packed)
½ cup powdered sugar (sifted)
1 large egg (room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla

*if using unsalted butter then add ¼ teaspoon salt.

EXTRAS

½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup powdered sugar (sifted)
24 unwrapped chocolate kisses
¼ cup Jam or filling of choice for thumbprint cookies

Instructions

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.Set aside.
In a medium bowl or stand up mixer cream the butter, sugars and peanut butter until fluffy about 2-3 minutes, then add the egg and vanilla, beat to combine. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until the dough is just combined. Do not over beat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Shape the dough into balls, a little smaller than golf ball size about 1 inch (2cm), roll them in sugar and place on 1-2 parchment paper lined cookie sheets 2 inches (4 cm) apart
If you decide to make crinkle cookies or thumbprint cookies, then for crinkle cookies roll the balls first in granulated sugar than powdered sugar, this helps them to crinkle up perfectly. If making thumbprint cookies, roll the balls in sugar and with your thumb or wooden spoon make an indentation in the middle of the dough.Chill the cookies while the oven is pre-heating.
Pre-heat oven to 350F (180C).
Bake the cookies for approximately 12 minutes, remove from the oven if making Peanut Butter Blossoms, immediately place an unwrapped chocolate kiss in the middle of every cookie press down a bit with a little pressure, if making the thumbprint cookies, then immediately re-indent the cookies. Leave the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for about 10 minutes. Then move them to a wire rack to cool completely. Once completely cool fill the thumbprint cookies with jam or your favourite filling. For the crinkle cookies, let them cool 10-15 minutes on the cookie sheet then move to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

The cookies should be stored in an airtight container and will keep at room temperature for up to 1 week. They can also be frozen in a freezer safe bag or container, place parchment paper between the layers so they dont stick together. They will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Nutrition

Did You Make This Recipe?Please leave a comment below or pin it to your Pinterest account!

Updated from November 29, 2020.