Chocolate Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

My boss's birthday was coming up, and since I love baking as it is I asked him what kind of cookies he liked.  The suggestions were peanut butter, chocolate, and oatmeal, so I got the impression that any kind of cookie I could come up with would be perfect.  I had gotten a bag of Hershey kisses I was wanting to cook with, then got to work on tracking down the right recipe.

I found a Hershey's recipe for Peanut Butter Blossoms that sounded perfect.  It already called for brown sugar, so I followed the recipe for the most part, adding in some almond extract and skipping out on rolling the cookies in sugar.

My first step was to whip together the peanut butter and butter until it was smooth.

I added in the brown sugar and white sugar and continued until it was well combined, then mixed in the egg, milk, and vanilla.  Since using almond extract worked out so well in the Salted Caramel Biscotti, I decided to use it again in these and added 1/2 teaspoon.

Finally, I gradually added in the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt until the mixture was fully mixed.

I shaped the dough into balls and placed them on parchment lined cookie sheets then popped them in the oven.  I opted to make the cookies a bit bigger than the original recipe called for.

After baking the cookies for 10 minutes, I removed them from the oven then immediately pressed a Hershey  kiss onto each to finish them off.

The finished cookies were a delight and got devoured at my office. I got tons of reviews that these were the best cookies I've brought in yet!  Some people commented that they tasted a bit of hazelnut thanks to the almond extract.  Peanut butter and chocolate make the perfect couple!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Ingredients:

24 Hershey Kisses
1/2 cup butter
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Peel wrappers off 24 Hershey Kisses.  In a stand mixing bowl, beat butter and peanut butter until well blended.  Add sugars and continue mixing. Next, add egg, milk and vanilla and beat well. In a small bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; gradually mix into peanut butter mixture. Shape dough into 1 to 2-inch balls and place on parchment lined baking tray. Bake 8–10 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press Hershey Kiss into the center of each cookie.