Kitchen

[karlam]

I make these every year and my recipe calls for butter.

[Nightowlz]

On 11/15/2014 debcakes said:

I have never made these but with choc. chips, I have found that I like to use half butter, half plain Crisco. Good texture and taste. Butter alone, too thin. Crisco alone, too dry.

That's what I do. I use half Crisco half butter in my chocolate chip cookies too. Love them with some added butterscotch chips.

[Vamp]

Buttahhh!

[Nightowlz]

My sister uses this recipe from the Hershey's site. No Crisco or butter. She probably uses Bisquick baking mix for the all purpose baking mix listed in the recipe & it has partially hydrogenated soybean oil & or cottonseed oil in it.

INGREDIENTS:

• About 48 HERSHEY'S KISSES Brand Milk Chocolates
• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
• 3/4 cup REESE'S Creamy Peanut Butter
• 2 cups all-purpose baking mix
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• About 1/4 cup sugar

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 375°F. Remove wrappers from chocolates.

Beat sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter in large bowl until smooth. Add baking mix and vanilla; blend well. Shape into 1-inch balls; roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until very lightly browned (do not overbake). Remove from oven; immediately press chocolate piece in center of each ball. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Store in tightly covered container. Makes about 48 cookies.

Variation:

CHEWY CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER BLOSSOMS: Add 1/4 cup HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa to baking mix; proceed as above.

[cotto22]

The recipe my Mother used calls for 1/2 cup shortening for the batch of Peanut Blossoms. I make them once a year, at Christmas time, and they turn out perfectly. Although I am an unsalted butter user for many things, I firmly believe that this recipe works a lot better with shortening. I don't think 1/2 cup of shortening has or will do irreparable damage to anyone.

And, btw, I also use shortening as well as butter for snickerdoodles.

[PamelaSue72]

On 11/15/2014 pas4116 said: Shortening is a highly processed product that is not healthy. It is vegetable oils that have been hydrogenated to turn them to solids, in other words, changing unsaturated fat to saturated trans fats. A great deal of chemical processing takes place. Aside from that, shortning adds no flavor to your baked goods. While butter should be consumed in moderation, it is a natural poduct that adds wonderful flavor to baked goods. Shortening is engineered to have a higher melting point than butter, which can change the texture of a cookie, but this has more to do with baking temperature. For thicker cookies, decrease the oven temperature. I only use butter for baking.

I use whatever my recipe calls for. I don't worry about using shortening....once or twice a year it's not going to kill me. I normally do use unsalted butter, but if a recipe calls for shortening or for half-butter, half-shortening, the sky is not going to fall.

My snickerdoodle recipe (well, actually it's Betty Crocker's recipe) calls for both shortening and butter. That's what I use. My cousin's recipe for Peanut Blossoms calls for margarine; I use unsalted butter in that one.

[Theoriginallacey]

Shortening will probably make them hold their shape better. Butter can be finicky depending on what brand and how much water is in it. I have a recipe my grandmother used for date nut bars and it has Crisco in it. Of course not may people use it anymore, but those bars are delicious.

[Mominohio]

On 11/15/2014 Cinder63 said:

Thank you. I agree Crisco is terrible but figure a few cookies made with it per decade (I never bake and seldom eat others' baked goods; sweets aren't my thing) won't kill me. I'm mainly fearful that butter will make the cookie too crisp and am trying to replicate the way my aunt made them; she died in 1996 but prior to that used to send a tin of these every year; it was the special thing she made for me.

I was unpacking my Bedford Falls village and came across a gift tag from her on one of the figurines' boxes; she gave me "The old Granville House" to get me started on the village. Seeing her elaborate handwriting and signature made me nostalgic for a batch of the peanut blossoms.

I agree with everyone who has stated that using shortening isn't in our health's best interest, but, I would rather use what makes the final product look/taste best, and just know it is a treat, not something to be eaten every day (or even every week or every month). For those special occasions, and to replicate the flavors and textures we fondly remember from our past (and the people we loved who made such things) it shouldn't be the death of us to follow the tradition once or twice a year.

Cinder63, isn't it wonderful to find something in the handwriting of a dear and treasured love one who is no longer with us. It takes us back to the times we spent with them, and it tugs so at our heart strings. Enjoy your village, and some fond memories this season.

[Madisson]

My sister makes the best sugar cookies in the world. She always makes them with butter. One year she decided to try margarine as several people told her they would be even better that way. OMG! They just stunk. You could just smell the margarine in them. Maybe shortening would have been a better option. She went back to butter the next year.

[151949]

On 11/15/2014 Skylands said:

On 11/15/2014 pas4116 said: Shortening is a highly processed product that is not healthy. It is vegetable oils that have been hydrogenated to turn them to solids, in other words, changing unsaturated fat to saturated trans fats. A great deal of chemical processing takes place. Aside from that, shortning adds no flavor to your baked goods. While butter should be consumed in moderation, it is a natural poduct that adds wonderful flavor to baked goods. Shortening is engineered to have a higher melting point than butter, which can change the texture of a cookie, but this has more to do with baking temperature. For thicker cookies, decrease the oven temperature. I only use butter for baking.

ITA! Don't use margarine or any shortening. Butter is best for baking.

I completely agree - butter only.