Red Velvet Peanut Butter Blossoms

Red Velvet Peanut Butter Blossoms

Recipe

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, sift flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Set aside.

3. In a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, cream the peanut butter, butter, salt, and sugars. Add eggs, vanilla, and red gel food color; beat until well blended.

4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Combine thoroughly, until cookie dough forms.

5. In a small bowl, pour a quarter cup of red sanding sugar. Roll dough into one-inch balls. Carefully roll each ball in the red sanding sugar, and place on an ungreased cookie sheet, two inches apart.

6. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. While cookies are baking, unwrap your chocolate kisses. Remove cookies from oven; immediately place one chocolate kiss in the center of each cookie.

7. To make chocolate kisses softer, place cookies back in the oven for 15 seconds. Remove, and set cookies on cooling rack. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Red gel food coloring achieves the deep red color of the red velvet peanut blossom cookies. Liquid red food coloring can be used, however your cookies may end up with a pinker tone. Note that placing the cookies back in the oven with the kisses on top to soften, will only work well with traditional milk chocolate Hershey kisses as other varieties will melt.

Recipe By: Brittany Baxter

The red velvet peanut butter blossom is a fun twist on the traditional holiday favorite, the peanut butter blossom. The peanut butter blossoms are soft peanut butter cookies adorned with a single Hershey kiss. This timeless holiday treat usually makes the cut every year on to Christmas cookie baking lists. If you’re feeling like a little change this year, dress your peanut butter blossoms in a festive ruby red! Red velvet peanut blossoms scream Christmas! They’re sinfully delicious, with rich peanut butter and cocoa flavor. Add your own personal spin to these gorgeous cookies with topping and coating variations to add even more character.

Red Velvet Peanut Butter Blossom Coatings

In our red velvet peanut butter blossom cookie recipe, we use a coating of red sanding sugar. Red sugar can be found in the baking aisle during the holidays near the sprinkles and other baking decors. The red sanding sugar gives the cookie a dazzling sparkle as well as some added sweetness. There are several different ways to coat your cookies that will add diverse flavors and unique looks, and you also have the option to leave it plain if you wish. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• powdered sugar
• sanding sugar (various colors)
• granulated sugar
• nonpareils sprinkles
• crystal sugar
• jimmies
• peanuts
• walnuts
• pecans

Festive Red Velvet Peanut Butter Blossom Toppings

Our red velvet peanut butter blossom is embellished with the classic Hershey kiss. Although the traditional milk chocolate Hershey kiss will provide you with that classic chocolaty flavor, it can be swapped out with assorted toppings for something more novel. If you’d like to forego the Hershey kiss all together, you can make a thumbprint in the cookie, and add your choice of topping.

• Hugs Kisses
• Candy Cane Kisses
• Deluxe Hazelnut Kisses
• Caramel Kisses
• Reeses Cups
• Rolos
• cream cheese buttercream
• chocolate buttercream
• vanilla buttercream
• marshmallow buttercream
• Nutella

If you’re working with any of the Kisses varieties, you’ll want to do a couple of test runs to see how quickly they melt on the freshly-baked cookie. For example, Hugs Kisses will melt faster than classic chocolate Kisses. For anything that melts faster, you’ll want to add the candy later than you would add chocolate Kisses, however, be careful not to let the cookies cool too much, or they can’t be pressed.

Allergy And Diet-Friendly Variations

Many holiday cookies are a no-go for those with food allergies or dietary restrictions, and the red velvet peanut butter blossom cookie is no exception. Thankfully, there are a few substitutions you can make to this delicious holiday cookie to make it more accommodating.

• For those avoiding animal products or by-products, there are vegan options available. Vegan butter such as Earth Balance can be used in place of regular butter. Peanut butter brands that are vegan safe include Justin’s Classic and Skippy Natural. Chefmaster makes a red dye that is safe for vegans. Silken tofu can be used as an egg substitute in this recipe. Vegan sugars, which are free of bone char, such as Wholesome Sweeteners line have brown and white sugar available. Dairy-free chocolate chips can be melted into a Kisses-shaped mold in place of using Hershey’s brand candies.
• If you’re gluten-free, replace the flour with almond flour or all-purpose gluten-free flour for an easy substitution.

Creating this festive variation to the peanut butter blossom will astound anyone who tries it. The bold red color will make a lovely addition to your holiday cookie plate.