Baking Basics: The structure of a PANCAKE & BAKING MIX, and what you can do with it.

Once you know how to put together a simple baking mix you will unlock the ability to create endless varieties of biscuits, scones, muffins, coffee cakes (and other cakes even), puddings, pancakes and waffles. Just about everything except cookies, that is.

A cake mix is just like a baking mix, but with added sugar and sometimes a few tweaks. One, or both, are super-convenient to have on hand.

Of course, you can start with our Heritage Flour baking mixes to save you some time, but if you prefer to make your own, here’s a recipe for a Pancake & Baking Mix:

You will need:

• 2.5 lb (40 oz/1125g, approx 9 c, but weighing is more precise) organic einkorn flour, or a mix of other ancient grains
• 1¾ oz (50g, ¼ c) organic unrefined or sucanat sugar (4.5% sugar to flour)
• 6 tablespoons (3.15 oz/90 g) baking powder
• 1 tsp (5 g) baking soda
• 2 teaspoons (½ oz/15 g) table salt
• 8 oz (113g, 1 c) frozen organic butter, shaved in (20% butter to flour)

Steps:

1. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt in a large container with a tight-fitting lid (15- to 16-cup capacity), until thoroughly incorporated.
2. Shave the butter into the mix, and mix again lightly.
3. Seal, label and store in refrigerator or freezer until ready to use.
4. NOTE: You can also divide the mix into pre-measured 2 cup (don't pack it) portions. This recipe make about 7 portions.
   

So, here you have the proportions, a formula, and a foundational recipe you can use as your springboard to creating any of the various baked goods listed below, and the endless variations thereof.

Baking needs to start with wholesome and nutritious ingredients, particularly in case of the flour. In our mixes we use einkorn flour, because it’s the simplest and purest of the ancient grain wheat flours.

This is OUR PANCAKE and BAKING MIX.

I know from the conversations I have with customers at farmers’ markets that many of you are looking for the convenience of a ready-made one.

I formulated this mix with the health of my children and future grandchildren in mind, putting as much goodness, the most wholesome ingredients, into it and leaving all the bad (additives, preservatives, unnatural anything) out.  Organic ancient grains, organic sugar, aluminum-free baking powder and celtic sea salt.  Nothing else!

PANCAKE AND BAKING MIX RECIPES

We’ll start with doughs, which require adding the least amount of liquid, and then move to batters, which require more. So, first Biscuits, Drop Biscuits, Dumplings and Scones.

Doughs: Biscuits, Drop Biscuits, Dumplings, Scones:

Baking Powder Biscuits

To make about 8 biscuits, you'll need:

• 2 cups baking mix
• 2oz (60g) frozen butter, grated
• ½ cup cold buttermilk
  
• some melted butter for tops

This recipe is about as simple as you can get.

Biscuit dough can be used in many ways. For variation grated cheese, chopped parsley, chives or herbs blended with the dough lend interest (see "Savoury Scones" below). This dough is also rich enough for shortcake or for the top crust of a chicken or meat pie.
It can also be used to make baked apple dumplings or for the dough for a fruit or pinwheel roll. It can be dropped on top of hot stewed fruit or berries and baked as a "cobbler."

Steps:

1. Put the mix and the grated butter in a mixing bowl, pour in the cold buttermilk and squeeze the dough through your hands until the dough just holds together. Knead the dough just until the flour has absorbed the liquids.
2. Place the dough back in the bowl and seal tightly with plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 400°.
4. Pat the dough into a flattened round and with your fingertips (or a floured rolling pin) roll it out until it's 1-inch thick.
5. Dip a 2½-inch round biscuit or cookie cutter in flour and press straight down into the dough without twisting. By doing it this way, you shear the edges of the dough rather than squeezing them together. This allows the biscuits to rise higher when they bake. Make your cuts as close together as possible to minimize what's left over. You can either shape the leftover dough into rough shapes with your fingers, or gather it up and roll it out again. Dough that's been rolled twice will make tougher biscuits.
6. Brush tops with melted butter.
7. Place the biscuits on a baking sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden. Serve warm.

Drop Biscuits and Dumplings are the same as rolled biscuits but contain more liquid, making a dough too soft to be rolled out, but still a dough rather than a batter.

To make about 8 drop biscuits, you'll need:

• 2 cups baking mix
• 2oz (60g) frozen butter, grated
• ¾ cup buttermilk

Steps for making Drop Biscuits:

1. Make up dough as for rolled biscuits.
2. Drop by the heaping tablespoonful onto a lightly floured or parchment-lined baking sheet, or into a greased muffin tin to make slightly moister and more regular biscuits. (This method also avoids kneading, rolling and cutting).
3. Bake as for rolled biscuits.

Dumplings are for adding to a soup or a stew or, with a bit more sweetening, they can be added to stewed fruit as well.

Steps for making Dumplings:

1. Make up dough as for drop biscuits.
2. Bring your soup or stew to a boil and then lower the temperature until it's bubbling gently.
3. Dip a soup spoon or cookie scoop first into the broth, then scoop out some dough and place it in the broth. Continue until the surface is covered, allowing half an inch between dumplings, for expansion.
4. Cover and simmer until the dumplings are cooked through, about 15 minutes.
5. To serve, spoon a couple of dumplings into a soup bowl and ladle the soup, stew or fruit over them.

A couple of variations of the dumpling master recipe include “cake” beignets and fritters. Check our recipe section, coming soon, for these recipes.

Scones

By adding an egg to your basic biscuit recipe you end up with a scone. We have inherited scones from our British friends across the sea and their recipes includes both savoury and sweet versions. Traditionally a British scone, even a sweet one, has hardly any sugar in the recipe.P.S.: A traditional scone dough is not sweetened, but if one prefers sugar (sucanat, maple sugar, etc) can be added: 2-3 tbl per 2 cup mix.

Here's how to make them with our mix. Scones tend to be a little larger than biscuits so you'll make about 6 scones per 2 cup of mix.

Sweet Scones  (12.5% sugar): other additional ingredients: 

— ½ cup currants or raisins, if you want to go traditional, otherwise other fresh fruit such as blueberries, chopped cranberries, apples, etc, plus ½ -1 cup nuts.
—2 teaspoon of your favorite spice, either alone or in combination.
—1 teaspoon grated lemon or orange peel

Amount of other ingredients given above is per 2 cup of mix.

Savoury Scones: other additional ingredients:

—⅔ cup (3 oz) grated cheese
—⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper 
—½ cup green onion (scallions)
—2 teaspoons fresh herbs (or ⅔ tsp dried)
—½ cup chopped bacon or other cured meat

Any of the above, alone or in combination, are good additions to 2 cups of mix for either scones, biscuits or dumplings.

 You will need:

• 2 cup of baking mix
  
• 2oz (60g) frozen butter, grated
• ½ cup cream, half-and-half or ½ cup milk plus 1 tbl sour cream
  
• 1 egg
• additional 2 tbl sugar for sweet scones (optional)
• any combination of additional Ingredients for either sweet or savoury scones (see above)

Steps:

1. Whisk together the cream, sour cream and egg.
2. Put the scones together the way you would biscuits, adding any additional ingredients to the dry ingredients before you add the wet.
3. Preheat your oven to 400°F.
4. Roll as you would biscuits. Scones are traditionally cut into wedges, which avoids the waste issue. Sprinkle additional sugar on top of sweet scones if desired.
5. Place them on a lightly floured or parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for about 15-18 minutes.

Shortcake (25% sugar)

A scone recipe with extra sugar, traditionally made into one large cake, or smaller ones.

 You will need:

• 2 cup of baking mix
• 2oz (60g) frozen butter, grated
• ¼ cup unrefined or sucanat sugar + 2tbl for sprinkling
  
• ½ cup cream, half-and-half or ½ cup milk plus 1 tbl sour cream
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Put the shortcake together the way you would scones.
2. Glaze top with additional 2 tbl cream, and sprinkle with additional 2 tbl sugar.
3. Bake at 375F for about 20 mins.

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In our next blog we’ll be moving into the realm of batters, where we increase our liquids to weigh about the same as our dry mix. Batters include Muffins, Coffee Cakes, Steamed Puddings, Pancakes and Waffles.