Ever since I saw the concept of making your own baking mix in More with Less, I wanted to try it. For some reason I just never got around to it (you know how that goes!). So I was excited to discover this version in Simply in Season. Cooking through a specific cookbook has its advantages–I probably wouldn’t have tried this otherwise but I’m glad I did!
7 cups flour
3 cups whole wheat flour (pastry flour preferred)
6 Tbs baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
2 cups shortening
2 cups dry milk powder
Combine dry ingredients (except milk powder) in a large bowl. Cut in shortening with pastry cutter until the mixture is the consistency of cornmeal. Gently stir in milk powder. Store in airtight container in a cool place. Makes 17 cups.
For biscuits: Combine 1 1/2 C baking mix with 1/2 C milk. Drop by tablespoons on ungreased baking sheet and bake in preheated oven at 450F for 8-10 minutes.
The verdict: The biscuits took no time at all once the baking mix was finished. DH ate several and I thought they were good too – the texture is very light and the flavor is wonderful. I look forward to having these on hand. We did not make the pancake version yet, which just involves beating together 1 egg and 1 C milk and then adding 1 1/2 C of the baking mix.
This post linked to Frugal Friday
That’s a really good idea – very frugal and probably much better for you than ready made mixes who shall remain nameless!
I’ve made the More with Less one before. This one looks pretty similar. What did you use for shortening? I have been trying to avoid hydrogenated oils. I have had a hard time finding an affordable shortening w/o them. I really liked this in the past, but gave it up due to the shortening.
The short answer is that I used the white stuff in the can.
The long answer is that I normally substitute butter, and there is an oat-wheat germ version that uses butter instead of shortening included in the book, but that would have to be stored in the refrigerator, which is already stuffed to capacity at our house. I also considered lard, tallow, and tried to find a product that Kelly the Kitchen Kop recommended to me – Spectrum Organic Shortening. Unfortunately I struck out and decided that just this once won’t kill me LOL. Since this turned out so well I am going to go ahead and order the Spectrum stuff online next time.
Thank you for asking – I thought about including that backstory in the post but wasn’t sure if anyone else would give a hoot 🙂
– Wendy
Oooh, I’ve been wanting to try something like this. Thanks!
Alicia
I have a similar recipe… really good stuff!
🙂
ButterYum
.-= ButterYum´s last blog ..Quick Lemon Mousse =-.
OK, a few questions because this is a new concept for me! What are some things you can use the baking mix with (besides biscuits and pancakes)? I think I have assumed for a while now that shortening is bad for you; do you know the verdict on that one? What about subbing coconut oil? Finally thanks for posting this and letting me ask my questions. 🙂
kelly@ questforrealfood.com
Hi Kelly,
See above for my thoughts on shortening, and possible substitutes. I’m not sure if it is “bad” for you, but yeah, it’s something I try to avoid. You can use baking mix in any recipe that calls for it (or Bisquick), such as quick breads. I also just discovered there’s a whole section of recipes on their website that I’ll be checking out 🙂 http://www.bettycrocker.com/products/bisquick/Recipes.aspx
We have both US and UK brands of shortening here and I was shocked to be honest at how many nasty fats are in the US brands, the one we most commonly have here is Trex which contains no hydrogenated fats or trans fats its just pure;straight vegetable fat. Its still not terribly good for you but occasionally its fine. I never made the baking mix recipe from my More with Less cookbook (which seems almost identical to the above if I remember correctly) as most of the things suggested to be made with it are not really baked products we tend to eat in the UK; but I did make the bulk pancake mix and it is INCREDIBLE. I’ve tried other US style pancake recipes and they just don’t seem to work well at all; but this one was so foolproof and easy to make up and kept really well in an airtight container. It also uses powdered milk which is great as buttermilk is a rarity in the UK.