Homemade Baking Mixes
In my attempts to save money and streamline my meal planning I decided to investigate homemade baking mixes. I decided that I was going to invest the initial costs and see if it saved me money in the long run, hoping as well, that all the mixes once baked, tasted good.
The plan was to invest $20 by purchasing these containers at Walmart. I am very thankful I did. They were each about $3. Find similar ones here: 1 gallon containers. All but one of the mixes did not fit in the 1 gallon containers. The baking mix was about double. So, I put the remainder of the mix in a Tupperware and stored it in the freezer.
Printable Labels
Because these mixes were to put together to make baking quicker and easier, I decided to also print out the recipes for each one on these tags and hang them on the back of the mix jar. Then I would also have the recipe handy, and wouldn’t have to take the time finding the recipe each time I wanted to use it.
Using the same template, I created labels for the front as well. Feel free to print the recipes and labels out for your own personal use. I printed the labels on label paper and the recipes on card stock so they would hold up better. I settled on 6 mixes that I thought would be helpful to our family. So far the only mix I haven’t tried is the cornbread mix. We are very happy with all the rest!
Brownie Mix
Ingredients for mix:
8 cups sugar
6 cups flour
2 cups cocoa powder
1 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp salt
To Make:
*This is the recipe that is on the tag
2 1/4 cups brownie mix
2 eggs beaten
1/3 c melted butter
2 tsp vanilla
Pour into an 8×8 ” pan. Bake for 30-35 min at 350*
TIP: Just lightly mix the ingredients, if you beat them a lot it gets too much air in the eggs and gives more of a cake-like texture.
All Purpose Quick Mix
Ingredients for mix:
5 lbs flour (20 cups)
4 c. dry milk
3/4 cups baking powder
2 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp Cream of Tartar
5 cups vegetable shortening
*You should not use margarine or butter in substitution for the shortening unless you are going to refrigerate your mix
Biscuits
3 cups quick mix
3/4-1 cup water
Bake for 10-12 min at 450*
Shortcake
3 cups quick mix
2 Tbsp sugar
3/4 cup water
Bake 10-12 min at 450*
Coffee Cake
3 cups quick mix
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
(optional: add 1/2 cup sour cream to make it creamier)
Filling
1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
Preheat oven to 350*. Combine quick mix and sugar. Mix in egg, milk and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Prepare filling by mixing dry ingredients then cut in the butter. Spread half of the cake mix, half of the filling, then the other half of the cake mix, then the other half of the filling in an 8×8 pan. I used a 2″ deep pan and it filled the pan to the top. So, you could probably use a larger pan and the cake would be just a little thinner. Bake for 40-50 min. (mine was done in 30 min.)
The original recipe I found only had half the filling recipe and used it only in the middle. The coffee cake really needed some sweetness sprinkled on the top though. So I double the filling and sprinkled the other half on the top—-much better!!
Homemade Tortilla Mix
Ingredients to include:
16 cups flour
2 Tbsp baking powder
2 Tbsp salt
1/2 cups shortening
*I usually just make half of this recipe
To make:
2 cups of tortilla mix
1/2-3/4 cups of water
Divide dough into 15 little balls and cover with plastic wrap. Let them rise 10-15 min. Roll them out as thin as you can get them. Fry on a dry, hot griddle, about 2 min. on each side or until little brown spots begin to appear. The consistency you are looking for in the dough is almost like play dough. If it is too crumbly they will not roll out well. That is why the water amount is so varied. Depending on the humidity of the day, you will need more or less.
Perfect Pancake/Waffle Mix
Ingredients to include:
8 cups of unbleached flour
2 cups nonfat dry milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 Tbsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
To Make Pancakes:
2 cups mix
1 3/4 cups of water or milk
1 egg
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
To Make Waffles:
2 1/2 cups of mix
2 cups of water
3 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Corn Bread Mix
Ingredients to include:
4 cups flour
4 cups yellow cornmeal
2 cups dry milk
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup baking powder
1 Tbsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
To Make:
1 1/4 cups Cornbread Mix
1 egg beaten
1/2 cup water or milk (butter milk is even better!)
2 Tbsp oil
Pour into 8×8″ pan. Bake 12-15 min at 425 *
Muffin Mix
Ingredients to include:
12 cups flour
4 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
4 1/2 cup sugar
To Make Plain muffins:
2 3/4 cups mix
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
Bake 15-18 min at 400*
Optional Streusel Topping:
1/2 cup of flour
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 tbsp butter
Cut the butter into the flour/brown sugar mix. Pour half of muffin mix into half of muffin cups. Sprinkle half of the streusel, then cover with the rest of the muffin mix, and finally top with the rest of the streusel.
To Make Blueberry Muffins:
2 3/4 cups of muffin mix
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1 cup blueberries
1 tsp vanilla
Bake 15-18 min at 400*
Final Cost
Here’s the breakdown of what I spent:
- $20 for the containers @ $3 each
- $ 6.36 for the 20 lbs of flour
- $2.38 for a large container of Baking Powder
- $2.19 for 4lb sugar
- $4.00 for shortening
All the other ingredients I already had on hand. Probably the most expensive item, if you don’t already have it in your pantry, is the powdered milk. So about $35 total. Only about $14 if you take out the containers. Not bad considering you have the equivalent of about:
- 8 brownie mixes
- 6 muffin mixes
- 8 cornbread mixes
- 5 pancake/waffle mixes
- 8 tortilla recipes that make at least 15 tortillas each
- 8-9 shortcake/biscuit/coffe cake mixes
So, let’s say I spent a total of $20 (because of counting in the cost of the items I already had on hand) then it would be about $.46 a mix. Not bad! How about you? What mixes have you used? Are there many that you continually make?
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Joyce
Thank you for these recipes and the cost analysis! That helped me convince my husband to give this a try! Joyce
Allison
How many muffins does each batch make?
Quincy
I’m excited to try these! For the tortilla mix, do you put the shortening in with the dry ingredients? Wouldn’t that spoil?
Ashley
Hello! I just wanted to leave a note saying that I came across this post about a month ago (January 2015) and my husband and I immediately went out and bought supplies for all of these mixes. So far, they’re great! I had to do a bit of tinkering with the time on the brownies but so far, amazing! Thanks so much for sharing these recipes!
Melissa Whitcher
Thanks for featuring my post!
Melissa
Sarah Lemp
It’s our pleasure, Melissa! :)