Peanut Butter Blossoms

I made these cookies as a Christmas present for a friend. I had my corporate tax final last week and it was my only final that entire week. I had a lot of time to study so I felt really prepared. It also helps that it's my favorite class this semester. So the day of the final I woke up around 6:30 and had another 5 hours to go until the final. I honestly couldn't concentrate on studying that much anymore and I know if I kept studying I would start to overthink things. So instead I decided to make cookies. I already wanted to make these for a friend who was moving so it was perfect timing. Baking cookies is such a great way to relax for me. Whenever I'm really stressed or have something huge due that week I can often be found baking at the oddest times. It's just how I relieve stress. My friends or roommates will say... uh don't you have this huge research paper due this week? umm yup! but who wants to write a research paper without cookies? Not me. I'm a weirdo. Anyways, back to the cookies I made for my friend.  I boxed them up in a big white box and put a pretty green bow on it. I was feeling really Christmasy that day and was pretty sure I was going to get laughed at when he saw that I seriously wrapped up a bunch of cookies for him. Normally I give him a few in a ziploc bag and call it a day. But I was looking for cookie cutters in my stash of kitchen supplies and found the pretty green ribbon in the process so I had to use it. He opened the box and then made me redo the bow so that when we brought them over to a friend's house later they would look pretty again. Lesson learned: Don't make your friends cookies if you plan on hanging out with them all day long. You will most definitely eat half of the box which was not the original plan. Lesson #2: Make your friends lots of cookies.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
granulated sugar for rolling dough
36 Hershey's kisses

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Using a mixer, cream together shortening, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Then add egg, milk, and vanilla. Blend until the wet ingredients are well incorporated. Blend in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix well. Shape dough into teaspoon sized balls. Pour some granulated sugar onto a small plate. Roll the balls into the granulated sugar and then place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 minutes. While the cookies are baking, unwrap the Hershey's kisses. Immediately after removing cookies from the oven, place a chocolate kiss on the top of each cookie, pressing down so that the cookie cracks a little bit. Let cookies cool on a wire rack so that the chocolate can harden.

Yields approximately 3 dozen cookies.

Source: Recipe from College Girl Cooking