Baking Mix

• Baking mix contains all-purpose flour, leavening agents, hydrogenated oil, salt and sugar. Commercial mixes such as Bisquik use baking soda, sodium aluminum phosphate and monocalcium phosphate for leavening and dextrose for sugar.

Flour

• Most flour is made from wheat and processed to make cake flour, bread flour, whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour. Baking mix is made from all-purpose flour. Because flour does not contain added ingredients it has broader applications than baking mix, such as cookies, yeast breads, cakes and pastries.

Convenience

• Baking mixes are typically used to make quick breads such as biscuits, muffins and pancakes. Only milk, water or eggs need to be added to baking mix to make a basic quick bread dough.

From Scratch

• Baking with flour requires cooks to measure and add their own leavening, fat, salt and sugar. Bakers can control the amounts of these ingredients to make a wider variety of baked goods than they can with baking mix. Baking with flour also allows cooks to make recipes lower in sodium, sugar and trans fats.