DIY: Self-Rising Flour

Do you have a recipe that calls for self-rising flour but you either 1. have run out or 2. have never bought it? I land in the second category because I have always skipped by recipes that call for it because I didn’t want to buy a whole bag of “specialized” flour for one recipe. Well, when I went to make apple fritters at 10 o’clock at night and saw that it required self-rising flour I knew I was in a spot. I was not going to the store at that hour for stupid flour but Joel was so excited for apple fritters so I decided it was worth a quick internet search to see if there was a way to mix it up at home.

Turns out it is ridiculously easy and involves ingredients you already have in your pantry. You can double or triple the recipe then keep it in an airtight container for future use or mix it up as needed.

DIY Self-Rising Flour
via Baking Bites

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Mix ingredients together and use as directed in your recipe. Store any remaining flour in an airtight container.

Crock Pot Applesauce

Remember our apple picking adventure? Well, we came home with LOTS of apples for the sole purpose of homemade applesauce for that boy of mine. It’s one of his favorite snacks and I love making it for him rather than buying it. It’s so simple to throw together (whether in the crock pot or on the stovetop) and it requires very few ingredients which you can control.

I have made strawberry, blueberry, raspberry and pumpkin applesauce with lots of success. I usually don’t add any sugar to homemade applesauce but I made an exception here because it was such a small amount and I just love cinnamon and brown sugar together.

This is wonderful eaten on its own or baked into Applesauce Spice Cake or Caramel Apple Cake Pops.

Crock Pot Applesauce
recipe from Skinny Taste

8 medium apples
1 strips of lemon peel – use a vegetable peeler
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
3 inch cinnamon stick
5 tsp. light brown sugar (unpacked)

1. Peel, slice and core apples. Place them in the slow cooker. Add the cinnamon stick, lemon peel and brown sugar.

2. Set crock pot to low and cook for 6 hours. Stir apples occasionally, apples will slowly become a delicious applesauce.  Remove cinnamon stick and use an immersion blender to blend until smooth or if you prefer a chunky sauce, leave sauce intact.

Orange Sugar

Have you heard of vanilla sugar? It’s sugar and vanilla beans mixed together then left alone for a few weeks to infuse. After the process is complete you have a vanilla-y sugar that is perfect for baking, sprinkling on scones or fruit and just about anything else you would use regular sugar for. Well, when I added flavored sugar to my Top 100 list, that is what I intended to make. But then I found this. Orange sugar? Seriously!?!

It was so quick and easy to make and will last forever! You have to go and make it now because tomorrow’s last 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookie will involve it and let me tell you…you will want to make them!

Orange Sugar
recipe from Cherry Tea Cakes

1/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp. dried orange peel or 1 tblsp. fresh orange zest
1 cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 200.
2. In a small pan over medium heat, simmer orange juice and zest. Cook down until the mixture measure one tablespoon.
3. In a stand mixer, on a medium speed add sugar and a few drops of the orange juice reduction at a time. From here you can get creative. If you want to make sugar cubes for your tea, use molds, ice cube trays or shape into a rectangular disk about a fourth of an inch thick and place on a  cookie sheet cutting into cubes and gently spreading out to about two inches apart. I just scattered the sugar on a baking sheet. Bake for at least 15 minutes, stirring or flipping halfway through. Allow to cool completely and store in an airtight container. To use for baking, place in a food processor and pulse until it is fine and now chunks remain.

Recipe linked to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Totally Tasty Tuesday, Mrs. Fox’s Sweet Party and What I Whipped Up Wednesday.