Baking in Bulk

Baking in bulk in almost second nature to me. Growing up in a household of eleven persons including five growing boys, doubling or tripling recipes was just part of kitchen survival.

While huge batches are maybe not a necessity anymore, I still usually bake more then one item at a time. It just seems to make sense to bake two pans of brownies at a time or make a whopper batch of cookies while the mixer is out.

My baking is not usually organized in any way, just "I need to make some (fill in the blank), what else could I make." But after joining moneysavingmom's eat from the pantry month, I was in desperate need for some baked goods. We had been out of bread for two weeks and needed some snacks and lunch treats (besides freezer burnt zucchini bread!)

Here is a few tips I have found on baking for the freezer.

1. Plan

Making a list of what I would like to bake, and THEN grocery shopping is much better then my usual method of "start a recipe, find out I am missing an ingredient, and start substituting"! I find it best to do baked items one day and save "cooking" for the freezer for another day.

2. Start early

Which for me is the night before. Having ingredients out of the freezer makes all the difference in how much I accomplish. I could have ground my wheat to speed it up even more. If my plan for the day is already made, I can start baking in autopilot while I waited for my brain to wake up.

3. Keep Priorities

This week's baking day went very well. But I've had some days in the past that have not went so well. There are days that children just need extra attention. When I plow through my list and ignore the wails and whines, things go down hill fast! Since I'm a mother before a baker, some days I need to throw out the list. There will always be another day to bake bread.
4.Expect a Disaster

Hopefully not the food, though that can happen too! If my children are playing nicely while I bake, which they did wonderfully this week, the house will look like children were there. Every room of our house was scattered with toys. I even found lego men in my bed!
5. Know When to Quit

Maybe some of you can keep going all day and slide the last pan out of the oven at midnight. For myself, I know that I need to be quitting soon after noon. If I had an early start, by 1:00 my feet are getting tired. Every surface of my kitchen is probably covered in dirty dishes. (In the photo above, you only see the counter by the sink. There was also dishes heaped on the island, and stacked on the table!) By the time I help the children pick up the toys, get them down for naps, clean up the kitchen, and wrap and freeze the food items, Ed will probably be home looking for supper.

Is it worth it? It is to me! Bulk baking or cooking makes for a full day but I love knowing my freezer is filled with lots of good eating! Even if dish washing seemed endless (I don't have a dishwasher) I could have washed the mixer and measuring cups five separate times instead of once. So it is worth it to me.

On the baking day this week I made:
six loaves of whole wheat bread
two loaves of cinnamon swirl bread
peanut butter granola
granola bars
whole grain crackers
angel food cake

Do you bake in bulk? Any tips?