Budget Baking: Top 10 Best Cheap Recipes

Three photos are presented side-by-side. On the left is Irish Soda BRead, in the middle is a plate of French Toast, and on the right are Chocolate Shortbread Cookies. Over the image, the text reads, "10 Cheap Baking Recipes."

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Hi Bold Bakers!

WHAT YOU GET: I rounded up my 10 best cheap recipes so you can bake delicious, gourmet treats without breaking the bank!

It’s no secret that ingredient prices have risen over the past year, and, as a result, a lot of families are scaling back to make ends meet. Baking, I know, can seem like an expensive indulgence — but with my Budget Baking tips, it doesn’t have to be!

I want to be sure all of you Bold Bakers have the means to make really delicious goodies that, when homemade, cost just pennies per serving. To get you started, I compiled a list of 10 delicious recipes that are also cheap to make!

Some of these cheap recipes use just a few ingredients, while others only use pantry staples you probably have in your house already — and all of them stay away from expensive ingredients, like fruit, cream, excess butter, etc.

These recipes may be affordable, but they are not lacking in the flavor department! Get ready to bake some gourmet treats on a budget!

3-Ingredient Flatbread

If you have yogurt, flour, and baking powder in your house right now, you can make my 3-Ingredient Flatbread! These 3 ingredients are all you need to make an inexpensive homemade flatbread that tastes so much better than store-bought. Not only does it taste better, but it’s a lot cheaper than store-bought. There’s no yeast, no eggs, and no difficult techniques in this easy recipe.

Traditional Irish Bread & Butter Pudding

This Irish Bread & Butter Pudding is a classic, easy dish I grew up eating in Ireland. It was the quintessential “people’s” recipe. Bread and butter pudding is a creative way to cut waste — you’ll be using leftover, day-old bread and a few other cheap ingredients you likely already have in your house. This humble dessert has a moist texture, and a delicious, buttery, cinnamon flavor fit for a queen.

Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Did you know that you could make these rich, delicious Chocolate Shortbread Cookies with only 6 ingredients that are likely already in your pantry? Well, now you do, and they’re a great dessert for so many occasions! With inexpensive ingredients like flour, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder, there’s no excuse not to try these delicious bites of heaven.

Small Batch Cupcakes

These Small Batch Cupcakes are perfect when you want a cupcake or two but don’t want to spend the money to make a whole batch. Each batch makes only 4 cupcakes, and smaller batches mean less of each ingredient, which means they’re cheaper overall!

I have lots of delicious flavors on my website, from the classics, like chocolate, vanilla, carrot cake, and red velvet (pictured above), to bold, inventive flavors, like s’mores and cookie dough. As a bonus, they can be baked in a toaster oven, so there’s no need to fire up that oven.

Simple White Irish Soda Bread

Many Irish foods are made with humble ingredients, and this White Irish Soda Bread is no exception. In fact, Irish soda bread is known as a peasant’s bread because it is so cheap to make that even peasants could afford to make a fresh, warm loaf.

This recipe, which needs just a few ingredients and whips up super quickly, tastes just like home to me, especially when it’s topped with butter and jam. Needless to say, it’s one of my favorite cheap recipes!

And if you love this one, try my Mum’s Brown Bread!

3-Ingredient Nutella Brownies

The title of this one speaks for itself: 3-Ingredient Nutella Brownies! All you need to make these brownies are flour, eggs, and (you guessed it) Nutella!

These cheap homemade brownies are chewy and gooey in the middle, with a nice crackly top. The whole batch costs less than $5, but you’d never tell from the gourmet taste.

3-Ingredient Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think Oatmeal Cookies are so underrated. They’re chewy, sweet, and delicious. These are especially good and are made with 3 cheap ingredients you may already have in your house: oats, chocolate chips, and bananas. That’s it!

Best-Ever Banana Bread

Do you ever have overripe bananas that you end up throwing away because they’re too ripe to eat? Don’t throw them out because those are the best type of bananas for this recipe. My Best-Ever Banana Bread could save you money by reducing food waste! Bananas are a great fruit to buy when you’re on a budget, as they are the cheapest fruit in the grocery store. Load up because bananas are great for sweet, moist desserts! Not ready to bake? Once the bananas are ripe, peel them and freeze them in a Ziploc bag until you need them.

3-Ingredient Coconut Cookies

These 3-Ingredient Coconut Cookies are affordable, dainty, and addicting. You only need shredded coconut, sugar, and a little coconut milk. They have a complex, nutty, and sweet flavor, similar to macaroons, but crispier. Not only are these cookies cheap, but they are also gluten-free and vegan, so everyone can enjoy them!

Best-Ever French Toast

Who doesn’t love a good French Toast? This is a recipe I go back to a lot — I honestly believe it’s the best version you can find on the web. My homemade French Toast is made with simple, inexpensive ingredients, like white bread, eggs, and milk, and the end result is so moist and flavorful.

Best-Ever Pizza Dough

It’s easy to ring up your local pizza joint and order delivery, but that isn’t always an option when you’re on a budget. That doesn’t mean you have to stop having Friday Pizza Night, though! Making pizza from scratch is surprisingly simple, and it couldn’t be easier with my Best-Ever Pizza Dough recipe.

This easy pizza dough is made with only 4 ingredients (5, including water) that you probably already have in your house, and it is a no-knead recipe, so it’s not time-consuming either!