Peanut Butter Blossoms are one of my favorite cookies, especially around the Holidays! With gnomes becoming increasingly popular, I thought it'd be cute to turn my favorite cookies into them!
These gnome cookies are just like regular peanut butter blossoms in that they're soft PB cookies rolled in sugar and topped with Hershey's kisses. However, they're turned into cute Christmas gnomes with frosting and Holiday sprinkles! These are so easy, you don't need to be super skilled at decorating Christmas cookies to make them.
Do you have a friend that's obsessed with gnomes? I do! She's my absolute best friend and she's in love with the little creatures and Christmas. As much as I tease her for both traits, these cookies wouldn't have come to life without her expertise! So thank you, Hannah, this recipe is dedicated to you!
For other Holiday recipes, check out my Sprinkle Sugar Cookies, Gingerbread Brownies, Gingerbread Tiramisu Jars, Peppermint Affogato Chocolate Bombs!
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Ingredients
- All purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Egg
- Unsalted butter
- Creamy peanut butter
- Vanilla extract
- Holiday sprinkles (I used these ones)
- Frosting
- Hershey's Kisses
See recipe card below for quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
This recipe has not been tested with any substitutions. If you do replace any ingredients, please let us know how they turned out in the comments below!
As for variations, get creative! Decorate the gnomes however you like!
There are many different flavors of Hershey's Kisses you could use, or you could use any other hat-like candy. If you're open to a peanut butter-strawberry flavor combo, I think strawberries would make super cute Santa hats! You could also dye the frosting different colors for a variety of hats and beards.
These don't just have to be Christmas gnomes, either. Change up the sprinkles and colors to make them for any Holiday or occasion! Orange/green for St. Patrick's Day, red/pink/purple for Valentine's Day, etc.
Equipment
These are so simple and just like making regular cookies, so you won't need to roll out any dough or use any cookie cutters! Just your basic cookie-making equipment along with a few decorating tools.
- You'll need a baking sheet to bake the cookies on. This one from USA Pan is my favorite! A wire cooling rack will come in handy too.
- I recommend using a hand mixer or stand mixer with a paddle attachment for the dough.
- A medium star piping tip is needed to assemble the gnomes. You can make your own frosting and use a piping tip and bag, or buy premade icing in a tube with a star tip like I did!
Step by Step Instructions
Step One (Picture 1 above) - In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
Step Two (Picture 2 above) - In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until they're light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Mix in the peanut butter, egg and vanilla extract one at a time.
Step Three (Picture 3 above) - Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ones until all flour streaks disappear. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed to make sure all ingredients are incorporated!
Step Four (Picture 4 above) - Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and then roll them in sugar. Bake at 350°F for about 8 minutes. I recommend giving the cookies a firm scoot right after taking them out of the oven so they gain back some height. See my quick video on cookie scooting here!
Step Five (Picture 5 above) - Let the cookies cool completely before assembling the gnomes.
Step Six (Picture 6 above) - Using icing as glue, attach candy kisses on top of the cookies for the hats.
Step Seven (Picture 7 above) - With the star tip, pipe icing around the bottom and tip of the hat (like a Santa hat). Then, draw on a beard and add two little dabs of icing on each side of the beard, at the bottom of the cookie.
Step Eight (Picture 8 above) - Place a ball sprinkle over the beard, just under the Santa hat for the gnome's nose. Place little sprinkles on the small icing dabs for feet (the sprinkles I used had tiny Christmas tree sprinkles, so I used those for the feet)!
Tip: Don't over bake the cookies or they may start to crack and dry out!
Recipe FAQs
Using baking powder instead of baking soda helps prevent the cookies from spreading! I also used a slightly higher flour ratio and decreased the baking time a bit.
Although I haven't tried, I don't anticipate these working super well with premade cookie dough. This recipe is made specifically to hold its round shape whereas prepackaged cookie doughs generally spread out like normal cookies.
If you don't have the premade icing with star tip, I recommend making a vanilla buttercream. This recipe is my go-to, but it'll leave you with a lot of leftover frosting.
This step isn't necessary for these cookies. However, if you want to try to enhance the flavors or just take a cookie break, feel free to refrigerate the dough for 1 hour or up to 2 days.
Yes! If you like these, you'll love our Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies and Almond Butter Blossoms. PB lovers will also enjoy Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispies!
Storage
Store the gnome cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Freezing Instructions: This can be done in two different ways.
- Roll the dough into balls and freeze those. When you're ready to bake them, roll them in sugar as the oven preheats and bake for 8-10 minutes.
- Freeze the baked but undecorated cookies. Let the cookies thaw at room temperature. They can be decorated while they're frozen or after they've thawed.
Did you try this recipe? Tag me on Instagram or Facebook and leave a ⭐️ review below! Happy Holiday Baking!
📖 Recipe
Peanut Butter Blossom Gnome Cookies
Equipment
- Baking sheet
- Hand or stand mixer with paddle
- Measuring spoons
- Mixing bowls
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Medium star piping tip and bag
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ cup granulated sugar for rolling
- 36 Hershey's Kisses
- Decorating Icing*
Instructions
Making the Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes on medium speed).Stir in the peanut butter followed by the egg and vanilla extract. Mix well.
- Slowly mix the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until the dough comes together and no dry streaks remain.Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.
- Form 1 inch dough balls and roll them in sugar. Place them on the baking tray 1-2 inches apart and bake for 8-9 minutes.When they're hot out of the oven, carefully place a small cup over one cookie at a time and move it around in a circle to bring the cookie edges in and give it more height. (This is called "cookie scooting", see an example here.)
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Assembling the Gnomes
- Using the frosting as glue, place a dab on the bottom of a Hershey's Kiss and then attach it to the top of a cookie for the gnome's hat.
- With the star tip, pipe frosting around the bottom of the hat and then place a dab on the tip of the hat, so it looks like a Santa hat!
- Pipe a wave of frosting from the bottom of the hat to the bottom of the cookie for the gnome's beard.
- Place a round sprinkle on top of the beard, right below the hat for the nose. Then using frosting as glue, secure two small sprinkles on the bottom of cookie on each side of the beard for feet.
Video
Notes
- Roll the dough into balls and freeze those. When you're ready to bake them, roll them in sugar as the oven preheats and bake for 8-10 minutes.
- Freeze the baked but undecorated cookies. Let the cookies thaw at room temperature. They can be decorated while they're frozen or after they've thawed.
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