Okay, peanut butter blossoms will never be totally healthy. First of all they are a cookie and second of all, you put a piece of delicious chocolate on top. However, I made a little bit healthier version of them.

The Imaginative One has a list of his favorite cookies. The top three are Snickerdoodles, Chocolate Chip, and Peanut Butter Blossoms. Today I asked the boys if they wanted me to make cookies and if so which kind. They decided I needed to make Peanut Butter Blossoms. Okay, I had Hershey Kisses but they weren’t chocolate. They were pumkin spice flavored. So the Imaginative One and I made a trip over to the local Walgreens to pick up a bag of Hershey Kisses.

We went to look for shortening while there and couldn’t find any. When I got home I went looking for substitutions for shortening – butter, cooking spray, lard, and cooking oil are some substitutions you can use. Butter could have worked. Cooking spray and oil were out of the question. I don’t even have any or have ever had lard in my kitchen so that wouldn’t have worked at all. The last choice was applesauce. I’ve used it before so I went with applesauce.

instead of using all purpose flour, I used white whole wheat flour.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Stars of the recipe:

• Hershey Kisses unwrapped
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 3/4 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour or white whole wheat
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Granulated sugar

Steps:

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Remove wrappers from chocolates.
2. Beat applesauce and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended.
3. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy.
4. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well.
5. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.
6. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
8. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges.
9. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.
10. Cool completely.

Featured on Everyday Mom’s Meals – Church Suppers

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