My Favorite Holiday Cookie: Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cookes

This cookie has been my most desired Holiday fare for as long as I can remember. My sister and I have begged my mom to make these cookies many times before in the past. Of course, we could have made them ourselves - they're a snap to prepare - but don't you find food cooked by your loved ones always tastes better?

I decided to make these bad boys a little earlier than usual this year. My dad has been recovering from his surgery, so when I was over at my parents' house I decided to get all Martha Stewart up in there and whip up a batch. The original recipe is one my mom cut off of the side of a Hershey's Kiss bag. It's ancient! But I found it nestled in the "cookies" file of my mom's equally ancient recipe box.

I made some slight modifications: First, we didn't have any actual Hershey Kisses, so I got extra Stewart-y and melted some chocolate chips, poured that into a ziplock bag, snipped the corner off, and made a makeshift frosting piper (or whatever they call those things! :P). Second, I have developed some kind of food allergy over the last year or so, and have a strong suspicion it is a corn allergy. Thus, I have been avoiding a lot of foods due to all the cornstarch and corn syrup in just about everything. So my mom kindly bought me some all natural peanut butter at Costco that worked perfectly. Actually, we didn't even realized until later that it was chunky peanut butter! But in the grand scheme of things...it made absolutely no difference at all! They were still delicious!!!

I've transcribed the recipe to share with all of you here. I know it's an easy recipe to find anywhere, but I'm going to do it here too! So enjoy everyone!

Reese's Peanut Butter Cookies with Hershey's Kisses

1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup creamy (or crunchy!) peanut butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Granulated sugar
1 bag (9 oz.) Hershey's Milk Chocolate Kisses, unwrapped

Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. In large mixer bowl, beat shortening and peanut butter until well blended. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until light and fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to beaten mixture. Shape dough into 1" balls (I used a rounded tablespoon so all my cookies came out uniform in size). Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes (I would err on the lower side of that amount) or until lightly browned. Immediately (Seriously. Right away) place unwrapped chocolate piece on top of cookie, pressing down so cookie cracks around edges (but not too hard!). Remove from baking sheet. Cool completely. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

I know the recipe SAYS to cool completely, but I can tell you right now that there is nothing - NOTHING!!! - more tasty than a peanut butter cookie with still-melty chocolate! And with that, I think I will leave you. Enjoy your holidays!

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