Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Blossoms Recipe

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My gluten-free peanut butter blossoms recipe will have you enjoying these nostalgic cookies again even if you can’t eat gluten. This post contains affiliate links. See my disclosures.

The start of cookie season is on, and I’d like to kick-off the Christmas cookie extravaganza this year with a new recipe for gluten-free peanut butter blossoms.

Well, the recipe isn’t exactly new. It’s the recipe published by Hershey’s Kisses(TM) and one that I know many families make time and time again.

As a little experiment, I decided to follow the Hershey’s Kisses recipe… except for my little secret flour swap.

Instead of using all-purpose wheat flour, as the recipe calls for, I instead used my trusty Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Flour Blend. Would it work? Let’s find out together!

What is a Peanut Butter Blossom?

A peanut butter blossom is a soft cookie made from peanut butter and contains a chocolate Hershey’s Kiss pressed into its center. I’m not sure you can go wrong when you combine peanut butter and chocolate inside a cookie.

A peanut butter blossom is a classic cookie, one that I see made often during the Christmas cookie season. I’ve also seen people use a mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup in the center in lieu of a Hershey’s Kiss. Both options are gluten free – so enjoy!

How to Make a Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Blossom

Making your own gluten-free peanut butter blossom is quite simple. You’ll need between 30-48 Hershey’s Kisses (depending on how big you make your blossoms – I may have made mine too big), along with a few other ingredients you likely have at home.

You’ll also want to have two important Bob’s Red Mill products on hand:

(1) Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Flour Blend – works as a one-to-one substitute for wheat flour in this recipe. This is an essential ingredient.

(2) Bob’s Red Mill Sparkling Sugar – this gives the peanut butter blossoms a little more shimmer. If you don’t have sparkling sugar, you can use regular granulated sugar instead. Either will work.

I’m not used to cooking with shortening, but this recipe calls for shortening. I used Spectrum brand palm oil because it is responsibly sourced and Rainforest Alliance certified. A lot of conventional palm oils have contributed to deforestation among other issues, so it’s essential to use palm oil that is responsibly sourced.

You’ll want to combine your wet ingredients, then add your dry ingredients and mix well.

You’ll then shape the dough into 1″ balls (like I said before, I think I made my dough balls too big, but they still turned out just fine). The smaller the balls the higher the chocolate-to-cookie-ratio. Try to resist the urge to make the cookies too big. They need to be big enough to fit the Kiss on top.

You’ll then bake the dough balls for 8-10 minutes. Immediately upon removing the cookies from the oven, you’ll press a Hershey’s Kiss into the center.

The cookie will crack a little – and I think the cracks are a little more prevalent in a gluten-free peanut butter blossom vs. a peanut butter blossom with gluten (as the gluten holds the structure of the cookie together better).

However, once the cookies cool, they hold their shape well and the cracks simply add character but do not change the structure or taste of the cookies.

More Holiday Cookie Recipes

Love holiday baking? So do I. Try these gluten-free cookie recipes on for size:

Simple Soft Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies: A sweet treat that tastes just like the sugar cookies you remember.

Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies: These cookies brighten the holiday season.

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies: Nothing tastes better than classic chocolate chip cookies – and these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies don’t disappoint.