$0.3per plate
Something sweet, still on budget
Cheap Dessert Recipes
8 from-scratch desserts, every one under $1 a serving - from $0.14 blondies to layered banana pudding. Brownies, bars, cookies, no-bake icebox cakes, and sweet breads, each with the same honest cost per serving Budget Plates puts on every plate. Baked with pantry staples, no boxed mixes.
Browse all 8 dessertsDessert is where a tight grocery budget usually gives up first, and it does not have to. A batch of brownies or a tray of cookies spreads a little butter, sugar, and flour across a dozen or more servings, which is why everything here lands well under a dollar a serving even at today's prices. Start with a featured bake below, or jump to browse by type - brownies and bars, no-bake and chilled, or cookies and sweet breads. Median cost across all 8 is $0.29 a serving.
Start here
Browse all desserts
Three desserts to bake first
$0.28per plate
$0.28per plate
Browse by type
All 8 dessert recipes
3 recipes
Brownies & Bars
3 recipes
No-Bake & Chilled
Good to know
Cheap dessert FAQ
What are the cheapest desserts to make from scratch?
Bar cookies win on cost. The blondies and cocoa brownies are the two cheapest here, both one-bowl bakes from pantry staples, starting at about 14 cents a serving. Every dessert on this page comes in under $1 a serving, and each card shows its estimated cost.
What desserts can I make with just pantry staples?
The bakes lean hardest on staples: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and cocoa or vanilla. The cocoa brownies and blondies need nothing you do not already keep for baking, and even the chocolate chip cookies add only a bag of chocolate chips.
What no-bake desserts are on here?
Three - chocolate eclair cake, banana pudding, and strawberry pretzel salad. All three are assembled and chilled rather than baked, which makes them handy in summer or when the oven is busy.
How do you make dessert on a budget?
Bake from scratch, buy store-brand staples, and use what you already have - spotted bananas become banana bread or pudding. The scratch desserts here run from about 14 cents to under a dollar a serving, a fraction of a bakery slice, because one batch spreads a little butter and sugar across a lot of servings.
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