Quick Mix

I don’t know about all of you, but I find the Holidays to be an extremely busy time. Not just with family commitments and Holiday parties, but also in the home kitchen. As much as I love the Holiday Season, creating tasty treats and festive meals is a full-time gig. Balancing the workload is a struggle, and that struggle is real is it not? Any shortcut is a welcomed piece of knowledge I readily accept. My mother shared this one with me and I wish to pass it on to all of you.

The secret weapon for our Holiday baking is this recipe for a Quick Breads mix. It is a life saver honestly! Stored conveniently in the fridge or the freezer this base creates gingerbread, pancakes, waffles, biscuits, dumplings, banana bread, and coffee cake. I know right! It is your “go to” ingredient base. This frees up your time to work on other more challenging tasks, or better yet, enjoy more time with family. No matter how you look at it, this solution that has been saving my sanity for years.

This one mix, provides the base for muffins, gingerbread, banana bread, dumplings, biscuits, pancakes, and waffles.

As a bonus prize with this mix, it is the perfect teaching tool for introducing kids to baking. It reduces mess and stress, while allowing them to measure and play with various additional ingredients. On days when the “big batch” is being made, they dive right in. Let the flour mess flow that day and the kids always enjoy making it. This Quick Mix  becomes a common fridge staple and the kids grow up reaching for it whenever they begin a baking project.

So how long will this lifesaver sustain itself? In the fridge you can house it for about 3 months. In the freezer, it is safe to say you can double the time frame to 6 months. However, I don’t suspect this mix will remain idle that long.

Quick Mix

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Serves: 29 cups Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Ingredients

Quick Mix Ingredients:

1. 5lbs (16-18 cups) All-purpose Flour
2. 3/4 c Baking Powder
3. 2 1/2 c Powdered Milk
4. 2 tbsp Cream of Tartar
5. 3 tbsp Salt
6. 2lbs 100% Vegetable Shortening
7. 1/2 c Sugar

Basic Recipes:

1. Biscuits: 3 cups Quick Mix – 3/4 c water (Add cheese, onions, bacon, dried fruit, herbs as you wish)
2. Pancakes: 3 cups Quick Mix – 1 egg – 1 1/2 c water (fruit / chocolate chips are optional)
3. Muffins: 3 cups Quick Mix – 2tbsp sugar – 1 egg – 1 c water + 1tsp vanilla, 1 tsp cinnamon, dried fruit or nuts of your choice
4. Waffles – 3 cups Quick Mix – 1 egg – 1 1/2 water
5. Ginger Bread – 2 cups Quick Mix – 1/4 c sugar – 1 egg – 1/2 c water + 1/2 molasses, 1/2 tbsp cloves, 1/2 tbsp ground ginger, 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
6. Dumplings – 3 cups Quick Mix – 3/4 c water
7. Banana Bread – 3 cups Quick Mix – 1/2 c sugar – 2 eggs + 3 bananas, 1 tsp vanilla, walnuts

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients in a large container and using a pastry blender, mix thoroughly. Store in the refrigerator or freezer.

Basic Recipes:

1. Biscuits (1 Doz) – Preheat oven to 400F and bake biscuits for 10 minutes.
2. Pancakes (18 Medium) – use griddle. Fry each cake for 4 minutes per side.
3. Muffins (12) – Preheat oven to 350F and bake for 20 minutes
4. Waffles (6) – use waffle iron as directed
5. Ginger Bread (8×8 pan) or Muffins (12) – Preheat oven 350F – Bake for 10 minutes
6. Dumplings-spoon on top of the soup or stew, cover and cook for 10 minutes
7. Banana Bread – Preheat oven to 350F and bake for 55-60 minutes (1 Loaf)

 

Notes

Be sure to check the expiry on the Powdered Milk. Your shelf time in the fridge should follow that date.