Baking in no time...

Maybe it's the pregnancy that makes me want to bake more.
Maybe it's something about motherhood that makes me want to bake more.
But I get these moments where I want to make Chocolate Chip cookies or banana nut bread.

What has stopped me before?
Baking takes a lot of time.
Baking makes a huge mess.
So quite often I don't bake even when I have the hankering to.

I was in the baking section of the grocery store, looking at the cake boxes, and I thought... why can't I mix dry ingredients before hand while baking?  If I plan on making a mess of the kitchen while baking... I might as well prep a lot of recipes to save sometime in the future.  Let's go full throttle!!

So if I get the craving to bake... I think of at least 3 recipes I will want to bake relatively soon and I make 3 prepared baking bags for them.

Here's how I do it:

I make a list with the names of the recipes on the top and I list the ingredients to the left column.  Then I enter in how many cups/tablespoons/teaspoons it calls for, so all the ingredients are organized.

Not the most beautiful picture... but you get it. ;)

Then I read through the recipe and see which ingredients should be bunched together.  ie. if I recipe calls for creaming butter with sugar first before adding other ingredients... sugar will be in a different bag than the other ingredients.  

The other tip... I always put brown sugar in it's own bag.  It's a moist sugar, so I want to keep it moist and not have it affect the other ingredients.

So then I get my gallon, quart, and sandwich bags (From Costco) and I divide the ingredients into the size bag I think it needs.  If it's less than 3 cups of ingredients, I'll probably put it in a quart bag.  If it has more, I'll probably put it in a gallon bag.  I use the sandwich bags for small amounts of ingredients which will be placed in bigger bags.

Label the bags you are using and line them up.  Then work down the ingredients and divide them up.

Putting the bags in a large cup will help when scooping ingredients.

Measuring over a bowl will also help make sure additional ingredients don't end up where they shouldn't.

And voila... you'll be the next Betty Crocker in no time!

Reasons why I like having these bags on hand.

• Have you ever run out of ingredients when trying to bake??  That's the worse!  Especially when you've planned on baking for an event and you are out of flour....

The last time I made these bags I ran out of brown sugar and chocolate chips for chocolate chip cookies.  I wrote on the bag which ingredients were missing and put them on the shopping list.  The next time I decided to bake.... I went through my bags and added the missing ingredients.  Super easy.

• I made a mistake and I can't fix it.  My husband teases me because I tend to run through recipes too fast. I miss the sugar in muffins.  Then I'm mad at myself when it doesn't taste right and I apologize to anyone and everyone who eats them.

The last time I made these bags, I realized I put 1 tablespoon of salt instead of 1 teaspoon in my toddler muffins.  I made a note of it on the bag.  Those aren't bags I'll use when I go to a potluck.  I will try them out, and then throw them out if they taste weird.

• These bags are great for cooking with toddlers.  I love cooking with my son and these bags make it a little less stressful.

 

 And for the big grand-daddy reason why I love making these bags....

• MAKING A BAG TAKES 1/2 THE TIME TO PREPARE AND IS 1/3 THE MESS IN THE KITCHEN.

 I can enjoy my joy of baking more often without blowing up my kitchen.

This is my kitchen after making homemade blueberry muffins this morning....

I have one bowl, my mixer, a couple spoons, 

and the muffin tin.  Not too shabby...

These are my secrets to baking more often.  They help with timing and cleaning, but maybe not your waistline.  

Bake away my friends... bake away...