All cookies are not created equal when it comes to how much they cost. Yes, homemade cookie gifts are a good way to be frugal and generous at the same time, but do you know exactly how much that batch of cookies is costing you to make? I don’t want to be a scrooge, of course, but when choosing between two recipes, it might be nice to see which batch of cookies will cost you less.
Here are some guidelines about ingredient costs and which recipes are generally the most expensive.
Ingredients
If you get a good deal at the grocery store for certain ingredients, then naturally you should try to incorporate those into your recipes. For example, if dried cranberries are on sale, then use them, although dried fruit in general with maybe the exception of raisins is expensive. Here are some other ingredients that may be on the higher side.
Butter
Chocolate chips
Nuts
Low Cost Recipes
Recipes with a few easy ingredients, short or no bake time and few additives can be very frugal. Here are a few ideas.
Shortbread
Meringues
Oatmeal Raisin
Gingerbread
Snickerdoodles
Other tips
You can usually reduce the amount of sugar in a cookie recipe by up to 25 percent without anyone noticing a real difference. Try about 10 percent to start if you doubt me.
Instead of mixing in chips or M&Ms, try placing four or five on top of the cookie.
Use leftover Halloween candy for mix-ins in your cookies. Free ingredients, in a sense.
Sugar cookies can be made more frugal by substituting shortening for half of the butter. Personally, I am a big butter fan and would rather splurge on it, but the shortening does lower the cost of the cookies.
Use parchment paper and reuse the same paper for several batches of cookies in one or two sessions. Unless the paper turns translucent from butter or oil or the edges brown, you can continue to use the paper.
Click here for more articles by Mary Ann Romans.
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