Out of Butter, Eggs, Flour, Or Milk? Here's What You Can Bake Without Essential Ingredients

Baking is one of the best forms of self-care. If you've been hanging out in the kitchen whipping up endless amounts of chocolate chip cookies and cupcakes, your baking supplies are dwindling by the day. And since staying inside is recommended, you shouldn't run to the store just for that one egg or cup of flour called for in the recipe. (Save the grocery shopping trip for when you need more and get everything you need at once.) Sure, it's easier to find a quick ingredient swap for herbs and spices, but there are plenty of recipes to continue your baking spree without using butter, eggs, flour, or milk. Here are some of the best recipes we have to keep you going.

What to Bake When You're Out of Butter

Shortening, applesauce, and even beans are known butter substitutes, but some of the most delicious, tender-crumbed baked treats don't require softened butter at all. Here are some of our favorites to satisfy your sweet tooth.

• Banana Bread: Cooking oil produces a moist bread just as well as butter, and our tried-and-true banana bread recipe proves it.

• Olive Oil Cake with Roasted Citrus: If you've never tried an olive oil cake, now's your chance. The roasted citrus and herbal rosemary are surprising (but so delicious!) in cake form.

• Zucchini Banana Snack Cake: Zucchini bread and banana bread combine in this tender cake that's perfect for snacking or breakfast.

What to Bake When You're Out of Flour

You won't find a lot of baking recipes without all-purpose flour. Most cake, cookie, and bread recipes rely on flour to build structure and gluten. However, the classic chocolate torte is a well-known dense, fudgy cake that is intentionally flour-free. A definite must for all chocolate lovers. Bonus: they're usually gluten-free!

• Cappuccino Torte: A torte is a multilayered cake infused with fillings such as buttercreams or a sweet mousse. Coffee lovers will enjoy the infusion of chocolate, coffee, and a hint of citrus zest for added flavor.

• Flourless Chocolate Pecan Cake: It's the homemade toasted coconut-pecan caramel sauce that really takes the cake in this recipe.

• Raspberry Truffle Cake: Both raspberry jam and liqueur (or juice) go into this fruit-infused chocolate cake. It will remind you of a really rich brownie, only fancier.

Andy Lyons

What to Bake When You're Out of Eggs

Skipping the eggs in your brownie recipe would likely produce flat, dense chocolate sweets. Use a substitute like flaxseed, or find a recipe that has other ingredients like sweet potatoes to help bind your batter together.

• Sweet Potato Brownies: Thanks to mashed sweet potatoes, you won't need eggs in this brownie recipe. You'll also get a generous helping of vitamin A.

• Cookie Dough Truffles: Safe-to-eat cookie dough turns into a chocolate-covered candy treat. They are simple to make, yet so fancy they look like they belong in a candy store display.

What to Bake When You're Out of Milk

Many choose (or need) to drink non-dairy milk these days. But if you happen to run out of milk and have sour cream or applesauce on hand, here are a handful of recipes just for you.

• Butterscotch Toffee Bars: Toffee bits and toasted nuts give a salty-sweet bite to these easy bar cookies. They also freeze well, so you can eat a few now and save the rest for later.

• Deluxe Lemon Bars: Brighten your day and enjoy the taste of summer in this sweet-tart citrus treat.

• Oatmeal Applesauce Cookies: Get a good dose of whole grains (and fiber!) in these better-for-you cookies.

• Sour Cream and Raisin Bars: These chewy bars get some tang from sour cream and are sweetened with brown and white sugars.

What to Bake When You're Out of Eggs and Milk

No need to worry about the liquid agents in a warm homemade fruit crisp. Utilize whatever fresh or frozen fruit you have on hand and enjoy it with a scoop of ice cream.

Carson Downing

What to Bake When You're Out of Butter, Flour, and Milk

You only need three ingredients to make a batch of easy gluten-free peanut butter cookies. Kids and adults alike will love this easy cookie recipe using a pantry staple.

What to Bake When You're Out of Butter, Eggs, Flour, and Milk

You baked so much you're fresh out of all the main baking staples. It's still possible to satisfy that sweet tooth (maybe without even turning on the oven!). Note: if a recipe requires a cake mix, it will likely have milk, so these aren't all allergy-safe, but you still don't need a trip to the store.

• Easy Peach Dump Cake: A cake mix and a can of peaches get dumped into a pan and come out as a sweet and satisfying dessert.

• Fabulous Five-Minute Fudge: Don't wait until the holidays to enjoy some traditional Christmas candy. This easy recipe makes two dozen pieces and stores for up to a week (if you don't eat them all asap).

• Chocolate-Marshmallow-Peanut Clusters: There's no baking involved here, just a quick melting of chocolate on the stove to pull this 5-ingredient dessert together. You won't be able to stop munching on these crunchy, salty-sweet delights.

• Two-Ingredient Soda Cake: It's amazing how easy it is to turn any box cake mix and a can of soda into a cake. Use whatever's in the pantry, but we've got a lot of fun suggestions. Try the purple cow: a white cake mix with a can of grape carbonated beverage.

After you've accomplished baking with limited ingredients on hand, you can go back to practicing decorating cakes and baking bread when the groceries are replenished.