Post by Mariann:
Last week I decided to clean out my pantry – getting excited about and contemplating the upcoming baking season it was time for an inventory. There wasn’t much in there to contemplate except for a couple of packages of things I never used last holiday season – things like corn syrup, raisins and some holiday sprinkles.
What I did have was a bag of Pamela’s Pancake and Baking Mix left from my daughter’s last visit home in June, a variety of chocolate chips – white, dark and milk, dark brown sugar and some flaked coconut left from a recent catering gig. I also knew that I had some walnuts in the freezer from said same gig so it seemed pretty clear I should mix up some chocolate chip cookies! Having never used the Pamela’s Baking Mix for such an endeavor and not feeling in the mood to experiment I jumped on-line to the Pamela’s site (above) to see what the options might be for pulling off a batch of cookies. The recipe was listed under the Baking and Pancake Mix option and the cookies that came from this recipe were one of the best chocolate chip cookies we have ever made. Full disclosure on our cookie preferences – we are crispy cookie family and these were crispy good!
I love that there are a vast number of recipes at the webpage allowing for searches by product, meals, ingredients, dietary needs, Holiday etc. As well there are tips for baking, how-to’s, and informative videos!! A treasure trove of options.
In the past I have used and been a fan of the All-Purpose Artisan Flour Blend and I have found it to be a great product. My children, who enjoy pancakes and waffles love the Baking and Pancake Mix for the obvious use but also for making scones, muffins, dumplings, and biscuits. A favorite in our house is our ‘Tailgate Biscuit’ that includes browned and crumbled Italian sausage and Fontina cheese.
There are lots of products on the market. Many claim a one-for- one use. I have never found one that I can use in such a fashion so unless you are interested in running test kitchen on your ingredients (which we do lots of in our kitchen but I’m a Chef so test kitchen is my daily hobby) this site is a great place to get the basic recipe and then you can modify to suit your family’s tastes. With the costs of g-f ingredients what they are this is a super helpful way to avoid waste and failed options.
I use Better Batter flour blend cup-for-cup in everything except yeast breads, and have never had an outright failure. One thing I have discovered is that gluten free flour blends don’t do well in reduced fat recipes, so I tend to use cookbooks from the early 1960’s and prior, or I add extra fat.