Valentine’s Day Peanut Butter Heart Cookies Recipe
These Valentine’s Day Peanut Butter Heart Cookies are a delightful treat perfect for sharing with loved ones. Soft and chewy peanut butter cookies are rolled in sugar, baked to puffy perfection, then topped with an adorable heart-shaped Hershey’s chocolate for a festive and sweet finishing touch. With simple ingredients and easy instructions, they’re a fun and delicious way to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 32 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
Wet Ingredients
- ¾ cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar (plus 1/3 cup for rolling cookies)
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping
- 32 heart shaped Hershey’s chocolates
Instructions
- Preheat and Prepare Pans: Heat oven to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper, silpat liner, or lightly grease with cooking spray.
- Chill Chocolates: Unwrap the heart-shaped Hershey’s chocolates and place them in a bowl. Refrigerate while preparing cookie dough.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream Sugars and Fats: In a larger bowl, use a hand or stand mixer to beat together peanut butter, softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium-low speed for about 2 minutes until the mixture is well combined and lighter in color.
- Add Egg and Vanilla: Mix in the egg and vanilla extract until fully incorporated.
- Combine Dry and Wet Ingredients: Gradually add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until dough forms with no visible flour streaks.
- Shape Cookies: Place 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl. Using a small cookie scoop or about 1.5 tablespoons dough, roll dough into balls and then roll each completely in sugar. Arrange 12 cookies per cookie sheet.
- Bake: Bake for 9-12 minutes until cookies look puffy with slight cracks on the top.
- Add Chocolate Hearts: Remove from oven and immediately press a chilled heart-shaped chocolate onto the top of each cookie.
- Cool: Let cookies cool on the cookie sheets for 15 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Use creamy peanut butter (like Jif, Skippy, or Peter Pan) for best texture; avoid all-natural peanut butter as it can produce dry, crumbly cookies.
- You can substitute Hershey’s heart chocolates with Reese’s heart-shaped chocolates for variation.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days for best freshness.
- Cookies can be frozen baked for up to 3 months or freeze the dough rolled into balls; if baking from frozen dough, add 1-2 minutes to baking time.
- Salted butter is used here, but unsalted butter can be substituted according to preference.
Keywords: Valentine's Day cookies, peanut butter cookies, heart shaped cookies, Hershey's chocolate, holiday treats, easy cookies
