Frugal Luxuries – Baking Mixes

Homemade is always tastier, right? I know you want to make that cake from scratch, but box mixes are so much more convenient… (and as my favorite Aunt says, she did make it from scratch – she scratched her bum while she stirred up the box mix!)

Well, you can make your own mixes! Yes, it takes a little bit of effort, but if you set yourself up with the ingredients and make an assembly line, it doesn’t take nearly as much time as you might think. And, just think – cakes, cookies, muffins, quick breads… I could go on and on. Mmm. Now I’m hungry.

I usually do my mixes when I have the same thing in the oven, like muffins – which conveniently is today’s example. J



Assembly Line



Tools:

Measuring cups and spoons

Wide mouth funnel (or a clean piece of paper taped into a funnel shape)

Clean glass jars with lids (like spaghetti sauce jars) or another container

Labels (or paper, pen, and tape)

Put the dry ingredients in a jar or other sealable container, and make sure to note the wet ingredients and baking instructions somewhere handy. Like on the jar. Hint: Put the flour in the jar first, the baking powder tends to stick to the bottom when you go to use the mix.

For mixes that I use a lot, like muffins and corn bread, I taped double sided labels to the jar. The side facing inward has the dry ingredients (so I can see them when the jar is empty) and the side facing out has the name of the mix and the wet ingredients/baking instructions.

Fancy Labels!

Muffin Dry Mix Ingredients:

1 cup white flour

1 cup wheat flour

½ cup sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

Muffin Wet Ingredients & Baking Instructions:

1 egg

¾ cup milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil or melted butter

Cook at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes

So simple, so tasty, and a lot less expensive than buying a lot of mixes! Added bonus: the jars are reusable, reducing waste.