Less is More...

     As part of my New Year's resolve to become more mindful and show more gratitude I picked up a book entitled Less is More; 101 ways to simplify your life by Domonique Bertolucci (yes my local friends, we do have it at our library!). I devoured it faster than my family did this batch of cookies! 

     So much of it was relevant and inspiring to me.  About a third of the way through this little book of wisdom, I came across a page that gave me pause.  In hopes that the author won't mind, here is an excerpt:

"Life is really simple,

but we insist on making it complicated."

Confucius

Make it easy

     Don't keep struggling if something seems difficult. It really doesn't have to be.

There's a big difference between taking the easy way out and looking for a simple solution, so stop what you are doing, take a deep breath and ask yourself, 'How can I make this easier?' Then do it that way instead.

~ Domonique Bertolucci

     Looks good on paper right? I know what you're thinking. If we really stop to think about it though, how hard can it be to strive to make things easier? Seriously. 

     Let's start with this new recipe I found.  It really does not get much easier than this. The effort is minimal and the result is amazing. Try it, you'll see!

Here's What You'll Need: 

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp milk
• miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped 

Directions:

~ Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees

~ Sift together the flour, the salt and the baking soda in a small bowl and set aside

~ Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter, and brown sugar and mix until fluffy

~ Beat in the egg, vanilla extract and milk

~ Add in the flour mixture and beat until combined

~ Shape dough into balls and place into an ungreased mini muffin tin

~ Bake for 10 minutes 

~ Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball

~ Let cookies cool in tin completely before carefully popping them out with a butter knife

    I even found a way to make these cookies much easier...

I happened to have a tub of ready made peanut butter cookie dough in my fridge (thanks to a fundraiser at my daughter's school) so I didn't even have to prepare the dough! 

     One last thing... you'll notice in the above photo that I also used some Hersey's Kisses. They work just as well if you don't have any mini chocolate covered peanut butter cups on hand. Remember, it's all about making things easier. Work with what you've got. You'll be happier for it.

Thanks to Six Sisters' Stuff for inspiring this wonderful recipe. 

Visit their site for more great recipes or check out one of their awesome books!