Homemade Baking Mix-Will it save you money?

Sharing is caring!

Preview: This homemade baking mix makes mealtime much easier. With an all purpose baking mix on hand, you can make a variety of dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

While I have purchased baking mix before, I find it easy to mix up my own. By making your own, you can control the ingredients. I tend to use at least some whole wheat flour in my mix and I have yet to see any store-bought mix locally that contains it.

Today, I am sharing the homemade baking mix recipe I use, and how you can modify it to suit your needs. I’ve also run the numbers so you can compare the cost of making your own baking mix to purchasing it. In another post, I’ll share some of our family’s favorite recipes with you.

Affiliate Disclosure: Please note that some of the links in this article may be affiliate links and I may receive a small commission if you purchase something through a link. It will not change your cost. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. For more information, see my disclosures page.)

Homemade Baking Mix or all purpose baking mix

Making this diy baking mix your own

There are many ways to change up this all purpose baking mix to suit your family’s dietary needs. You can, of course, use all white flour. The oil can be any combination of oils you choose: olive, sunflower, coconut, or butter. Butter is the most difficult to incorporate into the mixture and using it means the mixture has to be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. You can use shortening too if you choose, but we try to avoid it as much as possible.

The large batch makes about 12 cups baking mix, the small batch 6 cups.

Is it really cheaper to make your own baking mix?

For the purpose of determining the cost of this mix, I used 1/2 all purpose flour and 1/2 whole wheat flour. (It would actually be cheaper to use all white flour.) I also used 3/4 cup light olive oil and 3/4 cup coconut oil which is the combination I usually use.

  • 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour $0.39
  • 4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour $1.13
  • 1 1/2 cups dry milk powder $1.12
  • 1/3 cup baking powder $0.34
  • 1/3 cup sugar $.06
  • 2 Tablespoons salt $0.03
  • 3/4 cup light olive oil $1.20
  • 3/4 cup coconut oil $1.19

Since I am all about being honest here, this is NOT cheaper than buying a box of store-bought baking mix. However, I do feel it is healthier, since we are using some whole wheat flour and healthier oils.

The grand total is $5.46 for approximately 12 cups of baking mix. This works out to $0.46 per cup of baking mix. The total for a box of 40 oz. of name brand baking mix is $3.22 which is about 9 cups. That makes the store-bought baking mix only $0.36 per cup.

Please note that these costs are approximations based on costs in my area (North Carolina). Your costs may vary, but hopefully this will give you some idea of the cost.

Ok. It’s not cheaper. Why would I still want to make my own?

If you still want to make your own, (and I sure do) there are a few ways you can cut the costs to make it more economical. If you use all white flour, it brings the cost per cup down to $0.39 while still being healthier than the commercial baking mix using hydrogenated shortening. Buying the olive oil and dry milk powder in bulk, will lower the cost even more, bringing the cost in line with the purchased product.

Homemade Baking Mix

Since we try to avoid hydrogenated oils (aka trans fats) making my own is really the only option for now. As more companies start to create healthier products, there will likely be baking mixes show up on store shelves without as many unhealthy ingredients. However, you will likely pay a premium for the better brands.

Homemade baking mix

Homemade Baking Mix
Prep Time
15 mins
 
Course: Bread
Cuisine: American
Keyword: homemade baking mix
Ingredients
Large batch
  • 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 cups dry milk powder
  • 1/3 cup baking powder
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons salt
  • 1 1/2 cups oil or butter
Small batch
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
  • 3/4 cup dry milk powder
  • 2 1/2 Tablespoons baking powder
  • 2 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon salt
  • 3/4 cup oil or butter see notes for helpful tips
Instructions
  1. Combine dry ingredients (flours through salt) together in a large bowl. (I usually use my mixer.) Add oil or butter. If using butter, grate the butter first. If using coconut oil or shortening, dump it in at one time. If using a liquid oil, drizzle it in while stirring or running the mixer.

  2. Mix until combined. Store in the refrigerator or freezer if using butter. Otherwise it is shelf stable for about a month or you can store it in the freezer for longer.

Recipe Notes

Butter is the most difficult to incorporate into the baking mix. You can use any combination of oil or oils that you choose. If you wish to make a shelf stable mixture, use all white flour and use shortening in place of the oil or butter.

This recipe is adapted from King Arthur Flour.

Ways to use homemade baking mix

This homemade baking mix can be used in so many ways. You can make pancakes, waffles, biscuits, sausage balls, danishes, scones, muffins, and no-knead cinnamon rolls for breakfast. It can be used to make lunch and dinner dishes such as impossible pies, chicken and dumplings, and pocket sandwiches.

And I’m not going to leaving you hanging! Next week, I’ll be sharing a few of my favorite ways to use this mix. So go ahead and get a batch ready. We will be tackling a couple of breakfast dishes next week. And I’ll even tell you how to make a large batch that can be frozen so you can get ahead in the kitchen.

Sharing is caring!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating