Under $10 Simple, Budget Desserts to Bring to a Large Team Potluck

When my daughter joined her school's cross country team, little did I realize that weekly team potlucks was part of deal. Since her team boasts well over 100+ members, coming up with an affordable dessert for a large group of hungry teens was a bit of a challenge.

Here's some of the tasty, yet inexpensive ways I've been able to provide potluck desserts for less than 10 cents a serving.

Snickerdoodles.This old fashioned cookie has been winning blue ribbons at the fair for our family the past 4 years.

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
dash salt
4 tablespoons sugar
4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix margarine, butter, 1 1/2 c. sugar, and eggs thoroughly. Mix together flour, tartar, soda and salt in a separate bowl. Stir into creamed mixture. Shape dough into 1" balls, roll in the mixture of 4 T. sugar and cinnamon. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, about 2" apart. Bake 8-10 minutes. Makes about 72. Double the recipe to feed a crowd of 100 kids or more.

Chilled watermelon slices. Ice cold watermelon is always a treat. What makes this a popular dessert pick for potlucks is all in how it's sliced.

1. Scrub the outside of the watermelon.
2. Using a sharp, long bladed knife, slice into rounds measuring one inch thickness.
3. Slice each round into 8ths.
4. Serve chilled.

2 bite brownie sundaes. After ruining a tray of brownies last year, I came up with this quick fix which turned out to be a winner at our neighborhood barbecue. If ice cream isn't possible, canned whipping cream can be used as a substitute.

3 batches of brownies, made from scratch and baked in 8 x 8 pana
1 gallon of vanilla ice cream
2 cups of crushed walnuts
100 two ounce cups

1. Slice cooled brownies in a 3/4" square. Place two brownie squares in the bottom of each cup.
2. Top each brownie with a melon ball sized scoop of ice cream and a sprinkle of chopped walnuts.
Serve immediately.