These peanut butter heart cookies are perfect for Valentine's Day and are just as delicious as they are adorable!
Aren't these peanut butter heart cookies cute? They are the Valentine's Day version of Peanut Butter Blossoms, but instead of rolling in regular sugar and using a Hershey Kiss, we're rolling in pink sanding sugar and using a Chocolate Heart. In this case I used a Hershey Strawberries and Cream heart for a fun peanut butter and jelly cookie twist, but you can use a Dove heart, or really whatever you'd like!
Why You'll Love Them:
- Easy: These are a super simple drop cookie with a 15-minute prep time!
- Delicious: Peanut butter and chocolate is such a classic and delicious combination, you really can't go wrong! And, the strawberry cream chocolate adds a really unique and delicious twist!
- Festive: Not only are these cookies adorable, but but the courser sanding sugar adds such a fun crunch to the cookie, in addition to the flavored strawberry chocolate.
Ingredients
- Peanut Butter: For the best texture, I recommend smooth peanut butter like JIF or Skippy.
- Chocolate Hearts: You can use your favorite Hershey or Dove Hearts (I used this strawberry cream flavor, it tastes like strawberry ice cream and was so fun and delicious in these cookies!)
- All-purpose flour: make sure the flour is weighed using a kitchen scale or measured using the spoon and level method so you don't get too much flour in the recipe (if you do, the cookies will not be soft and chewy!).
- Unsalted Butter: This recipe calls for unsalted butter, but you can substitute salted butter by cutting the added salt to ¼ tsp.
- Brown Sugar: This recipe calls for light brown sugar, but you can substitute dark brown sugar in a pinch.
- Sanding Sugar: For extra crunch and color, but you can also use your favorite Valentine's Day sprinkles!
How to Make
Step 1: Make Cookie Dough
Whisk Flour, Salt, and Baking Soda: In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Cream Butters and Sugars: Add the peanut butter, softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar to a large bowl or standing mixer. Mix on medium for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is super light and creamy.
Add Wet Ingredients: Mix in the egg and vanilla extract until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.
Add Dry Ingredients: Add flour mixture, and mix until just combined, being sure not to overmix the cookie dough.
Step 2: Chill and Coat
Chill Dough: Cover the bowl of cookie dough with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350℉ and unwrap your chocolate hearts.
Roll in Sanding Sugar: Once the dough has chilled, scoop tablespoon-sized portions of dough and roll them into balls. Then, roll each dough ball in a bowl of sanding sugar or sprinkles to coat. Place the coated cookie dough balls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, keeping them at least 2 inches apart.
Step 3: Bake
Bake: Bake one baking sheet at a time in the middle rack of the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges just start to brown and there is some slight cracking.
Add Chocolate: Remove from the oven and immediately press an unwrapped chocolate heart into the center of each cookie. You must add to the cookies right when they get out of the oven and before they firm up.
Cool: Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes. Once slightly firm, transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Repeat: Repeat with remaining cookie dough. Once the cookies are cool and the chocolate is firm, enjoy!
Tips and Tricks
- Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature.
- Measure out the flour using a scale or the spoon and swipe method of fluffing up the ingredients and then spooning into the measuring cups. Then, swipe the excess flour off the top of the cup with a knife. If you dip the measuring cup directly into the flour it can pack down and you will add too much flour to the recipe.
- An ice cream scoop works great for getting even-sized cookies.
- Make sure to unwrap your chocolate candy before the cookies come out of the oven! This way you can quickly press them into the cookies.
- Once you've added the chocolate, be careful with the cookies. They will fully melt and as long as you don't touch the chocolate it will hold its shape (but if you touch it or move them too much they can lose the heart shape).
FAQ
Nope, I do not recommend adding the chocolate before baking.
This is because the chocolate bloomed! You can read more about chocolate blooming on Wikipedia (they have a whole page about it).
This can happen if the chocolate melts and then resolidifies too fast or there is too much moisture around it, such as putting the cookies in the fridge to firm up quickly instead of having them firm up at room temperature. You can try to fix it by remelting the chocolate with a hair drying on a low heat. But know, the chocolate is still edible and tasty! It is just not as pretty.
Storing and Making Ahead
- Storing: Keep the baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freezing: Baked and cooled cookies can be frozen in an airtight container up to two months.
Looking for more Valentine’s Day Recipes? Check These Out!
Peanut Butter Heart Cookies
Equipment
- Baking pan
- Mixer
- Parchment Paper or a silicone baking mat
INGREDIENTS
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 218 g, weighed or spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or 1/4 tsp table salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1 stick softened
- 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter 130 g
- 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 100 g
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar 100 g
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup red or pink sanding sugar for rolling
- 25-35 Chocolate Hearts unwrapped
Instructions
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Add the peanut butter, softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar to a large bowl or standing mixer.
- Mix on medium for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is super light and creamy.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.
- Add the prepared flour mixture, and mix on medium for until just combined, about 1-2 minutes. Do not overmix the cookie dough.
- Cover the bowl of cookie dough with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350℉ and unwrap your chocolate hearts.
- Once the dough has chilled, scoop out a heaping tablespoon-sized portion of dough and roll them into balls (a small ice cream scoop works great for this!).
- Bake one baking sheet at a time in the middle rack of the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges just start to brown and there is some slight cracking.
- Remove from the oven and immediately press the chocolate heart into the center of each cookie. You must add the hearts right when they get out of the oven and before the cookies firm up.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes, and then move to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Repeat with remaining cookie dough. Once cool, Enjoy!
Notes
- Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature.
- Measure out the flour using a scale or the spoon and swipe method of fluffing up the ingredients and then spooning into the measuring cups. Then, swipe the excess flour off the top of the cup with a knife. If you dip the measuring cup directly into the flour it can pack down and you will add too much flour to the recipe.
- An ice cream scoop works great for getting even-sized cookies.
- Make sure to unwrap your chocolate candy before the cookies come out of the oven! This way you can quickly press them into the cookies.
- These cookies will last up to 5 days in an airtight container at room temperate or can be frozen up to 2 months.
Sophia Assunta says
I hope you all love this recipe as much as I do!