Peanut Butter Blossom Cookie Bars

Veterans Day week, which means a full day off school for me and a Wednesday that felt weirdly luxurious. I took Owen and Nora to the park even though it was forty degrees, because they needed to run and I needed to watch them run. Owen has discovered that he can go down the slide headfirst if he commits fully, which is thrilling to him and aging me at a measurable rate. Nora stood at the top of the play structure, surveying the other children like a small suspicious general, then decided it was acceptable and climbed everything climbable. Ryan was off that day too and he chased Owen around the spray pad — turned off for the season but still apparently an excellent running track — until both of them were out of breath and red-cheeked and very pleased with themselves.

I used the afternoon for coursework while Ryan watched the kids. Chapter seven of my Concordia text on inclusive classroom design, plus a discussion post due by Sunday. I wrote it in forty minutes, which was either a sign that I understood the material or that I was getting faster at sounding like I understood the material. Possibly both. The kitchen was making its November smell — radiator dust and something faintly of the onions I'd fried earlier — and I found it easier to focus than I usually do. Certain smells put me in the right gear.

My mom had called that morning before we'd even had breakfast. "Just checking in, are you going to Aunt Bea's for Thanksgiving?" I said we were undecided. She said "Don't be undecided too long, she gets her feelings hurt." Aunt Bea is Patty's older sister and she operates Thanksgiving like a military operation that requires headcounts by the second Monday of November or the whole thing collapses. I said I'd let her know by Friday. We went. We always go.

Made a pot of cabbage soup Sunday — really Babcia Rose's version, the one with the little meatballs and the carrot cut thick. I buy the cabbage at Aldi, the biggest head I can find, and it always takes the whole pot. This time I had good patience with the meatballs. Owen ate two meatballs and four crackers. Nora asked for seconds of just the broth, which she sipped from her little bowl like a very serious person. Ryan had two bowls and said "your grandma was good at this." She really was.

The soup was the centerpiece of Sunday, but by that evening after the kids were down, I wanted something sweet to close out the week — nothing complicated, just something that made the kitchen smell good again. These Peanut Butter Blossom Cookie Bars are the kind of thing I can mix up in one bowl while Ryan is putting on a show in the other room, and they come out soft and a little salty and just right. Babcia Rose had her thing, and I suppose this is slowly becoming mine.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 24 bars

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp whole milk
40–48 Hershey’s Kisses, unwrapped

Instructions

Preheat. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan or line with parchment paper.
Mix dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugars. In a large bowl, beat softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes.
Add peanut butter and wet ingredients. Mix in peanut butter until fully combined, then beat in eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla and milk.
Combine. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir until a thick, even dough forms.
Spread and bake. Press the dough evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 22–26 minutes, until the top is set and the edges are lightly golden.
Add the kisses. Remove the pan from the oven and immediately press a Hershey’s Kiss into each bar portion — press firmly so they sink in slightly. Work quickly while the bars are still hot.
Cool and cut. Let bars cool completely in the pan, at least 30 minutes, before cutting into squares. The kisses will set as they cool.

Nutrition (per serving)

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookie Bars — Something Sweet for a Long November Week