Peanut Blossoms

AKA Peanut Butter Blossoms, Peanut Butter Kiss Cookie, Hershey Kiss Cookie and other variations. These cookies were created by Freda Smith from Gibsonburg, Ohio in 1957. It is basically a peanut butter thumbprint cookie with a Hershey Kiss on top, instead of jam. She entered Peanut Blossoms in the 9^th Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest in 1957. She didn’t win the contest, but this cookie has been a favorite ever since!

This recipe came from Hershey and has ¼ cup more peanut butter than the original. I have added to the directions from experience. I was inspired to make them today after attending the Christmas play at Arnold’s Creek Christian Church last night. They gave out bags of Christmas candy, including lots of Hershey Kisses. 

Yield: 4 dozen

1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp. soda
3/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup shortening

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 Tbsp. milk

1/3 cup sugar, in small bowl

48 Hershey Kisses (Any flavor)

1.     Preheat oven to 375°F. Count out 48 chocolates. Don’t unwrap chocolates until immediately after putting cookies in oven. Then you will know how many to unwrap.

2.     Mix together flour and soda in a one quart mixing bowl. Set aside.

3.     In a large mixer bowl, cream together shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar and 1/3 cup of sugar. Blend in egg, vanilla and milk. Stir in the dry ingredients with a large wooden spoon.

4.     Squeeze a scant teaspoon of dough into a ball in the palm of your hand. If you try to roll into a ball, the dough breaks apart. Be careful not to make balls too big or you won’t get 4 dozen. I know it is hard to resist scooping up a full spoon of dough, but you only need a ball big enough to fit the bottom of a Hershey Kiss. Frankly, from the size of the cookies in the picture, there is no way they got 4 dozen from this recipe.

5.     Roll in sugar and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Two, 10”x15” (inner dimension), cookie sheets fit in my oven. Using the four – three pattern, 25 cookies fit on a sheet.

6.     Bake for 10 minutes. Be careful when picking up cookie sheets to put in the oven, the cookies tend to roll around and may fall on the floor!

7.     Unwrap the chocolates now. You can also set up your cooling racks and do some kitchen clean-up while the cookies are baking.

8.     Remove from oven and set the cookie sheets on a firm, flat, heat-proof surface. You will be pressing on each cookie and don’t want to flip over the cookie sheet. Immediately press one Hershey kiss into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges.

9.     Remove from cookie sheet and lay on brown paper or racks to cool. When removing cookies to cooling rack, be careful not to flip over cookie. The chocolate is melting and it makes a little mess. But we can eat our mistakes!

http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/peanut-blossoms/b5de97ec-9e31-4303-8cb7-9484b5e4e86b#?st=6&term=peanut blossoms&ps=9&pi=9

http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipes/detail.asp?id=5191&page=12&per=10&category_id=20#

Edinborough Date Bars

It seems like Grandma Petrie made these once when I was very young. I make these most every Christmas since I began baking in my teens. I find my mixer bowl is not large enough, so I make half the oat mixture at a time. Do the bottoms first, then the tops. Or use a very large bowl and a hand mixer to cream the butter and sugar. I thought I was making too much, but they are all gone by Christmas!

Yield: 4 dozen

5 cups  (20 oz.) Chopped dates
¼ cup sugar
1 ½ cups Water
1 cup Chopped walnuts
3 ½ cups Sifted flour
1 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. Salt
1 ½ cups Butter
2 cups Brown sugar
3 cups Rolled oats

Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease two 13”x 9” pans.

Cook dates with sugar and water. Cool and stir in nuts.

Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in flour mixture. Fold in oats.

Press ½ of oat mixture in bottom of pans. Spread date mixture over oats. Sprinkle rest of oat mixture over dates and pat lightly in place.

Bake 25 minutes or until just browned. Cool. Cut into bars while still warm.

“STOP AND GO” COOKIES

There was a discussion and search for this recipe on the recipe groups several years ago. I subsequently found the original recipe. These are very festive, tasty, nutritious and easy to make. I have included the original recipe from Quaker Oats. They are a thumbprint cookie with oats. I have made chocolate cookies by adding cocoa to the recipe. You can fit about 18 cookies on a 11” x 15” cookie sheet.

1 cup shortening, soft
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg beaten
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 ½ cups Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
Red and green candied cherries

Beat shortening until creamy; gradually beat in sugars. Blend in egg and vanilla.

Sift together flour, soda, salt and cinnamon; stir into creamed mixture. Blend in oats.

Shape dough into small balls and place on greased cookie sheets.

Make a hollow in each ball; place half a red or green candied cherry in each hollow.

Bake in preheated moderate oven (375°F.) 10 to 12 minutes.

Makes 4 dozen.

From: ALL-TIME ANYTIME RECIPES, The Quaker Oats Company, Chicago, IL; 1972; pg. 12

Grandma Petrie’s Currant Cake

This is another of Grandma’s famous recipes. We begged her to make it throughout the year, but she would always make it for Christmas. I am still not proficient with this recipe. It takes quite a pastry maker to roll out pie crust to fit a cookie sheet! Currants can be stretched with chopped apple.

Pastry for 3 pie crusts
3 (11 oz.) boxes Currants
¾ cup Sugar
1 tsp. Lemon juice
1 tsp. Lemon peel
2 Tbsp. Cornstarch

Put currants, sugar, lemon peel and lemon juice in water to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Dissolve cornstarch in a little bit of water and stir into the currants until thickened. Remove from heat and cool.

Roll out bottom pastry and fit into a high sided (3/4”) 10” x 15” cookie sheet. Dust with flour and spread on the currant filling.

Roll out the top pastry and prick with fork. Moisten edges of pastry in cookie sheet and lay on the top pastry. Pinch edges together.

Bake at 425° for 10 to 15 minutes. Lower heat to 375° and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Let cool and cut into 2” squares.

Grandma Petrie's Scottish Shortbread

My Grandma brought this recipe with her from Scotland in 1929. She passed away in 2004, but we still make this recipe every Christmas.

2 cups sugar
2 lb. butter, room temperature
8 cups flour, sifted twice

Preheat oven to 300°F.

In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar with your hands.

Add flour and mix together with your hands.

Divide into two balls of dough.

Put each in a 9"x13" pan. Pat out evenly. Prick top with fork about every inch.

Bake for one hour.

Let cool on racks for 15 to 20 minutes before cutting into 1" squares or bars.

Cool completely, then store in tins lined with wax paper.

For very light and fluffy, melt in your mouth, shortbread, divide recipe in half and cream butter and sugar in mixer. Use twice sifted confectioner's sugar, measured before sifting. Gently stir in flour with wooden spoon. Never over mix or it will toughen.

I prefer to use unbleached white flour. Grandma has also used 1 cup of rice flour to 3 cups of white flour. She also used 1 cup of farina (Cream of Wheat) to 3 cups of white flour.

A half recipe will also fill two 8" round cake pans.

Add a teaspoon of almond extract for a mysterious and delicious difference.

Sugar can also be sprinkled lightly over top before baking.