The A-B-C’s of Snack Cakes & Making Life Less-Stress-Free in a Covid World

If you spend any time flipping through the major news networks, you’d think the world is going to implode any minute. As of today, 54,453 people in the U.S. are confirmed or have tested positive for COVID-19. Globally those stats jump to 414,179 people. We’re all continuing to flatten the curve with hand-washing; limiting toilet paper purchases to 1 (when we can find it); and slowing our roll by only going out to buy gas, groceries, medicine, liquor, and home-improvement products. There’s no clear end in sight. Click! I can completely understand why people are panicking and rushing out to buy anything and everything!

Fortunately, our nutty bubble is relatively unchanged. The flabby tabby still swats fake mice underneath the piano, and looks at us to fish them out. Cardinals and robins flitter about in the backyard. Excited contestants on the Price is Right spin the Big Wheel around 10:30 (repeats now, of course). Son B stumbles down the stairs sometime near noon, searching out sustenance before starting his online school-work. Oh, wait! That’s not normal.

I’m not sure when “normal” will resume at our house or around the world. To try to seem as normal as we can, Son A and B are tucking away the freaky gas masks and are opting to print masks for our health-care working friends! If you’re curious about this project or have a 3-D printer and want to help, go to the Billings Clinic Foundation website. Making life easier right now seems to be the plan of the day! Starting today, this post will be Part One in a five part series on Master Mixes.

Master Mixes are simply basic, homemade baking mixes. Each Master Mix is the foundation for a wide range of recipes. The inspiration for this idea comes from the Make-A-Mix cookbook written by Karine Eliason, Nevada Harward, and Madeline Westover. Tried and true, Mom and I have repeatedly used the mixes from this book since the 1980-somethings. Their basic mixes are the inspiration for the recipes I’m jazzing up in this five-part series.

If you know me, you know I’m not a huge fan of “mixes.” While this is true, I’m really not a fan of store-bought mixes for two reasons.

#1 Cost vs. Quantity. If you’ve looked at cake mixes over the years, you know the weight of a cake mix has gone down, while the cost continues to go up.

#2 Unrecognizable Ingredients. When I can’t pronounce an ingredient, I really don’t want to use it. What I love about homemade mixes are their convenience, versatility to create a variety of recipes, and knowing exactly what ingredients are in it!

Part One of Master Mixes features the A-B-C’s of Snack Cakes! A snack cake is a simple, sheet-shaped cake that’s often prepared in advance. Sometimes they’re frosted, but mostly just sprinkled with powdered sugar. Snack cakes are perfect to take to the office (when life gets back to “normal”) or send as part of a care-package to the sick neighbor’s house.

Snack cakes are also wonderful afternoon treats when the kids are done with school-work. But better yet, turn your kitchen into Home Ec class for the afternoon! Practice culinary skills by making one of the three snack cake recipes below (Applesauce, Banana Walnut Spice, or Chocolate) using the Super Snack Cake Mix master mix. One batch of the Super Snack Cake Mix will prepare six snack cakes. If you’re feeling froggy, tackle fractions with your favorite homeschooler by doubling or halving any of these recipes! May the odds be in your favor!