If someone had come along while I was making today’s project and asked what I was making, I probably would have answered . . .
“I’m making a mess!”
But that’s OK because a little bit of mess and a small amount of effort will save me time and money in the days ahead.
What I was actually making was some homemade baking mixes. And my homemade baking mixes are really nothing more than mixing together the dry ingredients for some of my favorite recipes ahead of time.
Because that’s really all that store bought baking mixes are! Somebody else mixed together the flour and sugar and baking soda and then charged you for that small convenience. (See my previous article When Convenience Isn’t Convenient on this subject too).
Of course even though mixing together flour, sugar, and baking soda isn’t anything that’s complicated to do, there are times when the thought of getting out the ingredients and the measuring cups and spoons might feel like more than we have time for. That’s why every so often when I feel like I DO have the time, I mix up the dry ingredients for a few of my favorite baking recipes ahead of time. Then when I want to bake them, it’s just a matter of adding some eggs, or oil, or vanilla, etc., and then popping it in the oven.
So really, any of your baking recipes can be a homemade baking mix!
The Method
To make my homemade baking mixes, I gather up all the likely ingredients such as flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder, as well as possible additions like chocolate chips or nuts. Then I get out my recipes, measuring cups and spoons. And then I start making a mess. 🙂
I’ve done this using different containers and I’ve also done this pouring the ingredients directly into the containers. But my current favorite method is to mix the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl first, then transfer the mixed ingredients into a wide mouth quart canning jar. I like to use these plastic storage lids
on my canning jars to finish things off.
And my new favorite way to label is to use a Post-it Full Adhesive Roll
. It’s just like Post-It notes, except in a roll like tape instead. What a great idea! I was always cutting off the bottom of my post-it notes so I could use them better as labels anyway, so this is a perfect solution.
My current preference is also to just write the name of the recipe on the label, rather than write the rest of the ingredients and the baking instructions. It’s just as easy for me to get out my recipe card for the instructions when it comes time to actually make the recipe.
The Recipes
As mentioned above, you can use any of your favorite baking recipes and turn them into a make-ahead homemade baking mix. These are the four I recently did so you can see a few examples of how this works (three of which are recipes I’ve shared here on the blog before.)
1 – Brownies
(Read more here – – > Brownies From Scratch)
For this make-ahead mix I mixed together the¾ cup sugar, 2/3 cup flour, ¼ tsp baking powder, and ¼ tsp salt. I then put the 1 cup of chocolate chips needed for this recipe in a small baggie and laid it on top of the dry ingredients in the jar. When it comes time to bake this recipe, I’ll just melt the chocolate chips in a bowl with 4 tablespoons of butter. To that I’ll add the dry ingredients in my jar, 2 eggs, and a ½ tsp of vanilla. This recipes bakes in an 8×8 pan at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
2 – Banana Bread
(Read more here – – > Homemade Banana Bread)
With the ingredients mixed together ahead of time for my homemade banana bread, I’m much more likely to actually make bread when those bananas I have around seem to suddenly be over-ripe. To make this ahead I mixed1-3/4 cups flour, 2/3 cup sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp baking soda, and a ½ tsp salt. I also chopped up about a 1/4 cup of walnuts and put them in a small baggie with about a ½ cup of mini chocolate chips and laid them on top of the dry ingredients in the jar.{Both those ingredients are yummy additions to banana bread. } When it comes time to make this recipe I’ll add 2 or 3 mashed bananas, 2 eggs, and 1 /3 cup of oil to the contents in the jar. It bakes for 350 degrees for 50 minutes.
3 – Topsy Turvy Cupcakes
(Read more here – – > Topsy Turvy Cupcakes)
This recipe is a favorite at our house. Because it has two steps – the cake portion and the filling portion – it can be nice to have this recipe mixed together ahead of time too. I mixed together 1-1/2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp baking soda, ½ tsp salt and ¼ cup cocoa. Then for the filling ingredients I mixed 1/3 cup sugar, 1/8 tsp salt, and a 1 cup of chocolate chips, put them in a baggie, and laid them on top of the dry ingredients. When it’s time to make this recipe I’ll mix the dry ingredients with 1 cup water, 1/3 cup oil, 1 tbl of vinegar, and 1 tsp of vanilla. I’ll take the items from the baggie and mix it with a softened 8 oz cream cheese and 1 egg. These cupcakes bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
4 – Blueberry Bread
The next time I have both blueberries and orange juice in the house, I’ll be ready with my make-ahead blueberry bread mix! I mixed together 2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda, and a ½ tsp salt. When it’s time to make the bread I’ll add to the dry ingredients 1 egg, 1 cup of orange juice, and then stir in 1 cup of blueberries. This bread bakes at 350 for 50 to 60 minutes. If making the recipe as muffins, bake for 30 minutes.
So that’s how the method works. Simply take a look at some of your favorite recipes for baking and see if you can just mix the dry ingredients together ahead of time. It’s nothing fancy, but it can save both time and money, which is always an incentive for me!
Share439
Pin4.6K
Share
