Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Blossom Cookie Bars

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Blossom Cookie Bars are soft, chewy, and are an iconic representation of just how amazing the peanut butter and chocolate combination is. Inspired by peanut butter blossom cookies, this bar version is quicker and easier to make but has the same amazing taste and texture!

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies have been dancing all around social media lately, and for a good reason.

Peanut butter and chocolate together is solid gold. 

While I’m all about the beautiful coupling, and absolutely love peanut butter blossom cookies, the process of making them leaves room for error. And, well, I love saving time in the kitchen.

Enter: Peanut Butter Blossom Cookie Bars. The bar form of the classic holiday cookies.

Same extravagant taste, same beautiful texture, a fraction of the work.

We get to skip the part where we roll 17,000 (okay, more like 24) balls of dough and sprinkle them in sugar.

Instead, all of the peanut butter cookie dough gets pressed into a baking dish to make one easy to slice cookie bar. 

If you’re like my family and can’t get enough of the peanut butter chocolate pair, also try my Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats, Keto Peanut Butter Buckeyes, and Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars. 

So let’s discuss the ingredients needed to make these delicious peanut butter blossom bars.

Ingredients for Peanut Butter Blossom Bars:

Unsalted Butter: Providing that delicious iconic buttery flavor and serving as some of the fat content of the recipe, softened butter plays an important role in the success of these bars.

Sugar: We can sweeten the peanut butter cookies with any type of granulated sweetener. Brown sugar, granulated sugar, coconut sugar, maple sugar, and sugar-free sweetener all work.

Peanut Butter: Creamy peanut butter makes up the peanut butter portion of this flavor palooza. Choose your favorite!

This is one of those rare times I don’t use natural peanut butter because I find the added oils in regular peanut butter help with the texture of the bars to make soft peanut butter cookies.

While chunky peanut butter works, smooth peanut butter will ensure the best texture.

Egg: One egg helps to bind and fluff. If you have the forethought, place the egg on the counter before you start making the dough to bring it to room temperature. No big deal if the egg is cold.

Vanilla Extract: A splash of vanilla brings warmth to the cookie bars.

Gluten-Free Flour: To make gluten-free peanut butter blossoms, we use a gluten-free flour blend. I use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour, but other brands of GF all purpose flour will work as well.

General Mills, King Arthur, and Pamela’s are all great options. Each brand of gluten-free flour has its own level of absorbency so for this reason, quantities used may vary between recipe to recipe depending on the flour. If the dough seems too dry or thick, you’ll need more butter. If it seems overly sticky, add flour 2 tablespoons at a time.

Baking Soda: The leavening agent to give rise to the cookie bars and to ensure they stay held together when sliced.

Sea Salt: A little salt goes a long way in enhancing the flavor of every individual ingredient. Don’t skip it!

Chocolate Kisses: The true star here are chocolate kisses. Hershey’s kisses are the easiest to find at any grocery store, but if you have a favorite brand, go for it. I like sticking with milk chocolate kisses, but you can use any type of Hershey kisses.

Recipe Adaptations:

• You can mix chocolate chips into the dough for even more chocolate deliciousness. I’ll be trying this the next time I make them.
• Use peanut butter cups instead of chocolate kisses for even more peanut butter flavor.
• Use dark chocolate chunks instead of kisses.
• Make grain-free peanut butter blossom cookie bars by following my recipe for Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars and using kisses instead of chocolate chips.

Now that we’re familiar with the simple ingredients, let’s make them!

How to Make Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Blossom Cookie Bars:

Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until combined and fluffy.

Note: If you don’t have a stand mixer, use a large bowl and an electric mixer.

Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and add the peanut butter. Beat on medium-high speed until well combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl again.

Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until all of the wet ingredients are well-combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl. 

In a separate bowl, combine the remaining dry ingredients (gluten free flour, baking soda and sea salt).

Pour the dry ingredients into the stand mixer with the wet ingredients and beat until everything is well combined. The dough will be very soft and sticky. This is normal. 

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 8” x 8” square pan with parchment paper (you can also spray it with cooking spray). 

Spread the peanut butter cookie dough into the prepared pan in an even layer.

Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the edges are turning slightly golden brown. For chewy bars, bake until the center has firmed up but doesn’t look entirely set up (about 30 minutes). For crispier bars, bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

While the bars are baking, peel 16 chocolate kisses.

Remove the bars from the oven and immediately arrange the chocolate kisses on top. I make 4 rows of four kisses, to create 16 bars. The kisses will begin to melt as soon as they touch the hot bars, which is what will ensure they stay put.

Allow the bars to cool completely before slicing. You can also transfer the bars to the freezer for 15 minutes to help them set up faster.

Transfer the bars to a cutting board by lifting up on the edges of the parchment paper.

Use a sharp knife to cut the bars, ensuring the chocolate kisses stay in the center of each bar.

Serve and enjoy!

Store leftover peanut butter blossoms in an airtight container in the refrigerator (or a zip lock bag) for up to 2 weeks. You can freeze the peanut butter cookie blossom bars in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.

Can I Make The Cookie Version?:

Yes! If you came all this way but you still want to make a classic peanut butter blossoms recipe, simply follow all of the same instructions except for when it comes time to bake.

Use the exact same quantity of ingredients if you’re making individual cookies, but you will need 24 kisses instead of 16. After chilling the dough in the refrigerator, heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and roll the peanut butter dough into 24 cookie dough balls. You’re going for 1-inch balls, which is a little over 1 tablespoon of dough.

Press dough gently in the center to help it spread during the baking process and evenly space the balls on the prepared baking sheet. If you’d like, you can roll the balls into festive colored sprinkles, turbinado sugar, or granulated sugar. 

Note: If you have two cookie sheets, you can bake all of the cookies at once. 

Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes. For chewy peanut butter cookies, bake for 10 to 11 minutes.

Once the cookies are out of the oven, immediately press a chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie. Transfer the cookie sheet to the freezer for 15 minutes, or until the cookies have set up the rest of the way.

And that’s it! A delicious celebration of peanut butter and chocolate that everyone will love.

This peanut butter blossom bars recipe is a much-loved favorite this time of year as well as beyond the Christmas season.

If you’re looking for more gluten-free cookies to share during the holiday season, check these out!

More Delicious Gluten Free Cookie Recipes:

• Chocolate-Dipped Molasses Cookies
• 6-Ingredient Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
• Gluten-Free Cowboy Cookies
• Cranberry Pistachio Vegan Shortbread Cookies
• Coconut Flour Cookies 
• Paleo Mexican Wedding Cookies

Enjoy these luscious chewy cookie bars!

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.