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Save Money in the Bakery Tip # 1 - Bakery cookies... 12 cookies for $2.99, or more? You've got to be kidding! We all know better! Visit our Cookie Club site for tons of great cookie recipes, at CookieClubRecipes.com, and make your own! You can also freeze most cookie doughs and bake a dozen any time you want, for a fraction of the cost. And not only will home baked cookies be healthier (and cheaper) for you and your family, they'll taste better too! Tip # 2-a - Cakes... Save purchasing those expensive decorated cakes for really large parties or when you (absolutely) won't have time to make one yourself. You'll save $10.00 - $15.00 by making your party cakes at home and they often taste just as good! Tip # 2-b - If you need large cakes more than once a year go ahead and invest in a quality sheet cake pan (available at Wal-Mart and other discount stores), so you can start making them at home. That's what we did a few years ago and it's been a lot of fun being able to make homemade birthday cakes large enough to feed the entire neighborhood - for under $5.00! Tip # 3 - The same goes for all other non-decorated (and decorated) cakes, you will save a fortune making your own at home! You can find hundreds of free cake recipes online and one of our favorite cookbooks is The Cake Mix Doctor! Tip # 4-a - Pies... Everyone loves presenting a delicious pie for dessert and with the added time and trouble of making homemade crust, you may feel it's just easier to pick one up from the bakery. (And they're surely hard to resist when they go on sale!) But even then you can usually save money by making your own. And besides, bakeries usually overcook the pie crust!
Tip # 4-b - If you're just too busy to bake your own pies don't worry, you can wait for the sales and enjoy these bakery delights then! Several years ago I knew a lady who told me she sometimes buys bakery items and switches them to a platter at home so no one will know they're store-bought, and it actually works! I'm not sure if you can do this with pies but I just thought I'd mention it while I'm thinking about it! ;o) Tip # 5 - Muffins... This one's easy! Not only are bakery muffins VERY expensive, do you know how many fat grams are in those huge things? Trust me, you don't want to know! Make your own muffins at home and your wallet will thank you, as well as your waistline! Reader Tip: "It's cheaper to make your own baked goods, so for convenience, bake large amounts at once, then freeze the extras in individual portions. You can freeze almost anything, including pancakes, waffles, muffins, cakes, cookies, etc. It's best to freeze the cooked food, not the batter, so it will keep longer. - Melisa Leduc Tip # 6 - Doughnuts and other gooey treats... you got me on this one! We have found that grocery store donuts are often quite tasty and a lot cheaper than the more popular brands located throughout the store, you might want to try them sometime! Tip # 7 - This will probably be my best tip of all, don't go anywhere near the bakery department unless you have to... or at least walk through it very quickly! ;o) Tip # 8-a - I don't really care for bakery cupcakes, I don't know why, they just don't usually taste very good. Unfortunately, my kids love them! I think it's because of the sprinkles!!! So if you've got kids in the house this would be a great tip, keep a good supply of sprinkles at home and maybe (hopefully) they'll stop asking for bakery cupcakes! Tip # 8-b - Did you know you can buy cupcakes and mini-cupcakes (as well as lovely decorated cakes and other desserts) at warehouse discount stores like Sam's Club and Costco's? Our local school board has instituted a new rule for bringing birthday cupcakes (and any type of snacks to be shared) to school, they have to be store-bought. I know, it's a good rule in these times, but isn't it a shame? Anyhow, our youngest just started Kindergarten and when it came time to celebrate her birthday (the first week of school!), a good friend told me I could get them in quantity at Sam's Club. Boy was she right! I got 4 boxes of mini-cupcakes (which normally sell at the grocery stores for $2.99 each), for $6.87! That's a savings of over $5.00!!! * * * Readers' Tips... Contact Michelle to Submit a Tip "Doughnut tip: Take store bought biscuits and use a small round object such as a soda cap to make the hole for the doughnut. Deep fry the doughnut and doughnut hole and sprinkle with sugar. Or make a glaze out of confectioner’s sugar." April-Conroe, Texas
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