Simple Frugal Cookie Treats

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If you are looking for simple treats, both of these are fun to make. There are only a few ingredients in these Frugal Cookies; you don’t have to heat up your stove and use electricity. Come make some cookie treats with me today!

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Frugal Cookie Treats

While these treats aren’t totally homemade since they use store-bought crackers, they are fun to make and can be made in larger quantities, so they are perfect for making for school treats or for giving as gifts in little treat bags.

If you want to make them completely homemade, you could use these Homemade Vanilla Wafers instead of the crackers (use less sugar in the recipe to make them more like a Ritz cracker).

To make each of these treats gluten-free, we use these Glutino Crackers. They are a good substitute that I can sometimes find at our local surplus grocery store. They seem to hold up better than other gluten-free crackers that we’ve tried.

Homemade Thin Mint Cookies

What You Need:

Ritz Style Crackers or Homemade Vanilla Wafers
Chocolate Chips
Peppermint Extract
Candy Canes or another Mint Candy (optional)

Instructions for Making Homemade Thin Mints Recipe

Melt the chocolate chips with mint extract. I use this Mint Extract.

Dip the Ritz crackers (or vanilla wafers) in the melted chocolate, and cover both sides.

Put them on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper.

Optional: Sprinkle with either crushed candy canes or another kind of mint-flavored candy.

Cool or freeze until the chocolate is hardened and enjoy!

Store the frugal cookie treats in a cool, dry place (they don’t need to be in the fridge) if there are any left after you make them. 🙂

Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwiches

What You Need:

Ritz Style Crackers, Homemade Vanilla Wafers, or Graham Crackers
Peanut Butter or Sunbutter
Chocolate Chips

Instructions for Making Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwiches

Make little sandwiches with peanut butter (or sunbutter) and the crackers. Just place a bit of the nut or seed butter on the center of one cracker and top it with another cracker. Don’t use too much, or it will squish out the sides.

Dip in melted chocolate chips. Cover both sides with chocolate. If your nut or seed butter is very creamy and you are having trouble with the chocolate and the butter mixing while trying to coat the cookies, freeze the little sandwiches before you dip them in the chocolate. This will help them stay together and help the chocolate harden right away.

Place on a wax paper-covered cookie sheet and let the chocolate harden.

Decorate these treats with a drizzle of white chocolate or a sprinkle of powdered sugar if you’d like!

Store the frugal cookie treats in a cool, dry place, or enjoy them immediately.

How to Store These Frugal Cookies

Both of these frugal cookies are best stored on the kitchen counter in an airtight container in a place that isn’t too hot. If it’s summer, you can store them in a container in the fridge so the chocolate will not melt.

More Frugal Cookie Recipes

Find even more Desserts and Treats on Little House Living.

Is it cheaper to make cookies or buy them?

It depends on the kind of cookie that you are making! You can buy very cheap cookies from the dollar store, but they will also contain very cheap ingredients.

If you are looking for cookies that can control the ingredients and taste fresher and better, it’s much better to make homemade cookies.

These particular Frugal Cookies cost very little to make since you don’t have to use electricity or gas to heat your oven.

Are cookies freezable?

Typically most cookies are freezable and can be stored in the freezer in a freezer bag or an airtight container until you are ready to enjoy.

These “cookies” can be frozen but the chocolate may discolor a little from the freezer. If you don’t mind some discolored cookies, feel free to freeze!

Does anyone else have any ideas for frugal cookies? Post them in the comments!

These recipes for Frugal Cookies Treats were originally published on Little House Living in December 2009. This post has been updated in March 2023.

Easy Frugal Cookie Treats