As A Baker, Do You Ever Buy Mass Produced Baked Goods?

[dustysmommy2013]

I used to buy already made cookies or the pre-packaged cookie dough. However, that all stopped when I got my stand mixer. It makes baking cookies a breeze. I still buy the croissants and biscuits in a can (ah, putting it like that makes them sound so nasty) as well as pizza dough. With those I still have to bake them so that counts for something, right?

I would love to make every meal and dessert totally from scratch but I have to be realistic. A fancy Sunday dinner with all the fixins? 99% of that meal will be homemade including the dessert. A weeknight with a toddler hanging off my leg as I cook? Not so much...and that's just fine!

 

[TheStoryteller1]

I buy stuff all the time. I learned to cook well more or less in the past year. I've even been told that I am a good cook. But let's face it, if you want to be cooking all the time for all meals, and you have a job and try to do all other things in your life regularly, there is no chance you can do it. Unless you are pretty efficient, which I am not. We all have to work around what we can.

 

[evelynmcgregor]

One of my daughters and her 7 yr old son live with me. I am retired and she is unable to work due to health problems. The majority of the meals that I prepare are completely from scratch. I enjoy cooking but some nights I do resort to packages, ect to get things started. I am particularly fond of the jumbo size biscuits because I use them for so many things such as dumplings on stews, fold over pockets with fruit or meat and vegies in them,, and I even cut them up and make "donuts" out of them. I also tend to to use the ready made pie crust in the rolls.
But I do have a super easy pizza dough recipe from The Pioneer Woman that we love and I do make home made bread on occasion.

 

[dustysmommy2013]

The Pioneer Woman's pizza dough recipe is also what I use. I like to make it in big batches and freeze it for later use. I am a big fan of PW and have implemented a lot of her tips and have tried a lot of her recipes.

I agree with you about the versatility of the biscuits. I'm amazed at the uses I can find for them from taco pockets to cinnamon and sugar desserts! I love ingredients like those that can go from savory to sweet dishes in the blink of an eye.

 

[forextraspecialstuff]

I do but not too often and generally only donuts or breads because I don't always have time to make those myself (especially the donuts). To be honest after baking so much I much prefer the taste of my homemade baked goods (or probably any homemade item for that matter) that I don't really want to spend money on something I will only sort of like.

 

[kammy]

Chocolate and blueberry muffins is a definite must as it's one of family's greatest craves so this is an area that we splurge on ever so often.

 

[ACSAPA]

We buy mass baked items all the time. I love to cook and will cook from scratch most of the time. Since, I'm not a good bread maker and those Little Debbie Oatmeal cakes are so good I just buy from the store. Since we been trying to be more healthy I try to made as much stuff as possible from scratch. We have definitely stopped buying mass produced potato chips. The kids love to help me make chips because they get to customize their flavors.

I don't really feel like we have success with "customizing flavors" because store bought potato chips come in flavors like Cheeseburger, Korean Barbecue and Taco Night.
I haven't figured out how to replicate those flavors at home without chemicals, so we'll just keep buying chips, I guess.

 

[Trellum]

Today I bought some baked treats, sweet and salty ones. Not ashamed of that, since I don't always have the time or energy to bake my own bread. But there are things I never buy from those places, like for example cheese or pecan pies, mostly because mine are better, theirs are so bleh! I like to know what I add to my own pies, nothing better than bake that kind of things at home.

 

[Trellum]

I admit to buying my sandwich bread. I make bread for snacking or to eat with soup, but I'm a little ocd about the way my sandwich bread is cut, and I can't cut it as smoothly and perfectly as they do. Plus they cut it thinner than I do, and it makes for amazing grilled cheese. I always feel a little sheepish buying it though. I also used to like ding dongs before they were taken away.

I do the same, I just can't get into all the trouble of baking my sandwich bread! Not on a weekly basis! I know is healthier to do yours, but right now I don't have children at home, once I do I might, so I can really watch what they are really eating!

 

[ACSAPA]

I do the same, I just can't get into all the trouble of baking my sandwich bread! Not on a weekly basis! I know is healthier to do yours, but right now I don't have children at home, once I do I might, so I can really watch what they are really eating!

Me neither. The bread I bake is too dense for sandwiches anyway. It's perfect for ripping off a piece and eating it with soup but it's too heavy to make a sandwich out of.
I don't know how mass produced bread is so fluffy. My bread is like country peasant bread that you slather with butter. I'm not good at slicing it thin either.

 

[Danyel72]

I'll admit, I sometimes buy mass produced baked goods like Twinkies, Snowballs, or Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies because they remind me of my childhood and I don't know how to make a Snowball at home anyway.

Do any of you bakers ever buy these mass produced baked goods?

Of course I do!! There's not enough time in the day to bake everything. I try to bake a few things for the family a week so we always have something homemade on hand. I do buy Little Debbie for the kids lunch and they love it. My dad was a Little Debbie distributor when I was growing up so we always had things like that in the house.

Danyel

 

[Dez97]

The most baked things I buy is probably cookies, and that's mainly around holidays because where as I will eat my burnt cookies, visitors won't at all.

 

[Mara]

I buy ready made items because they do inspire me and sometimes, I only want one pain au chocolat and it is more economical to buy one. Also I don't want to see how much butter really goes into croissants as it would stop me eating them again.

 

[dandeliion]

Very rarely. I just don't think most of them taste very good, honestly. The only packaged baked goods I ever really buy are girl scout cookies!

 

[Winterybella]

When I used to travel more often years ago and it was for five days at a time, I would buy muffins or cookies in quantities so we would have something to munch on. Unfortunately I would have to end up leaving or forgetting some behind because my son could not eat them all and I was not a big eater of "sweets".

I felt bad about the wastage so I don't do it anymore. Here at home I will on the odd occasion buy some muffins and they are sure to be devoured by my husband and son.

 

[ACSAPA]

Of course I do!! There's not enough time in the day to bake everything. I try to bake a few things for the family a week so we always have something homemade on hand. I do buy Little Debbie for the kids lunch and they love it. My dad was a Little Debbie distributor when I was growing up so we always had things like that in the house.

Danyel

Your dad was a Little Debbie distributor? What a lucky kid you were. I would have loved to have had constant access to an endless supply of oatmeal cream pies as a kid.

 

[Dez97]

I do sometimes, Especially when I'm not too into the baking mood. I buy when I'm in the mood to eat it all but not bake it all.

 

[Tina Nord]

I am not sure that I will ever make my own bread to sustain the familylunch habits. We go through about 2 loaves a week and that would be a lot of bread baking for me. Fresh bread always tastes better, but it is so easy to buy at the store.

 

[Joanna]

Yup. I don't always have the time to bake. It's just something that I do every once in a while for fun.

 

[confettine]

The only things I would never buy pre-made are crepes, cupcakes and muffins, because it is ridiculously easy to make those and it comes at a much cheaper price from scratch. The rest-- yeah, I've bought cookies, bread, croissants, cakes... If I want it right now and I have no idea how to make it, I'll buy it!