Peanut Butter Blossom Gnome Cookies
Gnome Cookies are the cutest and easiest Christmas cookies! They're soft, delicious peanut butter blossoms with icing and sprinkles.
Servings: 36 cookies
Calories: 124kcal
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 (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) (113.5 g) unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup (129 g) creamy peanut butter
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (50 g) 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
*If you don't have premade icing in a tube with a star decorating tip, use a medium star tip and piping bag. I recommend using vanilla buttercream (this recipe is my go-to, but you should only need ½ cup or less).
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Freezing Instructions (2 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.
Nutrition
Calories: 124kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 13mg | Sodium: 54mg | Potassium: 37mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 90IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 1mg
