Baking mix

Dry foodstuff used in baking

"Prepared mix" redirects here. For prepared mixes for drinks, see Drink mixer § Prepared mix.

The contents of a chocolate cake baking mix

A cake baking mix being mixed together

A baking mix is a pre-mixed formulation of ingredients used for the cooking of baked goods. Baking mixes may be commercially manufactured or homemade. Baking mixes that cater to particular dietary needs, such as gluten-free baking mixes or kosher baking mixes, can be bought in many places.

Types

Baking mixes are produced for the preparation of specific foods such as breads, quick breads, pancakes, waffles,<ref name="Perillo 2013 p. 20" /> cakes, muffins, cookies, brownies<ref name="Layton Larsen 2011 p. 151" /> pizza dough,<ref name="Davis 2013 p. 185" /> biscuits<ref name="Heeren 2014 p. 9" /> and various desserts,<ref name="Qualizza 2014" /> among other foods. Some all-purpose baking mixes, including commercial and homemade varieties, can be used to prepare several types of baked goods,<ref name="Perillo 2013 p. 20" /><ref name="Wilbur 2009" /> such as biscuits, pizza dough, muffins, cookies and pancakes,<ref name="WSU" /> among others. Some bread baking mixes are formulated for use in a bread machine.<ref name="Dailey 1995" />

Ingredients in baking mixes may include flour, bread flour, baking powder, baking soda, yeast,<ref name="Layton Larsen 2011 p. 151" /> sugar and salt, as well as others depending upon the food type. Gluten-free baking mixes may be prepared using rice flour in place of wheat flour.<ref name="Layton Larsen 2011 p. 151" /><ref name="great 2011" /> Dry baking mixes typically require the addition of water or milk, and may also require additional ingredients such as eggs, butter and cooking oil.

Size

Some baking mixes are sold in bulk volumes, and the baker measures out the amount needed. In other cases, the mix is sold pre-measured in a commonly desired size, such as enough baking mix to make a particular size of cake. Around 2012, most large American manufacturers of cake mixes reduced the size of their standard cake mixes by about 15% by weight, as a result of rising prices for ingredients.<ref name=":0" /> This resulted in complaints from some customers about the mix making smaller cakes or fewer cupcakes.<ref name=":0"> Popken, Ben,

 Cupcake conundrum: Cake mixes shrinking along with other favorite products Full text, 
 TODAY.com, 
  
 1 August 2013, 
  
  
 Accessed on: 2017-03-06.

</ref> Betty Crocker and Pillsbury mixes shrank from 18.25 ounces to 15.25 ounces. However, not all manufacturers followed this trend of reducing the amount to maintain the price; the King Arthur Flour Company, which makes premium-quality cake mixes, continued to produce 22-ounce cake mixes.<ref name=":0" />

Brands and companies

United States

Brands

Arrowhead Mills<ref name="Ford 1974"/> is a brand of organic baking mixes, cereals, grains and nut butters. The company was founded in 1960 by nutritionist Frank Ford in Hereford, the seat of Deaf Smith County in the southern Texas Panhandle west of Amarillo, Texas. Many Arrowhead Mills products are certified at least 70 percent organic by the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) or Pro-Cert Organic Systems.

Atkins Nutritionals produces an all-purpose baking mix, along with several other foods.<ref name="Businessweek.com 2015"/> Dr. Atkins founded Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. in 1989 to promote the low-carbohydrate products of his increasingly popular Atkins diet. This diet was developed after Atkins read a research paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association published by Gordon Azar and Walter Lyons Bloom. Atkins used information from the study to resolve his own overweight condition.

General Mills owns the brand Betty Crocker, under which a variety of foods are purveyed, including baking mixes.<ref name="Sutherland 2015"/> Marjorie Husted was the creator of Betty Crocker. She was a home economist and businesswoman under whose supervision the image of Betty Crocker became an icon for General Mills. In 1921, Washburn Crosby merged with five or more other milling companies to form General Mills. There are a number of Betty Crocker-branded products, such as plastic food containers and measuring cups, and a line of small appliances like popcorn poppers and sandwich makers with the Betty Crocker brand name. It also owns the Pillsbury Company, which makes its own baking mixes.

Bisquick is a baking mix brand that was founded by Carl Smith in 1931. At the time, Smith was employed a sales executive for the General Mills, Inc. Sperry Division.<ref name="Jorgensen 1994"/> Bisquick may be used to bake several foods, such as biscuits, pancakes, coffee cake<ref name="Johnson p. 11"/> and other baked goods. According to General Mills, Bisquick was invented in 1930 after one of their top sales executives met an innovative train dining car chef on a business trip. After the sales executive complimented the chef on his deliciously fresh biscuits, the dining car chef shared that he used a pre-mixed biscuit batter he created consisting of lard, flour, baking powder and salt. The chef then stored his pre-mixed biscuit batter on ice in his kitchen ahead of time, enabling him to bake fresh biscuits quickly on the train every day. As soon as the sales executive returned from that business trip, he stole the chef's idea and created Bisquick.

Bob's Red Mill is an American company that produces over 400 products, including baking mixes.<ref name="Qualizza 2014"/><ref name="Griepentrog 2015"/> The company is a producer of lines of natural, certified organic, and gluten-free milled grain products, billing itself as the "nation's leading miller of diverse whole-grain foods."<ref name=pbj>Strom, Shelly. Taking Red Mill global. Portland Business Journal, February 18, 2005.</ref> In February 2010, owner Bob Moore transferred ownership of the company to his employees using an employee stock ownership plan.<ref name=transfer> Tims, Dana,

 Founder of Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods transfers business to employees Full text, 
 The Oregonian, 
  
 February 16, 2010,

</ref>

Dassant is an American brand of baking mixes.<ref name="Adweek"/> The company was founded in 1980, with its specialization product the Classic Beer Bread. Dassant Truffle Brownie mix was first introduced in 1987. Since then it has been reviewed by numerous publications. In January 2012, Woman's World Magazine called the mixes the "holy grail of brownie mixes".<ref> ,

 You Deserve the Best....Brownie Mix! , 
 , 
  
 January 30, 2012,

</ref> In early 2012, the company introduced a line of baking mixes including pancakes, cookies, carrot cake and pumpkin bread.<ref> </ref>

Grain elevators at the Chelsea Milling Company, manufacturer of Jiffy mix products, in Chelsea, Michigan

Jiffy mix is a baking mix brand produced and owned by the Chelsea Milling Company in Chelsea, Michigan.<ref name="Detroit News 2015"/> Jiffy mix has been produced since 1930.<ref name="Detroit News 2015"/> As of 2015, 19 mixes are produced, which are distributed to all of the U.S. states, and in 32 countries.<ref name="Detroit News 2015"/><ref name="Seguin 2013"/> Most of the company's products are handled, processed and produced in-house, which includes grain storage, the grinding of grains into flour, product mixing and box manufacturing.<ref name="Seguin 2013"/><ref name="Karol 2013"/>

Martha White is an American brand under which several baking mixes are purveyed.<ref name="AP 1994"/> The Martha White brand was established as the premium brand of Nashville, Tennessee-based Royal Flour Mills in 1899.<ref name="Samuelson">Dave,

 The Encyclopedia of Country Music. online version, 
  
 Oxford University Press, 
 2012, 
  
  
 ISBN 978-0-19-992083-9, 
  
  
  
 Pages: 1281–1283,</ref> At that time, Nashville businessman Richard Lindsey introduced a fine flour that he named for his daughter, Martha White Lindsey.<ref name="Finch2009">Jackie, 
  
 Nashville. online version, 
  
 Globe Pequot, 
 2009, 
  
  
 ISBN 978-0-7627-5567-7,</ref> The Martha White brand is probably most associated with its long-term sponsorship of the Grand Ole Opry, a radio program featuring country music.<ref name="Samuelson" />

Companies

Auntie Anne's is an American chain of pretzel bakeries that also produces a pretzel baking mix.<ref name="Omazic 2013"/> The chain started as a market stand in the Downingtown, Pennsylvania Farmer's Market. Auntie Anne's now has over 300 franchisees with more than 1,500 locations in the United States and more than 23 countries globally.

Cherrybrook Kitchen is a company that produces baking mixes<ref name="Pascal 2010 p. 2"/> and other baking products. The company was founded in response to the growing number of children and adults diagnosed with food allergies. 11 million adults and children are affected by peanut, dairy, egg and nut allergens, while approximately one in 133 Americans suffers from celiac disease.<ref>

SPINS(link). {{{website}}}. SPINS.

</ref>

The King Arthur Flour Company is an American supplier of flour,<ref name="Anderson Sands 2004"/> baking mixes,<ref name="Griepentrog 2015"/> baked goods and cookbooks. The company was founded in 1790 in Boston, Massachusetts by Henry Wood. In 1996 the company's name was changed to The King Arthur Flour Co. to reflect its principal brand, and also converted to an employee-owned business structure. The employee-owned company has been named one of the Best Places to Work in Vermont every year since the inception of the award in 2006.<ref>

Best Places to Work in Vermont(link). {{{website}}}. The Best Companies Group, Inc.

</ref>

Pinnacle Foods is an American packaged foods company that owns the Duncan Hines brand, which includes cake mixes.<ref name="Hatchett 2001"/> Duncan Hines (March 26, 1880 – March 15, 1959) was an American pioneer of restaurant ratings for travelers. He is best known today for the brand of food products that bears his name. In 1952, Hines introduced Duncan Hines bread through the Durkee's Bakery Company of Homer, New York. Principals Michael C. Antil Sr., Albert Durkee, and Lena Durkee were the bakery proprietors. This was Duncan Hines' first foray into baked goods. In 1957, Nebraska Consolidated Mills, who at the time owned the cake mix license, sold the cake mix business to the U.S. consumer products company Procter & Gamble. The company expanded the business to the national market and added a series of related products.

Streit's is a kosher food company based in New York City that produces 11 cake mixes.<ref name="Travers 2006"/> The company also produces pancake mixes and many other foods. The company was founded in 1916 by Aron Streit, a Jewish immigrant from Austria. Its first factory was on Pitt Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The company's 47,000-square-foot (4,400 m²) matzo factory, along with Katz's Delicatessen and Yonah Schimmel's Knish Bakery, is a surviving piece of the Lower East Side's Jewish heritage.<ref name="StreitMove"> Snyder, Tamar. Streit’s Leaving Lower East Side(link). {{{website}}}. The Jewish Week News.

</ref>

• Baking mixes
• 
  An advertisement for Henry Jones Self-Raising Flour, Bristol, UK (between circa 1845 and circa 1880)
• 
  A spicy baking mix in Hong Kong

See also

• Cookie dough – some store varieties are pre-mixed
• List of food companies
• List of twice-baked foods

External links

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