Baking mixes were developed during the Industrial Revolution to save time and provide predictability in baking. They have evolved to include stabilizers for consistent results and organic options for health-conscious consumers. Some bakers prefer homemade recipes to commercial mixes.
A baking mix is a mix of ingredients to which liquids, and sometimes oil, eggs, or other ingredients are added to make baked goods such as muffins, cookies, cakes, and brownies. The former were made during the Industrial Revolution and proved useful to those who didn’t have the time to stay at home and carefully prepare food. These were commonly recipes for puddings or jelly.
Soon cookie and muffin mixes were offered and were developed almost simultaneously. The big names in the US for these early forms of mixes were brands that are still familiar, like Jiffy and Bisquick. Betty Crocker offered the first varieties of cake mixes in the 1920s.
In addition to saving time, many cooks, especially women, preferred the predictability of the cooking mixture. With properly measured ingredients, the likelihood of producing good looking baked goods could be of great help. Early mixes often required the addition of numerous ingredients, but soon many mixes came with powdered egg, making separating, cracking, or beating the eggs unnecessary. You will still find some varieties that require a little extra work. In fact, some are only slightly easier than the dry ingredients you’d mix yourself.
Other types of baking mixes leave very little to add, perhaps a cup of milk or water. The drive towards creating more convenient yet still “homemade” foods propelled the baking industry to where it is today. Now it leans towards even less of a baker’s job, selling items like cookie dough that can simply be placed on pans or pre-baked pie shells.
One thing today’s cooking mixes tend to have in common is a set of stabilizers that keep the results relatively even. When we cook from scratch, small differences in ingredients can lead to chaotic and unpredictable results. Stabilizers help keep cakes, tall muffins and crunchy cookies moist.
The opposite end of the cooking mix spectrum offers mixes made from ingredients that aren’t overly processed. In specialty and health food stores, there are a variety of blends made from organic flours that are vegan or vegetarian, gluten-free, or contain very simple ingredient lists with few chemical additions. Scone mixes are a popular choice.
An art of sorts has flourished in the baking mix industry. Housewives in the 1930s and onward might enjoy the convenience of mixing, but they were adept at adding to and enhancing mixes by adding fruit, spices, flavorings, or homemade glazes. However some bakers tend to feel that even the best mix is imperfect and that most recipes don’t require much more work than the mix. It’s true that if you’re used to true “from scratch” recipes you may notice a chemical-like taste to more commercial mixes. Others who were raised on foods made from baking mixes may, conversely, prefer them to baked goods made from scratch.
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