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These Gluten Free Peanut Butter Blossoms are a healthier version of the classic Christmas cookies topped with a Hershey Kiss! They are completely gluten-free, refined-sugar-free, and can be modified to be dairy free! Easy to make and easy to eat (Yum!).
Why You’ll Love These Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Blossoms
I have so many memories of growing up and making Peanut Butter Blossoms with my mom around the holidays. If I had to choose, these would be my absolute favorite Christmas cookie! I knew I needed to create a gluten-free and slightly healthier version. Out of all the peanut butter blossom cookie recipes out there, this one may just become your new favorite. Trust me! Not a peanut butter lover? Try these Peppermint Hot Cocoa Cookies as a festive alternative!
Instead of regular flour, we use a gluten-free 1:1 flour mixture, vegan butter instead of regular, and coconut sugar and maple syrup instead of refined sugar. If you want to keep the chocolate paleo, feel free to use chopped-up dairy-free chocolate. You could even melt vegan dark chocolate and put it in kiss molds! All of these simple ingredients can be found at local grocery stores and you may even have some in your pantry already!
We’ll first make a peanut butter cookie dough base, then press chocolate kisses into the center of the cookie. The resulting treats are soft and chewy cookies with a melt-in-your-mouth chocolate surprise. The best!
For more peanut butter treats, try my Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispies, these Classic Peanut Butter Cookies, or my Christmas Puppy Chow!
Ingredient Notes
- Gluten-Free Flour Blend: I used King Arthur Baking Measure For Measure Flour – it is the best gluten free replacement for regular flour! Cup 4 Cup is another good brand.
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Vegan Butter: My favorite brands are Miyokos or Kite Hill
- Creamy Peanut Butter (or Almond Butter): You want to look for a non-runny brand of gluten-free creamy peanut butter. Some of my favorite brands are Justins, Skippy Natural, and Wild Friends. I recommend using “no-stir” natural peanut butter otherwise the dough will be too oily.
- Coconut sugar: You can also use regular brown sugar if you prefer! For coating the balls, you can use extra coconut sugar or regular sugar.
- Maple syrup: look for 100% pure maple syrup.
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Hershey’s Kisses: I used the Special Dark version. They do specify that they are gluten-free on the package, however they do contain soy and dairy. As mentioned above, feel free to substitute vegan chocolate cut into chunks instead of kisses!
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1
First, add the vegan butter, peanut butter (or almond butter), egg, sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla to a large bowl. Use a fork to mix everything very well until creamy.
Step 2
In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients – gluten-free flour, baking soda, and salt.
Step 3
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
Step 4
Mix well to combine.
Step 5
Roll the dough into 24 balls, about 1.5 inches in diameter. Roll the balls in extra coconut sugar or regular sugar.
Step 6
Place them 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
Step 7
Bake the cookies for 8 minutes.
Step 8
Pull the cookies out of the oven and gently press a Hershey’s Kiss into the top of each one until it crinkles a bit. Place the cookie sheet back into the oven for one minute. Let the cookies cool for 15 minutes. Enjoy!
Expert Tips
- To make these peanut butter blossoms dairy-free, use a vegan chocolate alternative. The cookie portion of this recipe is dairy-free, however, Hershey’s Kisses contain dairy.
- While I haven’t tested this recipe with a flax egg, I think it should work! If you try it, be sure to let me know how it goes in the comments below. Use a flax egg and a chocolate alternative to make this recipe vegan.
Storage Tips
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
To freeze, place them into an airtight container with layers separated by parchment paper. Alternatively, you can also place them into gallon-sized storage bags and freeze. They will stay good in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! They are gluten free, but not considered paleo. If you want to make the base of these cookies paleo, then I recommend using almond butter.
Yes, just use a paleo chocolate bar cut into pieces instead of the kisses!
Each kiss has just 22 calories, 2.5 grams of sugar, and 1.3 grams of fat. Each cookie has 140 calories.
You can try using a low carb low sugar sweetener/sugar substitute!
More Gluten-Free Cookie Recipes
- Raspberry & White Chocolate Cookies
- The Best Chocolate Chipless Cookies
- Gluten-Free Monster Cookies
- Mary’s Famous Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Almond Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Easy Gluten Free Peanut Butter Blossoms Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup vegan butter, I used Kite Hill brand
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter or almond butter, A thick / non-runny brand will work best! I like Justins.
- ¾ cup coconut sugar, + extra for rolling the balls
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 and ¾ cups gluten free flour, King Arthur Measure for Measure is my favorite
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 30-36 Hershey’s Kisses, depending on how big your cookies are, For dairy free, use a chunk of Hu Kitchen or other paleo chocolate!
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375. Unwrap all of your Hershey's Kisses (or chop your paleo chocolate into pieces).
- Mix the vegan butter, peanut butter, coconut sugar, maple syrup, egg, and vanilla together well until creamy. You can microwave the vegan butter for 10 seconds prior to mixing if it needs to be softened. Just don't let it melt!
- In a separate smaller bowl, mix the dry ingredients (GF flour, baking soda, and salt). Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until well combined.
- Roll the dough into 1.5 inch balls. (This yields 24 cookies. To make more, you can make smaller sized balls). Place extra sugar on a plate and roll each ball in it until fully coated. Place the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet bake for 8 minutes.
- Gently push a Hershey kiss (or paleo chocolate chunk) into the center of each cookie until it crinkles a bit. Return the baking sheet to the oven and cook for 1 additional minute.
- Let the cookies cool for at least 15 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
Expert Tips
- To make these peanut butter blossoms dairy-free, use a vegan chocolate alternative. The cookie portion of this recipe is dairy-free, however, Hershey’s Kisses contain dairy.
- While I haven’t tested this recipe with a flax egg, I think it should work! If you try it, be sure to let me know how it goes in the comments below. Use a flax egg and a chocolate alternative to make this recipe vegan.
Storage Tips
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. To freeze, place them into an airtight container with layers separated by parchment paper. Alternatively, you can also place them into gallon-sized storage bags and freeze. They will stay good in the freezer for up to 3 months.Nutrition
All nutrition facts are an estimate and automatically calculated. While I fact check them using My Fitness Pal, please note that they may not always be 100% accurate and depend on ingredients used. Weigh your total and divide by the number of servings for the most accurate grams per serving size.
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These were perfect! Texture was great! Will be a family favorite!
These are delicious and so easy to make
Thank you!
These are absolutely amazing! I had to go GF a few months ago and I’m still missing things at this point. These are identical to the ones I grew up on. My whole family loved them. My daughter has a dairy allergy so I put three Hu Gems on some of them for her and she loved them. Every time I make one of Mary’s recipes, I feel so much better about being GF. Every recipe has been a 10/10
Jenna! Thank you for this kind review 🙂 I am so glad you both enjoyed them!
These are INCREDIBLE! You’d never guess that they were gluten free. Made them 2 times already this week.
Like all of other Mary’s recipe, this didn’t disappoint. They were so good. Even my husband who doesn’t need to be SF, DF, and GF really liked them.