It’s clear now that Americans get their priorities straight in a crisis:

1. Toilet paper.
2. Whole food pantry staples.
3. Guns.

Your grocery stores may still have naked shelves where rice and beans, pasta and canned tomatoes, flour and sugar used to be. Suddenly, every junk food junkie in America is Julia Child.

If you are secretly wishing weevils on the flour hoarders, you need a dessert to take the isolation edge off. Here are 13 desserts you might be able to scrounge up with random items in your pantry that have been sitting there for ages.

Quarantine Pantry Desserts—Easy Desserts with No Staples: The Rules

1. Each dessert has only 1 or 2 ingredients.
2. You can make all of these desserts WITHOUT
   • flour
   • sugar
   • eggs
   • butter
   • oil
   • milk

Disclaimers: Cake mix has 17 ingredients but I’m counting a box of cake mix as one ingredient. Water doesn’t count as an ingredient. Shut up and eat.

Desserts you can make with NO flour, sugar, eggs, butter, oil, or milk

1-Ingredient Desserts:

Fruit (1 ingredient: Fruit)

• Yep, just fruit.
• Canned, frozen, fresh…whatever.

Applesauce (1 ingredient: Apples)

• Cut seeds out of apples and remove stems, do not peel.
• Add 1/2 cup or so of water.
• Cook for 3 minutes in an Instant Pot, or about 20 minutes on the stove.
• Let it cool a bit, then puree the apples and cooking water in a food processor or blender.

Banana Ice Cream (1 ingredient: Bananas)

• Bananas, frozen in chunks.
• Puree in a food processor.
• Add cocoa powder for a 2-ingredient dessert.
  • Details in my recipe here: Paleo Chocolate Banana Ice Cream Recipe: 2 ingredients and 30 seconds!

Check current price for my Hamilton Beach food processor. It should be under $50.

Strawberry sauce  (1 ingredient: Strawberries)

• Simmer strawberries in a little water until tender.
• Puree in a food processor or blender.
• Details and serving ideas in my recipe here: Sweet Tart Strawberry Sauce Recipe – Paleo, Whole30, Sugar Free!

Chocolate Designs (1 ingredient: chocolate chips or chocolate bar)

• Use any chocolate chips, chocolate bar, baking chocolate, or chocolate-flavored melting discs.
• Melt in microwave or in double boiler.
• Use clean paintbrushes to paint chocolate designs on parchment, waxed paper, or silicone mat.
• Or, put it in a ziploc bag and cut of the tip to pipe shapes and words.
• Refrigerate or freeze to harden.
• Peel the chilled chocolate designs off the parchment.
• Or, just eat the chocolate.

Jello (1 ingredient: Jell-O)

• Make the Jello.

Chocolate Mousse (1 ingredient: dark chocolate)

• Heat chocolate and water together, chill, whisk.
• Details on Serious Eats here.

Drink Your Dessert (1 ingredient: Coke)

• Ration Cokes, juice, sparkling cider, hot chocolate packets, etc. so they are a treat.
• Restaurant trick: fill glasses to the top with crushed ice, then pour the Coke to use less.

If you’re desperate for a sugar rush: Candy Smorgasbord (1 ingredient: candy)

• Find all the ziploc bags of your kids’ Halloween, Christmas, and Easter candy rejects.
• Eat the one Hershey’s Kiss you find, then arrange the rest in a Pinterest-y way:
  • muffin tin
  • platter
  • little ramekins and cups

2-Ingredient Desserts:

Chocolate Truffles (2 ingredients: coconut milk, chocolate chips)

• Use 1 part coconut milk to 3 parts chocolate chips (or any chocolate bar chopped up).
• Heat coconut milk.
• Pour hot coconut milk over chocolate chips.
• Let stand for a couple minutes, then whisk until smooth.
• Chill until firm, then form mixture into truffle balls and refrigerate or freeze.

Macaroons (2 ingredients: bagged coconut, sweetened condensed milk)

• Mix a bag of shredded coconut with a can of sweetened condensed milk. Form cookies with 2 spoons or a small scoop, and bake on parchment at 350 for 10-12 minutes.
• These cookies really are that easy, but these tips make them better:
  • Set aside 1/4 cup of sweetened condensed milk before mixing, for another use.
  • Use unsweetened coconut if you have both sweetened and unsweetened.
  • Use parchment. These macaroons still stick to Silpats.
  • The original recipe calls for vanilla and almond extracts, but I wouldn’t waste real vanilla in this recipe, and 1/4 tsp almond is enough to add almond flavor if you want it.

2-ingredient Cakes (2 ingredients: cake mix + almost anything)

• I haven’t tried any of these 2-ingredient cakes but reviews look promising. It looks like you can take any type of cake mix and stir in any canned fruit (about a 15-oz can), or any bubbly soft drink (about a 12-oz can).
• Angel food, yellow, or white cake mix + canned pineapple (crushed, or blend it)
• Any cake mix + canned pumpkin
• Any cake mix + any canned fruit or pie filling
• Any cake mix + any can of soda water, Coke, or diet soda—if it has bubbles, it works.

I don’t do sponsored posts so All Day Mom runs on affiliate links. If you’re shopping Amazon today please consider starting your shopping from one of the links below, your price stays the same! Thank you!

Check current price for my Hamilton Beach food processor. It should be under $50.

Check price for my 6-quart Instant Pot. Price should be under $80.

Check here to see if toilet paper is in stock on Amazon:

• Scott toilet paper on Amazon (My favorite, because it lasts the longest, is Scott 1000, currently in stock with Amazon Fresh.)
• Fancy toilet paper on Amazon (Charmin, Cottonelle, Quilted Northern)
• If you’re not a Prime member go here to get Prime free for 30 days while you’re stuck at home.

Read all posts in this series: Advice from a frugal mom during coronavirus

Related: When Should Kids Wash Their Hands? 10 Handwashing Tips for Kids in the Kitchen!

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