This discovery was part of my 12 year journey in developing the Baking Outside the Box Mix System.

Be warned.  knowing this secret will change how your read baked dessert recipes forever.

Not only can the Baking Outside the Box Mixes replace a box from the store but they can make your from-scratch recipes easier and faster.   As an example, here is the typical ingredients list on a from-the-oats-box Oatmeal Cookie Recipe.

This is the recipe I use to make Oatmeal Cookies.  Using a Mix-up shortens the process dramatically and it’s why I’ve never written down the recipe before now.  Here’s what I do:

1. Make a Match:  I look at the dry ingredients of a recipe to see which Mix-up (or the Goody Mix) I want to use. In other words, I match-up the ingredients from the Goody Mix or Mix-ups with the ingredients in the recipe.  It’s obvious in this case that I’ll use the Oatie Mix-up with the Oatmeal Cookie recipe.  (And the longer you use the system the easier it is to match-up Mix-ups with recipes.)
2. Don’t sweat the small stuff:   Add the main dry ingredients together and come up with the magic number of  cups of Mix-up or Goody Mix to use in the recipe. When I say ‘main dry ingredients’, I mean things like oats, flour and sugars, cocoa, cornmeal, etc. In this case add up the 2 sugars, the flour and the oats and you’ll see that the main dry ingredients add up to 5 3/4 cups.   Now –and this is important – skip the little stuff like baking soda, baking powder or salt.  It’s already in your Mix-up and you don’t need to make up the tiny quantity of these in any way at all.  –Completely ignore them. Period.  This totally works.  I’ve done it like a gazillion times.  I pinky promise. Cool huh?
3. Fly casual:  Now just follow the instructions.  Well, sort of.  Truthfully, it’s going to be a lot easier and faster.  You pretty much can just skip the whole ‘cream this’ and ‘sprinkle in that’.  Just dump in all the wet ingredients on top of the dry ingredients (like the Goody Mix or one of the Mix-ups) like it was a mix from the store and let the kids go to town with a wooden spoon or you can use the cookie paddles in your mixer. (Or mix it in whatever way the directions say to mix it. Right?)  Occasionally there are special instructions for things with whipped egg whites or something else that has to be folded-in at a certain place in the batter process, but you’ll know it when you see it and it just doesn’t happen that often unless you make chiffon cakes all the time.  If you do, my hat is off to you and please invite me over!
4. Bake as directed.  (But you already knew that!)
5. Custom-size your recipe.  This is so helpful.  You can’t do this with a box from the store.  The Original Oatmeal Cookie Recipe is a family favorite and it makes a ton of cookies.  If you are feeding a crowd, you could easily double it.  But if you need a smaller amount, just cut everything in half.  If that leaves you with some odd-size ingredient amounts, try rounding up to the nearest ‘normal’ measurement,(within a tablespoon or two) i.e.; instead of 7 T. butter, just go with a half cup. Or instead of 2 7/8 cups of Mix-up, use 3 cups.  Does this change the outcome of the recipe?  My experience is that it is usually unnoticeable.  And if you feel that your batter is too thin, try adding 1 T. Mix-up or a little more, if needed.  If it is too thick, try adding up to 1 T. water or milk. (Water will keep a cookie chewy/crisp, milk will make them softer.)   I almost never add anything, but when I do it takes very little of either liquid or Mix-up to get a dough or batter of perfect consistency.

Oh and see the hot chocolate pictured above?  That’s Angel’s recipe at Fleece Fun.  It’s absolutely decadent!

Any questions?   Write me here.

Class dismissed.  Now go start your oven and have fun in the kitchen!

My  Oatmeal Cookie Recipe can be found here.

My daughter, Angel, created the Ultimate Gourmet Hot Chocolate Recipe.  Get it at FleeceFun.com.

Need the Goody Mix Recipe to start Baking Outside the Box?  Click here.