Christmas Cookies with Kids

I wanted to make sweet memories with my kids, but when they were little, baking cookies with them was a bit stressful.  This recipe for Peanut Blossoms (courtesy of my mother-in-law) was the perfect solution!  It's actually very helpful to have extra hands for this one, and not much can go wrong (other than the fact that I couldn't always keep them from licking their fingers, so we didn't usually give these away LOL!).

Peanut Blossoms

1 3/4 c. flour

1 tsp. soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. white sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. shortening

1/2 c. peanut butter

1 egg

2 Tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

48 candy kisses, unwrapped & chilled.

Combine all ingredients except kisses, mix until dough forms.  Make balls and roll in extra sugar.  Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.  Top each cookie with candy kiss immediately when done.  Press candy down until cookie slightly cracks on edge. 

*Have the kids unwrap the kisses while you measure & mix.  Give each child a bowl with sugar (small mixing bowls with steeper sides work better than cereal bowls, but either one is fine).  Roll the balls with just slightly larger diameter than the kisses, then drop each into a bowl of sugar, taking turns among the children.  After they roll the ball in sugar, they place it on a prepared cookie sheet.  You can rearrange them if needed for spacing.

Let cool completely before storing (kisses will soften and need to firm back up), but they taste the best as soon as they are cool enough to handle, when the kisses are soft!

Merry Christmas and make happy memories!