After a busy weekend, I seemed to take forever to get going this morning — even though I got up early.
I finally got the Homemade Baking Mix made tonight at 7:45 p.m.
{Notice anything wrong with this picture? Maybe that I somehow am a month behind?! I noticed that after I’d taken the picture! :)}
And tomorrow we move onto freezer-friendly lunches. I think those are going to be a bit more time-intensive to make, but they are going to be so nice to have in the freezer that it will be every bit worth it!
Homemade Baking Mix
- 10 cups flour
- 8 Tablespoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar (I didn’t have any of this so I just left it out. We’ll see if it works okay without it!)
- 1 1/4 cup powdered milk
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 1/4 cup sugar or raw sugar
- 2 1/4 cup coconut oil or shortening
Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in shortening or cold coconut oil until you have fine crumbs.
To freeze: Store in an airtight container or freezer bags in the freezer for up to two months.
To use: Use the Homemade Baking Mix straight from the freezer in place of Bisquick. Or, use this to make our family’s favorite Cinnamon Roll Biscuits. For other recipe ideas, check out a similar Homemade Baking Mix recipe from Kitchen Simplicity.
Homemade Cinnamon Roll Biscuits — you can whip these up in a matter of minutes using the Homemade Baking Mix!
Did you do any freezer cooking today? If so, I’d love to see the results of your efforts! Link up your blog posts below or tell us about your success in the comments.
Does anyone know the proportions to use if making biscuits with this mix? How many cups mix with how much liquid (and what kind—milk or water)?
There’s some chemistry in baking. Bisquick is a buttermilk type mix. I think the main purpose of having cream of tartar is to react with the milk powder, when liquid is added to create a version of buttermilk. I know that when you make baked goods from scratch that call for buttermilk, you can substitute milk mixed with an acid like lemon juice or vinegar. Cream of tartar is acidic and curdles the milk the same way but can be packaged as a dry mix. Buttermilk adds some extra lightness and moisture along with that nice little tang in baked goods. A lot of baking recipes add baking soda with buttermilk to create a chemical reaction that gives off carbon dioxide which adds more leavening. Since there’s no baking soda in baking mixes I’m guessing the flavor is the main reason for using it or to control browning, which it does too. Anyway it tastes yummy!
Has anyone ever tried freezing the cinnamon roll biscuits? My family never wants to wait very long for breakfast to be cooked – they’ll usually be patient enough for something to bake about 20 minutes. If you’ve tried freezing them, how’d you do it? Before baking or after?
Can you add the coconut oil or shortening later instead of before storing? I would think it would have a longer shelf life without it.
We made homemade baking mix, 4 loaves of bread, and the cinnamon rolls from the baking mix (which were SO good!). Does anyone else have issues with the coconut oil that’s in the baking mix being hard as a rock when you take it out of the freezer? We baked from fresh baking mix today, but usually we have to defrost the baking mix because the frozen baking mix has hard parts that are too hard to scoop and measure.
Made crockpot chicken w/ yellow rice/corn/onions/cream of chix soup; salisbury steak w/ onion gravy; biscotti made w/ leftover pound cake; and froze more bananas for smoothies (they were .38 cents/lb).
I’m in the middle of a big baking session right now! I’m making tiny wheat oatmeal cookies for the kids’ lunchboxes, oatmeal choc chip bars for Teacher Appereciation tomorrow, and bunch of pancakes for the freezer.
I can’t wait until next week when we do lunches. Lunches are my big one. We all end up so sick of leftovers by the end of the week. I honestly just do a PB&J half the time. It’ll be nice to have something different.
We’re starting lunches today — here’s the plan:
https://moneysavingmom.com/2012/05/4-weeks-to-fill-your-freezer-week-2-freezer-friendly-lunch-recipes-shopping-list.html
Those cinnamon roll biscuits look amazing- I’ve never heard of them but am eager to try them! And I think making a baking mix is such a great idea- so that you can whip up just about anything in way less time. I’m a new mom of a 3 week old son, and so those breaks between when I have to feed him or change him are packed with so many things to do, any time-saving preparation is really helpful! 🙂
Do you use all purpose flour?
Yes.
Hi! I have been reading your blog for a while. I just wanted to say I love reading your Blog! I love to try to fill my freezer, but we are moving to FL in end of month because my husband retired from Airforce after 23 years of service. I hope I can start cooking as soon as we settle down at new place. Keep cooking!!
Thanks for your kind encouragement!
Can you substitute the shortening or coconut oil for butter?? I don’t usually have either on hand, or even buy. I LOVE your website!!!!
You could try. I think it would work — let us know if you do!
Crystal-Where did you buy your flour and sugar canisters? I have been looking for wide-mouth glass canisters just like those. Thanks!
I was wondering the same thing! I have been searching for maybe even gallon mason jars or something!
I have some that look just like those in the picture and they’re at Target and many other places. Most recently I saw them at Target last week.
Danielle- Did the ones at Target have a screw-top lid like Crystal’s? I saw a few Anchor Hocking ones at Wal-mart. Those jars were glass and did not have a rubber seal. Thanks!
The coconut oil was rather expensive although I know it’s healthier. Have you figured out the cost to determine it’s worth in frugality?
Mine was free from Tropical Traditions (they sent me quite a bit for free last year because I did some blog giveaways with them). However, Amazon has some great deals on it from time to time. I usually post these when they come around and I know many people use their accumulated Swagbucks to purchase it — something that I’ve also done in the past.
Have you used any other kind of flour before instead of white flour with your baking mix?
Yes, I’ve used all whole wheat and half and half.
Do you have any ideas on how to make a gluten free baking mix? Thanks!
Elana’s Pantry has some great gluten free recipes.
http://www.elanaspantry.com/
How long is baking mix good? I’ve had mine for 6-12 months and don’t know of anything else to make with it.
It’s good for 2-3 months in the freezer — possibly more. See the links at the bottom of the posts for a number of different recipes.
I love your freezer cooking ideas. I have not tried much of this (other than doubling lasagna, meatloaf, meatballs and freezing the extra) however I regularly buy ground meat at Costco and brown large portions which I then freeze in quart freezer bags, pressed flat. I do the same thing with white rice. It is so easy to grab a bag and use the whole thing or ‘break’ off half if I want to add meat to spaghetti sauce or rice to a vegetable mix.
I got the cinnamon rolls, waffles, oatmeal, and baking mix all done in a matter of about 3 1/2 hours yesterday! I didn’t do the banana bread because I had just made two loaves to share with a friend. This is a nice grouping to be able to get a lot done quick. I will be doing this one again!
I wanted to clarify- if you put it in an airtight container does it still need to be in the freezer? I am looking for a recipe that I can keep in my pantry- not sure if the coconut oil mixed in makes it freezer necessary….
If you don’t use freshly-ground flour, you can store it in the cupboard, but I’d make sure to put the cream of tartar in as that is a sort of preservative.
Cream of tartar is another leavening agent like baking powder. You could probably sling a bit more baking powder in and be OK. I always have cream of tartar on hand, though, because it’s one of the ingredients in snickerdoodles … mmmm!
Snickerdoodles are the best use of cream of tartar, ever!
seriously those cinnamon rolls look yummy can I make them with box baking mix using same recipe yes i’m just to lazy to make my own baking mix
The first time I made them I used a boxed baking mix and they were yummy 🙂 Hope that helps!
Would DariFree work? I have some in the pantry that needs to be used up.
I would love a dairy free alternative.
I doubled the meatloaf recipe last night and was able to put one in the freezer. Sunday night I made Crystal’s freezer friendly baked oatmeal but added two cups of blueberries. The blueberries were enough to entice the kiddos. I finally got them to try baked oatmeal! They really enjoyed it.
Yes, or you could just leave out the powdered milk and use a dairy-free milk when making the various items.
If you leave it out, can you use regular milk at the time you decide to actually bake with it? Would you do a 1:1 ratio? Thanks!
This might be good to bring along camping. I just might try it out first.
I tried your freezer cinnamon rolls and they were a HUGE hit! They will definitely be in my freezer cooking rotation from now on. I also made apple pie muffins, which I left the link for above. Thanks for all the great inspiration and advice!
Crystal,
San Francisco Herb company sells Cream of Tartar is a 1 lb bag for the same price that I can get the little tiny container at Walmart. (Ditto for price from them vs. Walmart on mustard seed and poppy seeds). It’s a $35 minimum order, but so worth it! It’s 16 times cheaper than buying it at the store.
wow, I’d NEVER use a whole pound of Cream of Tartar. It usually takes me forever to use the smallest little container at the store. When I bought the Cream of Tartar for this recipe, I actually picked the smallest container of the 3 brands available at the store (also the lowest total cost), because even this recipe only uses 1 tsp of Cream of Tartar for 10 cups of flour! For me, this is one of those times when less is more. The price per pound is not as important to me as total cost when I only need 1 tsp!
But there are people who can buy the larger amount and split it with a friend or a couple friends, or store it in a spare chest freezer or something so they don’t have to keep buying the tiny containers. 🙂
I was thinking this might be a good thing to buy a teaspoon at a time from the bulk bins. Because I use about 3 teaspoons total per year. Or, I just get lazy and leave it out of recipes. 🙂
Thanks for the tip! I never knew you could buy Cream of Tartar in bulk. I’m amazed at how we’re going through all of my baking supplies now that I fix every meal at home. And speaking of going through supplies, I remember a post or comment you made somewhere about making sure to stock up on dishwashing liquid too, because once you start washing all those dishes from cooking and baking continually, you’ll go through your supplies quicker than you thought. I have found that to be very very true over the last few months! 🙂 So now dishwashing liquid is something I focus on stockpiling also.
I am excited to try this,what flour do you use?
I played catch up today and ended up making 4 recipes instead of just the 1 because I was cleaning instead of cooking. “gasp” Now that I am caught up I can play along next week and not get behind on my cleaning as well.
The link she put at the bottom of the recipe is dairy free. But it seems to use the mix you are supposed to add milk. Not sure if that helps you all or not.
You can substitute almond, soy, coconut, or any other type of nondairy milk in the recipe. My son had food sensitivities while I was breastfeeding and the only thing I could use was coconut milk for everything. So, I just used that anytime a recipe called for milk. Hope that helps :0)
I did a google search and Amazon has a product called Better Than Milk Vegan Soy Powder (there is also another product called DariFree) that could be used in place of powdered milk. Seems a bit pricey but sometimes when you have an allergy paying a bit of money for something that makes it possible to enjoy your favorite foods again is worth it : )
I used the DariFree in our baking mix. I purchase it from Azure Standard. It is a little expensive but does work really well. I also use it in my cream soup mix.
I got my baking mix done today. I really like to make garlic and cheese biscuits with it and I have made your cinnamon roll biscuits too. I am glad I have the baking mix in the freezer.
Can’t wait to start on the lunch items. It seems like we are often running late with school so it will be nice to have items to pull out of the freezer and make quick.
What recipe do you use for the garlic and cheese biscuits? I love the ones at Red Lobster and can never seem to get the right recipe down.
Gabby,
I use the baking mix and add about some garlic powder, maybe 1/2 t to the baking mix along with 1/2 teaspoon of dried parsley. Then I add in my cheese. Probably about 1/2 cup and mix with the baking mix. I add in a enough milk to make a drop biscuit batter consistency. Not a dough but not runny either. I drop by tablespoonful on my cookie sheet and bake. While still warm I brush them with melted butter with a little garlic powder added and then sprinkle them with kosher salt.
Here is a link to a recipe that is close to how I make them. http://www.ifood.tv/recipe/garlic-cheese-biscuits-0
At this site there are a few other recipes that might be closer to what you are looking for. My family can’t have the biscuits at Red Lobster because of milk allergies so I use goat cheese in the ones I make at home.
That sounds delicious, Shelly! I’ll have to try that 🙂
is there something you can sub for the powdered milk?
This looks really great but any thoughts on substituting or removing the powdered milk?
I was wondering the same thing- my 6 month old has a dairy allergy which means I’m dairy free also.
I use a recipe that doesn’t take it…it’s VERY basic and we absolutely love it. Here’s the link to it: http://www.parents.com/blogs/thrifty-frugal-mom/2012/02/14/the-thrifty-frugal-mom/tasty-tuesday-homemade-bisquick-mix/
I also use the one you use and it’s great.
thanks! 😉
Tonight, I made and froze two meals of taco meat and one meal of slow cooker black beans. Last week, I made and froze homemade sausage McMuffins, and cooked one this morning for breakfast. I was amazed how well it reheated–thank you Crystal for the idea, I had no clue it would turn out so well!
My family really enjoys those cinnamon roll biscuits too! So glad I found the recipe here – thank you! 🙂