KING ARTHURS BAKING MIX
Source of Recipe
KING ARTHUR FLOUR?
Recipe Introduction
First we'll explain how to make the equivalent
of a large box (about 40 ounces) of baking mix,
which can be stored on your pantry shelf. The
trick here is to use a fat or shortening which is
stable at room temperature. When
you do, you have a combination that will keep
for several months. After this we'll give you
some ideas on how to customize this mix so it's
completely your own. We start with the
ingredients that make self-rising flour and go on
from there.
List of Ingredients
9 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose
Flour*
5 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 cups nonfat dry milk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable shortening**
*Our favorite all-purpose mix contains a
combination of 6 cups King Arthur
Unbleached All-Purpose Flour and 3 cups King
Arthur Stone Ground Whole Wheat
flour (or our Round Table Whole Wheat Pastry
Flour).
**Sometimes we leave out the shortening so
we can use a more perishable fat
appropriate to the specific thing we're making --
vegetable oil for pancakes and muffins, butter
for biscuits and scones. But in the interest of
speed, simplicity and the spirit of "the mix,"
we use this modest amount of
vegetable shortening (it provides less fat than
you will find called for in most recipes).
Ways to Customize Your Baking Mix
You can substitute more or less King Arthur
Traditional Whole Wheat Flour
or Round Table Whole Wheat Pastry Flour than
we did for the unbleached all-purpose flour.
Ours is a good ratio to start with but if you are
more of a "whole wheat" person, feel free to
use more. -- Replace 1 cup of the unbleached
all-purpose flour with 1 or more cups of
the following: rye, buckwheat or oat flour; or 2
cups thick oat flakes, barley flakes or rye
flakes.
- For a heartier blend, substitute 1 or 2 cups of
our 8-Grain Flour or Ezekiel Mix.
For more "bite," substitute 1 or 2 cups of our
10-Grain Cereal.
For even more nutrition, for each cup of flour,
replace 2 tablespoons flour with 2 tablespoons
wheat germ, wheat or other bran, and/or soy
flour.
Use buttermilk powder in place of nonfat dry
milk powder.
-- Eliminate the shortening and use an
appropriate fat when you're putting
your pancakes, muffins, etc. together.
Here is another consideration concerning fat.
Fat makes baked goods tender
and moist and increases their keeping qualities.
Scones and biscuits really
wouldn't be scones or biscuits without a little
fat. A bit of fat keeps
waffles from sticking. But in some situations,
you'll find you can eliminate the fat altogether
and no one will be the wiser. If you use a
well-greased pan, you can eliminate the fat in
pancakes and muffins because the greater
amount of liquid they contain makes them
moist. (They just won't keep well
should you ever have any left over.)
Putting Your Mix Together
Take a few minutes to decide on what you
want to put in your mix, remembering
that you can dress up a basic mix with some
"Defining Ingredients" (which
you'll read about farther on).
In a large bowl, blend together the dry
ingredients. Then, with a pastry cutter or your
fingertips, cut or rub in the vegetable
shortening until it is evenly distributed and the
resulting mixture looks like cracker crumbs.
That's all there is to it.
Recipe
Storing Your Mix
Place the mix in a large, airtight container (a
heavy duty zip-lock type plastic bag does
nicely) or divide it into pre-measured 2 cup
(don't pack it) portions. It will make
approximately 7 portions.
The advantage of store-bought mixes is that
they don't contain anything that will
deteriorate at room temperature. When you
start mixing in whole grains, you are
introducing the perishable oils that you find in
the germ of the
grains. If you decide to put any of these in your
mix, it's best to store it
in an airtight container in the freezer (not a
large price to pay for a high-nutrition
customized blend.)
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