Cheap Baking Recipes for Baking On A Budget | Handle The Heat
Filed Under: Dessert

Cheap & Easy Baking Recipes for Baking on a Budget

By Tessa Arias
  |  
March 29th, 2022

Here are the best cheap & easy baking recipes for baking on a budget! These recipes call for ingredients you may already have in your pantry and won’t break the bank. We’ve got lots of dessert and breakfast recipes, and even a couple savory options too.

The last couple years have felt like one heavy hardship after another.

I’m so incredibly grateful for baking and the solace it provides. For me, baking desserts in the kitchen is self-care and allows me to disconnect and distract myself from whatever difficult things are going on in the world at any given moment.

However… I also understand that being able to bake itself is a privilege. Sometimes recipes call for expensive ingredients that not everyone can afford or easily find in most stores.

So, today I’ve gathered the most affordable and easy-to-make recipes on the site. Most of these easy and cheap baking recipes call for everyday ingredient staples like flour, eggs, butter and sugar, which you may already have in your kitchen.

My hope is that these cheap baking recipes are accessible for just about anyone. Happy baking!


Cheap Cookie Recipes

Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies

homemade chewy sugar cookies on a plate

My go-to recipe, these Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies are perfectly tender and soft with just the right amount of chewiness. They take just minutes to make with cheap, easy-to-find ingredients.

Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ultra thick bakery style chocolate chip cookie recipe

Ultra thick Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies feature golden brown edges with ooey and gooey centers. This easy recipe can be made in 30 minutes!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Homemade Peanut butter cookies cooling on a rack

These Peanut Butter Cookies are absolutely PERFECT and so easy to make! Thick, soft, and slightly chewy with tons of peanutty flavor. Your new go-to recipe for a cheap dessert idea!

Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies

These Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies will definitely make you everyone’s favorite person at the office or at school. Thick and fudgy with just a hint of cocoa flavor from the cocoa powder – these cookies are so tasty.


Affordable and Easy Breakfast Recipes

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

glazed lemon poppyseed muffin on a plate with the wrapper being removed

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are tangy, slightly crisp on the outside and ultra moist inside. Topped with a simple sweet lemony glaze. Quick, easy, and delish!

Homemade Crepes

Who would have thought gourmet-looking Crepes are easily made right at home with cheap, basic ingredients?! They’re deliciously thin and buttery, and the flavor and filling options are endless! Can be made ahead of time too.

Basic Buttermilk Scones

best easy scone recipe

How to Make Perfect Scones better than your favorite coffee shop in just 35 minutes! This is an easy scone recipe that is ultra buttery, flaky, and flavorful.

Lemon Yogurt Zucchini Bread

Lemon Yogurt Zucchini Bread is the perfect affordable breakfast treat! Ultra moist and loaded with bright lemon flavors, everyone will be asking for this recipe.

Easy Banana Bread

Simple and easy foolproof banana bread recipe - feel free to add nuts or chocolate chips!

This is the Best Ever EASY Banana Bread recipe with a super moist and tender texture and tons of sweet banana flavor. Everyone loves it! You won’t need another recipe.


Cheap Brownies, Blondies, and Bars Dessert Recipes

Best Easy Brownies

stack of chewy and fudgy best easy brownie recipe

The Best Easy Brownies recipe requires just 1 bowl, no mixer, and takes less than an hour to make! These from scratch brownies are tall, fudgy, and chewy with that thin shiny crust on top and tons of chocolate flavor. One of my favorite cheap baking recipes.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Bars

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Bars are ultra thick, chewy, gooey, and loaded with tons of sweet peanut butter and chocolate flavor! You’ll love these peanut butter bars.

Fudge Stuffed Blondies

Fudge filled blondies

Fudge Stuffed Blondies are insanely rich and gooey with a hidden layer of easy chocolate fudge inside every bite! Simple 35-minute recipe.

Chocolate Coconut Blondies

Blondie on a plate with a glass of milk

Chocolate Coconut Blondies are crazy thick, chewy, and loaded with gooey chocolate chunks and aromatic coconut. This easy recipe takes just minutes to prepare!

Brown Butter Rice Crispy Treats

Brown Butter Rice Crispy Treats are crispy, sticky and gooey. Plus a super duper easy treat to make with just 5 ingredients!


Cheap Homemade Candy Recipes

Homemade Toffee Bits

chopped up copycat Heath toffee bits on parchment paper

Just 3 ingredients and 15 minutes and you have DIY Homemade Toffee Bits from scratch! They’re absolutely amazing in cookies, brownies, sprinkled over vanilla ice cream, or just enjoyed as a sweet snack.

Chocolate Truffles

easy homemade chocolate peanut butter whiskey truffles with peanuts sprinkled on top

How to Make Chocolate Truffles that rival any bakery or chocolatier! Just a handful of ingredients make for ultra luscious, fudgy, and rich truffles with tons of options for customizing flavors and coatings.


More Cheap Baking Recipes

Easy Cheddar Biscuits

Crispy, flaky, fluffy golden cheddar biscuits on a baking sheet

Easy Cheddar Biscuits are extra flaky and cheesy with a soft fluffy interior. They take just 30 minutes to make with simple ingredients and equipment but yield amazing results!

Best Ever Pie Crust

Pie dough rolled out and draped into pie dish

How to Make the Best Ever Pie Crust with all the tips and tricks for a flaky beautiful crust that impresses your friends and family. The dough is made with just 5 basic ingredients, then add the filling of your choice to make the pie of your dreams.

No Churn Peanut Butter Ice Cream

No Churn Peanut Butter Ice Cream requires just a few ingredients and a few minutes of prep for a rich creamy ice cream with tons of peanut butter flavor.

No Churn Peanut Butter Ice Cream requires just a few ingredients and a few minutes of prep for a rich creamy ice cream with tons of peanut butter flavor.

Olive Garden Breadsticks

copycat olive garden breadsticks wrapped in a white and blue cloth

This simple recipe for Copycat Olive Garden Breadsticks makes buttery, garlic-scented, and chewy breadsticks that are utterly addictive!

Chocolate Lava Cakes

Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes are perfect for Valentine's Day and can be made ahead of time!

Chocolate Lava Cakes are made with 7 ingredients and have rich molten chocolate centers. Can be made ahead of time! Much cheaper and easier to make than layer cake recipes, too.

Soft Pretzels

homemade pretzels on a baking sheet after being salted

How to make the BEST Homemade Pretzels you’ll ever eat! These traditional Bavarian-style pretzels have a deeply browned exterior and chewy texture. Surprisingly easy to make. TIP: Use a baking soda bath over a lye bath to save on cost!

Apple Galette

homemade rustic apple galette on a baking pan with parchment paper and apricot jam

Homemade Apple Galette is so much easier to make than apple pie! This recipe has a buttery, flaky tart crust and a perfectly spiced cinnamon apple filling. The best rustic dessert to serve a crowd.

    Tessa Arias
    Author: Tessa Arias

    I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)

    Tessa Arias

    About Tessa...

    I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)

    Find Tessa on  

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    1. #
      Barbara — July 20, 2022 at 8:40 pm

      Thank you at times like this we all need this ☺️

    2. #
      Joan — July 20, 2022 at 12:22 pm

      Tessa, all of these recipes sound awesome and can’t wait until it’s a bit cooler to try some. Can’t believe the price of eggs and so many ingredients we use to make our tasty delights for family and friends.

      Good luck with the book. Sounds like a winner, especially since many of us are tightening our belts.

      • #
        Kiersten @ Handle the Heat — July 21, 2022 at 1:30 pm

        Hi Joan! Can’t wait until it cools down a bit and you get to try some of these recipes 🙂 Thanks also for your kind words – I will pass them along to Tessa 🙂

    3. #
      Doriene — April 22, 2022 at 1:53 pm

      thanks for all the great recipes I am trying to make all that I have printed off , BUT I am trying my best .

      • #
        Emily — April 26, 2022 at 7:56 am

        So happy you’re enjoying our recipes, Doriene 🙂

    4. #
      Madeline — March 29, 2022 at 5:57 pm

      Thank you so, SO much for doing this, Tessa! I have followed your recipes for years and got into baking during my senior year of college as a stress-reliever. It’s a form of art! Now I’m in grad school and trying to save $$ so my friends and I so appreciate the time you put in to making this! Everyone loves my baking via your recipes so thank you so much!

      • #
        Emily — March 30, 2022 at 3:27 pm

        So glad you found this helpful, Madeline! Thanks for taking the time to let us know, hopefully we can continue coming out with more content like this 🙂

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