These cookies make me happy. I like most cookies anyway, but these just captivate me. There is a fruit surprise inside! What could be better than that?

The little notes catch my eye and make me smile even if I know that I wrote those very notes myself. It’s like I left myself a clue back in time that I’m now stumbling upon. So much fun! Inside is a tender, rich peanut butter cookie with a delightfully sweet and tart strawberry center. The child in you will go nuts for these, not to mention what actual children will do. It’s a PB&J sandwich all packaged up like a miniature present!


I was inspired by a recipe for Double Chocolate Kisses in my very favorite cookie book (and I have a lot of cookie books) Sweet Miniatures by Flo Braker. You can read her recipe online here. I adjusted it a bit to remove all the chocolate and I wanted the whole thing to be more of peanut butter and jelly kiss because everything tastes better with fruit of course.

Basically you can start with any peanut butter cookie recipe you have (this one is a favorite) and then follow the instructions from there. Enjoy!

Oh! One last thing. See those notes up there…they are for you. I like you!

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Kiss Cookies

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Ingredients

  • 1 recipe for peanut butter cookie dough, prepared but not cooked
  • 1 cup chopped strawberries, fresh or defrosted if frozen
  • 1 tablespoon sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F or whatever is appropriate for the peanut butter cookie recipe you used.
  2. Place the chopped strawberries in a bowl and sprinkle with sugar to taste. One tablespoon was about right for my sweet preference, but every batch of berries is going to be more sweet or tart. So just start light and add more sugar later if you like. Let the berries sit for about 15 minutes so they let go of their juices.
  3. Mash the berries with a fork until you have a chunky, soupy filling. Strain through a fine mesh strainer. You want a dense, sweetened berry filling with minimal liquid. (I used the leftover sweetened juice to make little strawberry ice cubes that I later added to milk but you could do lots of things with it. Save to pour over ice cream. Mix with maple syrup, etc.)
  4. Take a spoonful of dough and flatten into a disk in the palm of your hand. Move it around so it isn’t stuck to your skin.
  5. Place about 1/2 teaspoon of the strawberry filling in to the center of the disk and gently pull up the edges to mold into a kiss shape. Make sure all edges are sealed.
  6. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
  7. Bake for 10 minutes or whatever is appropriate for the peanut butter cookie recipe you used.
  8. Let cookies cool completely so you don’t risk breaking them before you remove them from the baking sheet.
  9. Center each cookie on a 5-inch square of aluminum foil. Wrap and twist like a hershey’s kiss.
  10. If desired, write a little message on a strip of paper before twisting the foil. You could also use these as clever name cards at a dinner party or a wedding.

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