Butterbeer Blossom (or Thumbprint) Cookies
Capturing the essence of “Butterbeer” has been a driving force in the culinary world of Harry Potter fans since the drink first appeared in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in 1999. The books gave us surprisingly little information about what Butterbeer actually tasted like, leaving fans plenty of room to imagine it for themselves. J.K. Rowling later described it as something like a less-sweet butterscotch, while bloggers, recipe developers, and eventually the creators of the official theme park version helped shape that idea into the Butterbeer flavor we recognize today.
That leaves Butterbeer somewhat open to interpretation, but with an established flavor vocabulary to work from. For me, that means warm butterscotch, creamy vanilla, and the toasted richness of browned butter. These cookies distill those flavors into the familiar shape of a peanut butter blossom, with a chewy cookie and creamy center delivering a little of each in every bite.
Peanut butter blossom cookies have been around since the 1950s. Over the years they became a classic American cookie, frequently appearing in cookie exchanges and holiday trays. While the original peanut butter cookie base with a milk chocolate kiss remains the definitive classic, there have been numerous variations changing up the cookie base and the kiss center. So it is only natural that when Hershey’s released butterbeer kisses as a limited edition in the spring of 2025, bakers would feel compelled to make a butterbeer version. Obviously, I was no exception!
My version starts with changing up the dough. Starting with my Peanut Butter Cookies recipe, I dialed back the peanut butter in favor of homemade Butterbeer Ganache and Biscoff cookie butter. The cookie butter brings warm caramelized spice notes that complement the Butterbeer profile, while its solids help offset the additional moisture introduced by the ganache. I retained some of the peanut butter from the original recipe to provide a salty counterpoint to all that sweet butterscotch and vanilla.
The ganache is there primarily for flavor, providing a more complex and distinctly “Butterbeer” profile than brown sugar or butterscotch chips can achieve on their own—although both of those make an appearance in the dough as well.
Next, I tackled the center. The Butterbeer Kisses were what originally inspired these cookies, but they were introduced as a limited edition. They proved popular enough to return for another limited run in 2026, but there is no guarantee they will always be available. I wanted to make sure I could continue making these cookies even if Hershey’s eventually discontinued the original inspiration.
This is where the Butterbeer Ganache really shines. In the dough, it contributes another layer of flavor that helps build the overall Butterbeer profile. In the center, though, it becomes a silky, creamy bite of concentrated butterscotch, browned butter, and vanilla. The last time I made these cookies, I took the opportunity to do a side-by-side comparison of the commercial Butterbeer Kisses and “kisses” piped from ganache. You can see the visual comparison in the image above. The ganache and the candy occupy nearly the same physical space, with very little difference in overall height or dimension. On the left, you can see the smooth, uninterrupted center of rich Butterbeer ganache. On the right is the Hershey’s Kiss, with its butterscotch-flavored outer shell surrounding a creamy white chocolate and vanilla center.
In a side-by-side taste test, I found the Hershey’s Kiss read primarily as sweet, with most of its flavor coming from the butterscotch shell and a much milder vanilla-white-chocolate center. The overall effect was pleasant, but comparatively simple. The ganache offered considerably more complexity and depth, with browned butter, butterscotch, and vanilla coming through together, making it my favorite of the two in this recipe.
So while the Butterbeer Kisses may have inspired these cookies, the ganache ultimately stole the show—and, conveniently, made sure the recipe doesn’t have to disappear when a limited-edition candy does. But don’t take my word for it. Try them both and decide for yourself.
Butterbeer Blossom (or Thumbprint) Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat your oven to 365°F. Prepare 2 large baking sheets lined with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the flour, peanut butter powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside.150 g (1 ¼ cup) flour, 40 g (2 ½ tbsp) peanut butter powder, 1/2 tsp (½ tsp) baking powder, 1/2 tsp (½ tsp) salt
- In another medium bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), add the cookie butter, butterbeer ganache, butter and peanut butter, beat well until creamy.80 g (⅓ cup) cookie butter, 60 g (4 tbsp) Butterbeer ganache, 84 g (½ cup) butter, 40 g (2 ½ tbsp) peanut butter
- Add the sugar and brown sugar and continue to beat until the mixture is lightened in color and fluffy.83 g (⅓ cup) brown sugar, 75 g (⅓ cup) sugar
- Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla and mix for about one minute or until fully incorporated.1 egg, 1 egg yolk, 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir by hand just until the dry ingredients disappear. Fold in the butterscotch chips until they are evenly distributed in the dough.170 g (1 cup) butterscotch baking chips
- In a small bowl, stir together the remaining cookie butter and butterbeer ganache. Drop the mixture in small dollops over the surface of dough, use a silicone spatula to roughly fold it in. The cookie butter/ganache mixture should remain visible in streaks and small blobs, do not fully mix it in. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour or up to overnight.40 g (⅙ cup) cookie butter, 40 g (2 ⅗ tbsp) Butterbeer ganache
- Use a #30 cookie scoop to portion the dough. Roll each portion of dough into a ball and place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. If your kitchen is very warm and your dough is getting too soft by the time you are done rolling all of the balls, pop the baking sheets into the fridge for about 15 minutes to firm up again.
- Bake cookies for 10-12 min, until slightly puffed, set on the edges and soft in the center. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the pan for just a couple minutes. Press one Butterbeer kiss into the center of each cookie.30 Butterbeer Hershey's Kisses
- Move the cookies to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely. It may take some time for the kisses to set up again – once they do, you can transfer the cookies to an airtight container for storage.
Notes
- If you don’t have or can’t find the Butterbeer kisses, you can make these into thumbprint cookies instead:
- Immediately after removing the cookies from the oven, use the back of a 1 tsp measuring spoon to press a hollow into the center of each cookie.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely.
- Put about 200g/1 cup of butterbeer ganache in a piping bag fitted with a 1/2 inch round tip. Pipe a “kiss” of ganache into the hollow on each cookie using about 1/2 tbsp of ganache per cookie.
- If you have the kisses and don’t want to make the ganache to use in the dough, you can replace it with an equal amount, by weight, of cookie butter or peanut butter depending on whether you want to dough to lean more sweet or more salty.
- Because peanut butter and cookie butter have more solids than the ganache, you will need to reduce the flour from 150g to 120g to keep the dough a similar consistency.
Private Notes
Nutrition
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