trial & error: peanut butter blossoms

Some people are chocoholics. I'm a peanut butter-holic. I go through periods of intense peanut butter cravings, and I often dream back to elementary school, when I would help out in the kitchen to make snacks for the after school program. We only ever made two things: brownies or - my favorite - peanut butter blossoms.

Brownies are great and all. But these cookies were magic. I don't even like hershey kisses - but once they're nestled into the soft peanut butter dough, everything changes. The cookies are chewy, rich and hey, you can do no wrong with a combination like peanut butter and chocolate. Kind of like how Marshall from How I Met Your Mother went on a hunt to find the mystery restaurant that once served him the perfect burger, I was determined to find the recipe that would make the cookies of my childhood peanut butter dreams.

Sigh.

To think that I haven't made these cookies in more than 10 years.
I loosely followed a recipe I found online. When the first batch came out, I was surprised by how round and puffy they were and how soft they were inside. Not confident that the cookies were done, I popped them back in the oven for 3 minutes. My mistake! The cookies ended up being over-done. When we tried sticking the kisses on top, the cookies were stubborn and crumbled.

So for the second batch, we added a tablespoon or two of almond milk to wet the batter. After 10 minutes of baking, the cookies were soft enough for the kisses; instead of crumbling, they "crackled" like they should.

omnomnomnom

My friend Judy and I rolled the dough balls, tossed them in brown sugar and graham cracker crumbs and after baking, gently pushed kisses into the still-soft cookies. While they were tasty and soothed my peanut butter addiction, I'm still on the lookout for the perfect peanut butter blossom recipe - the recipe that makes the richest, chewiest cookies I continue to dream about more than ten years later.

Food resolution: Bake something nostalgic. Status: complete.