Can you tell the difference? Which do you prefer, home baked vs store bought baked goods? I’ve always preferred home baked goods over store bought. I want to share how to get the most out of baking from scratch to save yourself a few dollars and also discover the taste of freshly baked goods.
I might be a little weird but whenever I see basic baking ingredients in front of me, for example flour, butter, eggs and sugar, I get excited. How they come together to form a simple cookie or cake, always amazes me. I dislike box cake mixes or ready made baked goods with a passion. (I must admit that I tend to buy the cheapest possible box cake mix to make the kid’s birthday cakes. They only eat the icing at this stage of their life.) As much as I’d love to munch on a decadent cookie or cake everyday of the week, I know this isn’t good for my health or the health of my kids. If anything, they get a low fat, low sugar (usually fruit or vegetables added) muffin for the weekly school lunch box and after school is usually a couple of homemade cookies with a glass of milk. I try to mix it up a little each week but usually go back to the basics.
It’s always best to have a basic recipe you can rely on. That’s what I do. I have a basic muffin, cookie and cake recipe. These recipes have little or no eggs (a definite cost saver) or butter/oil and basic flour, sugar etc. If you’ve got a couple dollars leftover on your shopping budget, pick up a different packet of nuts, for example, or chocolate chips or sprinkles etc. The kids will never know the difference and you get to use up the leftover fruit or vegetables (pureed) in a cake or the last few bits of dried fruit taking up room in the pantry.
Looking forward to reading more. I'm the same Anne, I love a good basic recipe and how it can be tweaked. I'm also a fan of fewer ingredients the better, although I've never even looked at that popular 4 ingredient recipe book. I regularly omit sugar out of recipes and sweeten with fruit instead.. Cinnamon and vanilla also do a great job of giving illusion of some sweetness with out any sugar.
I agree and you can completely taste the difference. I must say I do cook with butter but I also subsitute apple sauce for oil in muffins and lower the sugar content. I also have a few basic recipes I can tweak which is a big time saver…and I love recipes that make say 2 loaves of a bread (like a bannana or pear and raspberry) so I can freeze one for later.
I agree and you can completely taste the difference. I must say I do cook with butter but I also subsitute apple sauce for oil in muffins and lower the sugar content. I also have a few basic recipes I can tweak which is a big time saver…and I love recipes that make say 2 loaves of a bread (like a bannana or pear and raspberry) so I can freeze one for later.
There's just no comparison between home-baked and bought cakes and biscuits. And lets not forget the special ingredient that only home-baked goods have – love.
D x
Your blog is so interesting, better find it late than never! I love such clever ideas, they can simply make my day and it a more practical direction.
Homemade goodies are the best! I try not to bake very often because I tend to want to sit around and eat it!
You've inspired me to start making my banana muffins again – great as an after school snack – I'd totally forgotten about them!
I was just telling Scott that I was going to pull this recipe out again. Our strawberries have just come in and last year we made strawberry muffins using your basic muffin recipe. Ooh they were good.
Anne, home baked goodies are MUCH better. Not only do they have better ingredients but they are infused with love! 😀