Peanut Butter Tree Thumbprint Cookies

My plan is to gift a few neighbors and friends with cookie boxes this year. I love a homemade gift and always love enjoying the treats and sweets gifted to me throughout the holiday season. I love making several different kids of cookies this time of year and always have fun experimenting with a new recipe or two. If you’ve been around this corner for a while, you might remember the eggnog and white chocolate cookies, 7-layer cookies or the chocolate peppermint cookies of years past. I love to put a little spin on a classic recipe, but noticed a few weeks back, I don’t really have any of the ‘classic’ recipes.

My family loves anything chocolate and peanut butter and you can’t go wrong with a classic peanut butter thumbprint cookie. Typically the center of a thumbprint cookie is a chocolate Hershey’s kiss, but when I spied a bag of mini Reese’s peanut butter trees at the grocery store; inspiration struck.

I couldn’t resist buying two bags of the mini trees and after hiding one of the bags well at the top of my pantry, I began gathering ingredients to make a batch of cookies.

I wanted a chewy, thick but most importantly soft peanut butter cookie so I played around with a couple recipes until I was happy. The end result is a chewy, tender peanut butter cookie, much like a classic thumbprint but with lots of peanut butter flavor and just the right texture. The little Reese’s tree in the center of the cookie is festive and fun and the perfect little nod to the holidays. For me, I like the texture and ratio of chocolate to cookie with the mini trees better than I like a Hershey’s kiss, but that’s just me.

Thankfully I thought ahead to make a double batch of cookies because at least half the cookies were gone the first night. I squirreled a dozen or so away to the freezer for later in the holiday season, but I’m already anticipating making another batch before Christmas arrives. And, I definitely plan to add these to the cookie boxes this year. I have a feeling they are going to become a holiday staple around here.

Peanut Butter Tree Thumbprint Cookies, recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies

• 1/2 cup softened salted butter

• 2 cups creamy peanut butter

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 4 eggs

• 1/2 cup sour cream

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 4 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• Reese’s mini trees

• 1/2 cup raw sugar

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Whisk to combine.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar, mix on medium m speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about two minutes. Add the eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract, mixing again, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure everything is well combined.

Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on low just until a dough forms. Scrape down the sides of the bowl one last time, stirring gently but make sure not to over mix.

Portion cookie dough into 2-inch balls. Place the cookie dough balls on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Once all the cookie balls are portioned out, place the tray in the refrigerator for an hour or the freezer for 20 minutes.

While the dough firms and cools in the refrigerator, pour the raw sugar on a plate. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line another cookie sheet with parchment paper.

When you’re ready to bake the cookies. Roll each cookie ball in sugar. Transfer to the prepared tray, arranging each cookie about an inch apart. Bake in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes. The center of the cookie should appear slightly soft but the edges spread a little bit and are lightly browned.

Once the tray of cookies come out of the oven, press a mini tree into the center of each cookie. Allow the cookies to cool for about 5 minutes on the tray before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Working in batches, continue roll the dough balls in sugar and transfer to the tray until all the cookies are baked.

To store, arrange the cookies (once they are completely cooled) in a ziplock bag. To keep the cookies extra soft, add a slice of of bread to the bag.