Thumbprint Hershey Kiss Cookies | Recipe (2024)

Thumbprint cookies are always a hit come Christmastime, and these dreamy, melt in your mouth peanut butter cookies with a kiss inside are no exception. If you’ve never made Thumbprint Hershey Kiss Cookies before, rest assured — they’re seriously easy from start to finish. These are the very best Hershey Kiss Cookies, and this recipe always yields a soft and chewy peanut butter cookie perfect for topping with a chocolate Hershey kiss!

Today, in addition to the best recipe for bite-sized, soft Thumbprint Hershey Kiss Cookies (also known as peanut butter blossoms) that yield the perfect cookie-to-kiss ratio, we'll talk recipe basics, why you need to get that kiss on the cookie stat, andeven how to freeze your Hershey Kiss Cookies!

Need more cookie inspiration? Bookmark these easy Thumbprint Cookies With Jam for next time!

COOKIES THAT BRING BACK MEMORIES

Doesn't it seem that the best recipes are inspired by warm childhood memories and scents of home? The sweet scent of homemade peanut butter cookies wafting from an oven is unmistakable, and I knew when Grandma had a batch baking as soon as I walked through the door. She would pull them out, mark them decoratively with the tines of her fork, and dish them out with a generous smile.

Peanut butter cookies were a special treat. In our own home, mom was chocolate chip all the way,and truth be told, I'm all about the chocolate. So when I set out to make the world's greatest homemade peanut butter cookie for my little at-home bakery (for more on that story, click here), there was no second-guessing-- chocolate would most definitely be involved.

Speaking of classic favorites, these Chocolate Chip Sandwich Cookies are like handheld cookie cakes and such a crowd-pleaser!

A BEST-SELLING COOKIE RECIPE

And, as it turned out, I was right to go the chocolate route: Thumbprint Hershey Kiss Cookies became a best-seller year after year.The combination of milk chocolate and peanut butter in a softThumbprint Hershey Kiss Cookieis irresistible, and the bites with the chocolate are always the best. Why not adjust the cookie-to-chocolate ratio just a tad, ensuring a taste of chocolate in every single bite.

HOW TO MAKE Thumbprint Hershey Kiss Cookies FROM SCRATCH

1. Whisk together dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. Mix wet ingredients: melted butter, brown and granulated sugar, peanut butter, egg, and vanilla extract.
3. Add dry ingredients to wet.
4. Scoop and bake.
5. Add the Hershey Kisses as soon as they're out of the oven!

1. WHISK TOGETHER DRY INGREDIENTS

Peanut butter cookies are a cinch to make from scratch. Just like most homemade drop cookies, you'll first mix up your dry ingredients. The dry ingredients for these cookies is a simple mixture of all-purpose flour, baking powder, and fine sea salt.

2. MIX WET INGREDIENTS

Next, the wet ingredients come together. You could use either a stand mixer, a handheld mixer, or a good ol' fashioned whisk to combine your wet ingredients. These cookies call for a combination of both granulated and light brown sugar, peanut butter, egg, and pure vanilla extract.

3. ADD DRY INGREDIENTS TO WET INGREDIENTS

The dry ingredients are gently mixed into the wet, taking care not to overmix, which would ultimately cause your cookie to be tough. And, come on -- we all know cookies were not meant to be tough. Especially these cute, tiny little guys.

4. BAKE FOR 10 MINUTES

After the dough comes together, it's time to scoop them on to the baking mat, transfer them to the oven, and enjoy one of the greatest scents known to man -- freshly baked peanut butter cookies. Swoon.

WHAT MAKES THEM BITE-SIZED

To make the peanut butter cookies bite-sized, nothing really changes other than the size of the cookie dough ball. Rather than scooping out a whopping tablespoon worth of dough (used for most standard-sized cookies), I used a small cookie scoop that holds just under a tablespoon of dough for each cookie. Added bonus! Little cookies take less time to bake than bigger ones, meaning we can get to the good stuff faster. Score.

Note -- if you want standard-sized cookies, you can easily do that with this recipe! Just scoop larger dough balls, and add 1-2 minutes to your bake.

5. ADD THE CHOCOLATE KISS

They wouldn't be Thumbprint Hershey Kiss Cookies without the kiss, now would they? Plus, as we discussed earlier -- the chocolate is kind of the best part.

Immediately after the cookies come out of the oven, the kiss should be planted firmly in the center. Have your kisses ready to go! The cookies are small and they set up fast. The quicker youget the Hershey Kisses on the cookies, the less likely you'll end up with broken peanut butter cookie.

STORING YOUR HERSHEY KISS COOKIES

Store your Hershey Kiss Cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. Your cookies will stay fresh tasting for 4-5 days. If you’d like to enjoy your cookies for any length of time beyond this, you should consider freezing them.

HOW TO FREEZE HERSHEY KISS COOKIES

Hershey Kiss Cookies freeze beautifully, and all you need to do to freeze them is allow them to cool to room temperature, then transfer them to an airtight, freezer-safe container or a freezer-safe zip-top, gallon-sized bag.

If using a container, try to use one that houses the cookies snugly, but not such a tight fit that they are crammed to the point of breaking. If using a zip-top bag, be sure to remove as much air as possible before sealing.

MORE COOKIE RECIPES YOU'LL LOVE

• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies feature everything you know and love about classic, bakery-style peanut butter cookies, only madebetter thanks to the addition of melty chocolate chips.
• Peanut Butter Cookies Dipped in Chocolatenot only make for a decadent snack, they are the all-time, ultimate homemade gift for the peanut butter lover!
• Classic Peanut Butter Cookiesare thick, soft, and practically melt in your mouth with every single bite!
• Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookiesare made with old-fashioned oats, chocolate chips, and (surprise) vanilla pudding! It’s the secret ingredient that keeps these cookies decadently moist and addictively yummy!
• Ginger Molasses Cookiesare a classic cookie full of warm and cozy spices and makes a beautiful and heartfelt holiday gift!
• Chocolate Drop Cookiesare every chocoholic’s dream: Full of chocolate, soft, gooey, and easy to make!
• Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Frostingare another classic cookie you just can’t go wrong with. The perfect, buttery sugar cookie, topped with a homemade frosting. Everyone will rave over the tasteandthe look of these gorgeous cookies!

The bakery days are behind me, but I am most definitely still baking up this best-seller. It's a simple recipe perfect for baking with kids, and my little girls love nothing more than to get into the kitchen and whip up a batch with me. Also, children make excellent Hershey Kiss "un-wrappers," and you can totally pay them in chocolate. So there's that.

Now, go ahead, have yourself a cookie -- a soft, perfectly baked, full-flavored Thumbprint Hershey Kiss Cookies. You earned it. In fact, I think I'll have one too. Enjoy!