Let’s just be honest I love cookies.  I don’t discriminate, but I do have my favorites, one of which is any cookie that contains a combination of chocolate and peanut butter.  I recently made several batches of Missouri Muds which Local Savour shared on her website.  That recipe left me wanting to remake another one of my favorite cookies – Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies with Hershey Kisses.

The challenge with taking any recipe that is not gluten-free is “making it better than what came before” as my friend Karen Morgan of Blackbird Bakery states and I agree! What’s the point of recreating a gluten-free version if it’s not just as good or better (opting for the latter)?

So as I started sifting through my cabinets to see what ingredients I had on hand and what I needed to get, I realized Hershey Kisses were no where to be found in my pantry.  Not that I usually keep them on hand, but it’s been holiday season and that equals baking season in my house.  So to improvise, I used chocolate truffles.  Not judging but come on, I think we’d all agree a chocolate truffle would be better!

Here is what you’ll need to make these Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies:

• 1/2 cup Peanut Butter (I recommend a gluten-free smooth peanut butter)
• 1 1/4 cup Palm Sugar (set aside 1/4 cup in a bowl to coat cookies)
• 1/2 cup Salted Butter
• 1 3/4 cup Almond Flour (I recommend sifting flour into a bowl)
• 1 tsp. Madagascar Vanilla (personal preference, any vanilla extract will do)
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp. of Almond Milk (I used Vanilla Almond Milk)

Tools/Kitchen Equipment needed:

• Mixer (can be a Kitchen-Aid type or hand mixer)
• Cookie Sheet
• Parchment Paper
• Cookie Scoop (Small size – 1″ scoop)
• Preheat oven to 350°

To start, measure out all of your ingredients as this will ease the process as you’re adding your ingredients into the mixer (I use a Kitchen-Aid but any mixer will work).  Big secret tip – The baking soda you have set aside add the egg to it (just allow the egg to sit in the baking soda – this will create a natural chemical reaction resulting in fluffiest cookies).

Place peanut butter and salted butter in the mixer and blend together until fulling incorporated.  Add in 1 cup of sugar (remember to set aside 1/4 cup as you will roll the batter into balls later and coat in the sugar), baking powder, and egg/baking soda mixture and blend until all ingredients are mixed together. Slowly add in milk and vanilla.  Slowly add sifted flour into mixture, adjusting your mixer speed (on my Kitchen-Aid mixer I placed it on a medium speed).  Ensure ingredients are fully incorporated.  Remove bowl from mixer.

With oven preheated to oven to 350° and a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, scoop out cookie batter and roll into 1″ sized balls.  Roll in bowl of sugar you set aside earlier, then place cookie on baking sheet.  Bake cookies at 350° for 10 – 12 minutes.  I bake to about 11 minutes for the perfect softness.  Remove cookies from cookie sheet and place on cooling racks.  If using chocolate truffles, allow cookies to cool for 1 -2 minutes (otherwise truffle will run excessively).  If using Hershey’s Kisses, you can immediately top cookie.

Remember if using truffles, make sure they’re gluten-free, as they often contain gluten depending on the brand.

I love these peanut butter thumbprint cookies – It’s really the perfect combination!  Maybe I will try topping them next time with mini peanut butter cups!