Multi-Purpose
Baking Mix
(Home Made Bisquick)
(source unknown to
me)
8 cups flour (4c.
Unbleached flour and 4c. Whole wheat)
1/4 cup double-acting
baking powder
4 tsp. Salt
1 cup shortening (can
substitute oil, and keep mix refrigerated)
1 and 1/3 cups dry powdered
milk
In large bowl, blend
together: 4 c. unbleached flour, salt, and baking powder. Add shortening and cut
in with pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs. Work out your
aggressions here, with that tool - one of my favorite workouts! Stir in powdered
milk, then whole-wheat flour. Store in an airtight container or heavy duty
Ziploc bag (keeps about 2 months). Refrigerate, if using oil instead of
shortening. For longer storage, you can freeze it.
HOW TO MEASURE AND USE
MULTI-PURPOSE MIX:
Stir and fluff mix in its
storage container, lightly spoon into measuring cup. Level with a butter knife.
Don’t pack the cup, or the resulting product will be tough and dry.
BAKING SECRET: For a
completely nonstick baking surface with absolutely NO cleanup, use parchment
paper on your pans (metal, glass, or otherwise). For cakes, I cut the parchment
paper to fit perfectly in the bottom of the pan (even for round pans), and I
never have a cake stuck in the pan again. After the cake cools, turn it out of
the pan, then peel off the paper and voila`. I get my parchment paper at Wild
Oats’ Supermarket in Sacramento. It’s worth every penny - you can even reuse
pieces of it that aren’t burnt or dirty (I reuse most of them).
RECIPES FOR MULTI-PURPOSE
MIX:
Biscuits
2 ½ Cups MP Mix
½ to 3/4 cup water
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
In a medium-sized
bowl, mix together MP Mix and water into a soft dough. Turn onto a floured
surface (counter or board) and knead about 6-8 times. Roll or pat into ½ inch
thickness. Cut out biscuits with floured cutter, or drinking glass (my
favorite), and lay on lightly sprayed or greased pan (my choice: parchment
paper). Bake about 10 min. or until browned. Serve hot.
Pancakes
1 3/4 Cups MP Mix
2 Tbsp. Sugar
1 ½ C. water
1 egg, beaten
Measure mix and place
in med. bowl. In small bowl, beat egg and water together (you can choose to use
milk instead of water, here, but it’s not necessary). Add liquid to dry mix
all at once, stirring with a whisk until moistened. Cook pancakes on hot griddle
with oil (I use canola), until bubbles appear, then flip; cooking other side
until browned. Adjust heat if necessary.
Waffles
2 ½ C. MP Mix
1 tsp. baking soda
2 C. water
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. Oil
Optional: 1 tsp. lemon
juice or vinegar, for a buttermilk effect)
Spray or oil waffle
iron, then preheat. In large bowl, mix together dry ingredients. In small bowl,
whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour liquid into dry ingredients, whisk
together
until blended. Pour batter
onto hot, prepared waffle iron and cook according to manufacturer’s
directions. Serve immediately!
Muffins
2 ½ C. MP Mix
1 C. water
½ C. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg, beaten
3/4 C. fruit, fresh,
frozen, or canned -without the juice (blueberries, etc.)
For Bran Muffins:
substitute ½ c. bran flakes for ½ c. of mix
Preheat oven to 400
degrees
In large bowl, mix
together dry ingredients. In small bowl, mix together liquids. Add fruit to
liquid and stir. Pour contents of small bowl into dry ingredients; blend with a
whisk until moistened. Spoon into muffin papers or greased pan and bake 20 to 25
minutes, or until lightly browned. Allow cooling slightly in the pan, then
removing and cooling on a rack before serving.
Makes 1 dozen
Cornbread
1 C. MP Mix
1 C. cornmeal
½ Tbsp. baking powder
½ C. sugar (or less, to
taste)
1 egg, beaten
1 C. milk
1/4 C. oil
Oven 425 degrees
Spray or grease an
8"x8" baking pan, or equivalent. This recipe can also be used to make
corn muffins - 1 dozen.
Mix dry in med. bowl,
liquids in smaller bowl. Pour liquids into dry, whisk until moistened. Pour
batter into baking pan and bake 20 to 25 min. until golden brown. Cool on rack,
in pan. It’s great so many ways - even for dessert. Once, when I was desperate
for a quick dessert, I made some quick vanilla pudding and put a dollop on top
of warm cornbread - yumm... a definite comfort food.
Coffee Cake
2 C. MP Mix
1/4 C. sugar
1 egg
½ C. water
Optional: applesauce, 3/4
cup
Crumb topping:
1/3 C. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. MP Mix
2 Tbsp. margarine or butter
Oven 375 degrees
8"x8" baking pan,
sprayed or greased
Mix dry ingredients (for
cake) in med. bowl. In small bowl, mix egg and water. Add liquids to dry,
whisking until moistened. Pour into pan. If desired, spoon applesauce in little
amounts on top of batter. Crumb topping: mix ingredients together in small bowl,
cutting in the margarine with a pastry blender. Crumble the dry topping over the
batter in the pan, bake for about 20 min. or until browned.
Peanut Butter Cookies
2 C. MP Mix
1 C. Peanut Butter
½ C. sugar, granulated
½ C. sugar, brown
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. baking soda
In large bowl,
combine all ingredients. Mix well. Roll into 1" balls and place on lightly
greased cookie sheet (or parchment, for nice results). Criss-cross pattern: dip
a fork into flour (tap off excess) and press lightly onto each ball to make a
criss-cross pattern. Bake at 375 for 10 to 12 min. until lightly browned. Cool
on rack, enjoy.
Peach Cobbler
1 ½ C. MP Mix
½ C. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1-16 0z. can sliced peaches
(light or regular)
1 tsp. lemon juice
Preheat oven to 375
degrees
8"x8" baking pan
(greased or sprayed)
Reserve ½ C. of the
Mix and stir cinnamon into it - set aside. Add sugar to remaining mix, sprinkle
this on bottom of prepared pan. In small bowl, combine peaches with lemon juice,
then pour on top of dry mix in pan. Top with reserved mix (with cinnamon) and
bake until browned (about 35 to 40 min.). Remove from oven and allow to cool -
it will be bubbly hot.
| 
