These super simple peanut butter cookies are SO easy & SO good!
With only 3 ingredients, that you probably have on hand.. you can whip up a batch of these in a matter of no time. Be sure to make extra of these simple peanut butter cookies for later! (PS they freeze well too!)
Did I mention the low carb option? Yes! Yes! Whoop! You can eat REAL peanut butter cookies, LOW CARB by substituting only one ingredient! They taste very similar to the original recipe with just a tad different texture (they are a bit softer) and a tad different taste. But seriously, my husband who detest all low carb foods 😂, he even likes them!
Now that you’re excited (or at least I am)😂. Let’s make some simple peanut butter cookies!
You will need
1 cup peanut butter (I use great value creamy)
1 large egg
1 cup brown sugar
Substitute for low carb simple peanut butter cookies
Stevia brown sugar (you will use the Stevia 100 percent brown sugar substitute to replace your regular brown sugar. (Substitute in equal amounts.) All other ingredients remain the same.
How to make super simple peanut butter cookies
Dump ingredients in bowl (starting with egg to avoid losing egg shells)
Mix together with whisk, fork, or spoon until combined.
Scoop onto pre-greased or lined panned with heaping teaspoon full or roll each heaping teaspoon into a smooth ball for neater looking cookie. Should yield approximately 19 cookies.
Mash with flat side of fork twice crisscrossed, to make the well known “peanut butter cookie” markings
Bake! I bake my cookies around 400 until edges are starting to golden. (Usually 15min or so) BUT I have a RV oven with no top burners. Therefore, my cooking time and temperature may be MUCH different than yours! I would suggest starting at a temperature of 375 and watch for golden edges. If there not getting any where after 10min, consider increasing temperature. Don’t leave the cookies for long! They may get done much quicker in a regular household oven probably closer to 8-10min! Don’t forget to write down your oven time & temp for future references.
Allow cookies to cool on pan for 10min then carefully move to a cookie sheet for quicker cooling or leave on pan until completely cool. These cookies will break VERY easy while warm. Use a very thin spatula to move them and if one breaks, let cool longer.
NOTE- I like the taste of these cookies best cooled at room temperature.
Comment
I’d love to hear if you make these simple peanut butter cookies and how long it took your oven and at what temperature. Also, let me know if you tried the low carb version and what you think.
Nutrition Value
Yield- 19 cookies
Serving size- 1 cookie
Calories- 80 calories per cookie
Net carbs- 3.5 net carbs per cookie
In case you want to make different size cookies or your batch turns out different than mine, here is the “total calories & net carbs”!
Calories for ENTIRE batch of batter- 1,518
Net Carbs for ENTIRE batch of batter- 64.5
* Simply divide the total amount of calories (or net carbs) by the amount of cookies in your batch for the exact nutrition of your cookie!
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Christmas cards… you either hate them or love them! (Sending them that is!). Keep reading to find how you can save time and sanity with Christmas cards this year!
How to save time and sanity with Christmas cards this year.
How To Save Time
•Use photos from earlier this year, don’t feel pressure to take a new photo right at Christmas.
•Save time by printing photo cards instead of writing in traditional cards. (A picture is worth a thousand words!)
•If you must have a new seasonal photo, try opting for family activity snap shots instead of a professional style photo shoot. A quick snap while decorating your Christmas tree, or standing in front of the parks Christmas lights can make such fun personalized photos, without all of the hassle and really save time and sanity with Christmas cards.
•Consider purchasing a address stamp or address stickers to save time adding your return address to each envelope .
•If you are tech savvy, you could also print labels for the recipients addresses, be sure to save them for future time saving.
•Let the kids help put the cards in envelopes, seal them, and add the stamps while you fill out the addresses
How To Save On Money
•Send cards to households as a whole instead of individual family members
•Deliver local cards in person
•Scanning your Christmas card list for “outdated” contacts to remove
•Calling friends whom you may not stay caught up with to wish them a merry Christmas instead of sending a card
•Giving homemade goodies in place of local cards. (Make sure you check ingredient prices for something loved but frugal)
•If you are really tight on money this year, you could send cards only in return as a matter of appreciation.
Consider sending out a Christmas letter instead of cards. You can purchase a letter outline on Etsy or make your own on a program like Canva. Be sure to choose outline that uses low amounts of colored ink for the best money savings furring printing. If you are interested in how I did my Christmas letter last year let me know in the comments below.
•Skip giving cards to every day acquaintances by giving them a 4x 6 Christmas photo or handmade goodie instead
•Sending a family photo and short Christmas greeting via txt instead of Christmas card is a nice “thinking of you gesture” (my favorite photo collage app is linked below.)
•When sending to members of a office or church, consider sending one card to the business or organization for the bulletin board, rather then sending to each individual.
•Send a Christmas slide show displaying photos from the year via email OR send a a photo E-card with a free online Christmas template
•Write a family Christmas newsletter in place of a card. This can include photos, life updates, greetings and more. Make it as simple or as elaborate as you wish. When your done, print the same letter for everyone on your list.
•Price match Christmas cards
•Check for coupons before ordering photo cards
•Get creative, try making your own cards with the kids help. Especially for those close to your children.
•Use a photo editor program/app or use your local Photo printing machine to type a holiday message on your own 4×6 photo, purchase envelopes and send!
•Don’t disregard Walmart photo cards, they have many options and their value card is one of the cheapest I’ve found.
•Sign up for photo printing website emails like Shutterfly then utilize the coupons and promotions you receive
•Look into sending post cards to save money on stamps! Did you know a post card stamp is quite a bit cheaper then regular postage? If you can find reasonably priced Christmas post cards, (or make your own from the fronts of old cards.) You can save money on the stamps and skip the envelopes!
How To Save Your Sanity!
•Need to drop a activity from your Christmas to do list? Send yearly Thanksgiving cards instead . They will be receiving them just before the early bird Christmas cards and that’s one task you can mark off before it even arrives!
•Use a damp wash cloth to seal envelopes, save your tongue!
•Take the dread and pressure off of preparing Christmas cards by turning it into a family event or date night. Turn on a good story or Christmas music, pop some popcorn and peel & stick away!
•Mail cards early to limit the holiday stress
•If you find yourself running behind (life happens), consider sending a New Years card to give yourself a little more time and less guilt
•Log all addresses in a digital or traditional address book for next year’s ease
•Have extra cards made for those you may forget or for returning unexpected cards.
•Add this year’s Christmas card expenses to your future Christmas budget to avoid extra holiday expenses in the future. (Don’t forget to include your stamps)
•Include return address (this is for your recipient’s sanity not yours)
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This video really took the stress out of getting a cute card photo of my toddlers each year, I save the pro photos for another time. (DIY Christmas Card Photo Tips On Your Phone featuring Don The Minimal Mom.)
Early Christmas preparation can make for a less stressful holiday season!
Are you prepared for the Christmas season? If December seems to always slip up on you resulting in utter chaos, this post is for you! Preparation, organization, and realization of the true meaning of Christmas are the keys to a enjoyable holiday season. If you haven’t already done these things listed below, in early Christmas preparation then you REALLY need to, ASAP!
Make a recipients list
Set a budget
Begin gift research
keep gift records
Stay in your budget!
That may sound like a lot of Christmas preparation especially this early . So, let’s break it down to better understand exactly how these actions can simplify your holiday season especially if you begin early (AKA now.)
The first way you can begin your Christmas perpetration is by…
1.Making a recipient’s gift list
This is usually a simple task. Sit down with a pen & paper, a phone notebook, or my favorite Christmas app, (link below), and began listing each and every person to whom you will be gifting this year. Yes, I mean EVERYONE! Fido, the mailman, teachers, even your son’s gold fish! ????.
This Christmas preparation helps with budgeting by keeping your hard earned dollars from slipping between the cracks of, “oh I forgot”. This also helps you prepare items ahead of time giving you more meaningful and budget friendly options to choose from.
2. Decide on an overall budget amount,then distribute accordingly.
This is very important part of your Christmas preparation. To be honest, this is best done at the start of the year allowing as much time as possible to put back the desired amount of money for your Christmas budget.
Either way, if you haven’t already then NOW is the time to sit down with your spouse, consider your current income and decide on or confirm a REASONABLE Christmas budget amount. This amount should NEVER cause debt that you cannot afford nor should it be an amount that will cause anxiety & stress . Christmas is about the birth of Christ and there is no reason to celebrate it by spending money you don’t have, causing unstable and unhealthy circumstances that do not honor Him. Most likely, the person you are strapping yourself for would never want you to, on their behalf anyway.
Once you have an overall budget total, divide your budget into individual amounts between each family member and each holiday category. Your individual budget amounts should never add up to more then your total budget.
Example of dividing your total budget would be something like this –
Total budget $500
————————-
Parents $35 ea Total= $70
In-laws $35 ea Total= $70
Nieces & nephew’s $15ea. Total= $60
2Children $75 ea Total= $150
Gift Wrapping Total= $20
Ingredients for Christmas baking for neighbors etc. Total= $30
Gifts for Spouse & yourself to exchange $50 ea Total= $100
—TOTAL— $500
You may ask “What if my gift list exceeds my total Christmas budget?”
If your total amount of divided budget equals more then your total overall budget, then you probably figured your individual budgets first .
This is why it’s important to figure your overall budget , then divide it between the individual budgets accordingly.
If you are having trouble dividing the amounts small enough to stick to your total budget then consider omitting categories that you may be able to skip for this year. Sometimes we bye for more people then we really need to. You don’t have to skip this person or category forever, just until you can prepare better in the future.
Second, consider cutting down a small spending amount from each person. A small amount from each will not affect your spending much but can add up to quite a bit of savings on your part
What if I’m still over budget or my reasonable overall budget is just very small?
* Look for budget cut opportunities
*Shop sales and clearance
*Be honest, If your worried about unfulfilled expectations then just be honest and tell your family you are cutting back permanently or temporarily.
*Do not feel guilty.
*Gift the gift of favors or time
*Work with what you have and try to make the best of it .
*Consider DIY Christmas gifts, They have really came a long way… subscribe for future post on this topic
*Use your imagination and creativeness .
*Tackle the challenge with a good spirit, you might be surprised what you come up with, especially if you start now.
*Lastly , if you wish to have a bigger Christmas budget next year, consider planning for it earlier. January or as soon as Christmas is over, is a great time to set up a Christmas savings plan. At this time of year, Christmas is on your mind and you will know best the areas you would like to adjust in financially for future Christmases.
I like to make notes of Christmas ideas that I didn’t use on the current year for possible gift ideas in the following.
Note- Many banks have Christmas savings accounts that will even pay you interest to save. This would be a great way to begin your Christmas preparation next year .Every penny counts!
3.Research Is a must for early Christmas preparation
Research is vital to a budget friendly, receiver pleasing, stress relieving, gift giving, holiday season and of your Christmas preparation!
I know that was a mouth full lol.. but researching prices (aka price matching) and watching for sales can really help out when buying multiple gifts.
Research isn’t always about the price though.
Research can help that frantic feeling you get as you search for the perfect gift for that one person that is SO hard to buy for.
If you have a person on your list with no gifting ideas whatsoever, then begin your research NOW! Google gift ideas for “dad, grandpa, husband… etc. (is it just me or are men hard to buy for ?????).
There are so many articles on gift ideas online. If you don’t find something the first time, try different Google search titles such as “Christmas gift ideas for men” or if you’re crafty, try “best DIY Christmas gifts 2021”, “DIY gifts for dad”, or “DIY gifts made by kids”. You get the idea.
Also, keep your eyes open for YouTube videos and blog post on gifting (including here!) And don’t forget to listen for any type of hints or clues from or about those “hard to buy” family members. Listening and being observant alone can give you tons of GREAT, needful gift ideas.
4.Keep gift records
The holiday season can consist of a LOT of well, everything really. Lots of shopping , lots of traveling, lots of gatherings, lots of cooking, and a lot to remember . This is exactly why I suggest keeping a Christmas notebook, or app for Christmas record keeping.
What do I keep in my Christmas notebook?
1.Gift recipients and all budgeted categories .
Don’t forget to include extra expenses such as wrapping supplies, Christmas cards, Christmas dinners, goodies, and annual Christmas trips or traditions. These are easy expenses to forget amidst the hustle.
2.Budget limits and budget break downs
3.All gift ideas that you come across during your gifting “research”
4.Any item you purchase & who it’s for
5.All money spent from budget and each budget’s current balance
Keeping these details all together keeps you from buying doubles. It makes sure you don’t forget about a great gift idea you made note of , and most importantly, if done correctly, it can help keep you within your budget.
As the holiday season approaches and you begin your Christmas preparation, keep these records with you at all times. You never know when you may come across a great gift deal. But before you purchase, double check your “notebook” for budget limits, former ideas, & already purchased gifts.
5.Stay in your budget!
In the end, no matter how you decide to gift, be sure to STAY IN YOUR BUDGET as you prepare for this Christmas.
Come January, you will be so happy you did. And boy will be surprised how much stress this alone can illuminate.
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