Peanut Blossom Cookies Recipe

Peanut Blossoms couldn't be more American; combining two of our favorites; peanut butter and Hershey's Kisses. Both have been with us since the early 1900s but how they exactly came together in this cookie, we do not know. The theory is that the recipe must have been invented by home economists in the Hershey's Test Kitchen. I did try to confirm this by going to Hershey's website, but while they do have a recipe for Peanut Blossoms, they give no clue as to their origin. While I was on their website I did find some interesting facts about Hershey's Kisses. These individually foil wrapped, bite sized chocolate Kisses were invented in 1907 and Hershey's tells us that "while it's not known exactly how KISSES got their name, it is a popular theory that the candy was named for the sound or motion of the chocolate being deposited during the manufacturing process". Today Hershey's makes 80 million Kisses each day and besides Milk Chocolate Kisses, there are Kisses with Almonds, Hugs Chocolates (used here), Kisses filled with Caramel, Kisses filled with Peanut Butter, and even Kisses filled with Chocolate Truffle. The unwrapped Kisses are placed on top of the peanut butter cookies immediately after baking. Be sure to press the Kiss gently into each cookie until you see the cookie start to crack. That way the Kiss will stand upright. These are great anytime of the year and I do not know who enjoys them more, kids or adults.

Peanut butter is a smooth paste made from roasted peanuts. The peanuts are ground, and then salt, a sweetener, and sometimes a stabilizer (to keep the oil from separating) are added. There are two types of peanut butter, and the one that is labeled "Old-Fashioned" or "Natural" does not contain a stabilizer which means the peanut butter will separate and you will have to stir the peanut butter before using. Now, when buying peanut butter always check the list of ingredients to see if trans fats are listed (labeled as "partially hydrogenated oil" or "hydrogenated oil"). Trans fat or trans fatty acids are really nasty fats as they are thought to cause heart disease (raise bad LDL cholesterol, increase triglyceride levels, and lower good HDL cholesterol). Keep in mind that nutrition labels do not always list small amounts of trans fat so that is why you must look at the list of ingredients.