Honestly guys, my kitchen was getting dusty until I stumbled on Dana’s blog about cheap desserts. Bills were piling up last month, so I grabbed an old notebook and pen, ready to copy her ideas cheap as chips.
First up, I went digging in my own pantry. Found half a bag of plain flour, some sugar past its prime, and a lonely jar of peanut butter stuck to the shelf. Okay, Dana’s first tip? Work with what you got. Didn’t need fancy stuff.
The Messy Fun Begins
I decided on two things: peanut butter cookies (only three ingredients!) and this weird microwave mug cake she promised took five minutes. Sounded crazy simple.
- Got my chipped mixing bowl out
- Dumped in maybe a cup of sugar
- Shoved a whole glob of peanut butter in there
- Added flour till it felt like dough…ish
My dough looked more like wet sand than cookies. Kept adding flour bit by bit while stirring like a mad woman. Finally squeezed it into six lumpy balls. Flattened ’em with a fork – big mistake. They stuck like glue! Scraped ’em off with a knife, tore holes everywhere. Looked like mini asteroids. Popped those ugly blobs on baking paper anyway.
Microwave Madness & The Taste Test
While the oven heated (slow as paint drying), I tried the mug cake. Mixed 4 tablespoons flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, a splash of milk, and a glug of cheap veg oil in a mug. Dana said 90 seconds on high. Mine bubbled over dirtying the microwave plate! Licked a bit off the mess – surprisingly okay. Like sweet pancake batter. Stuck it back in for 15 seconds. Came out looking like a sad sponge.
The cookies were ready. Edges kinda brown. The fork marks gave ’em “character.” Waited 2 minutes then shoved one in my mouth. Hot! But wow… chewy peanut buttery goodness despite looking weird.
Honest thoughts? Not beautiful, but crazy cheap. Used old things lying around. Total cost pennies. Cookies tasted better than expected. Mug cake felt lazy but hit the sweet spot fast. Dana wasn’t kidding about keeping it simple and messy. Perfect when your wallet screams stop.
