My first foray into baking involved an old-school, plastic spiral-bound collection of recipes from the community of my older sister's elementary school. (That was not a run-on sentence, and I didn't need Grammarly. :P) It was the only piece of baking literature I had for years, so I basically read it cover to cover multiple times. But I still had questions. I couldn't quite understand why you would write a recipe with 2/3 cup of butter (seriously, how do you measure that?) and why one of the most prevalent recipe contributors, Mrs. Jack Pinow, wouldn't want to use her actual name. Unless her first name was actually Jack. Like..I get that she's married and all but does she not have a name of her own? Well, whoever she is, Mrs. Jack or Mrs. Sally or whatever her first name was, she sure baked a lot and probably made a lot of people happy. I guess that's the hopeful sentiment here - a versatile mix in one box that you can use as a starter for a few different semi-homemade baked goods.
I prefer to bake my own things from scratch, but Trader Joe's makes my favorite baking mixes ever. They are highly reliable, virtually foolproof, and pretty tasty. However, I think this new-ish mix is what replaced the now discontinued maple shortbread mix (RIP). This one is the first mix in recent memory to market itself as an "either or" mix - you can either make a batch of cookies or a quick bread. How fancy - we love choice!
The cookies require a few more ingredients and a bit more work, but they come out cool and crackly-looking. I opted for the loaf because I like homemade cookies better and chose to use a boxed mix for less work, not more.
The ingredients aren't terrible. The lemon lifts the flavor without being too obvious.
2) I did my best to not over mix. The loaf wasn't dry. The crumb was fine, just not per my taste. I like my quick breads with the texture and crumb of a good banana bread - a bit more dense and moist.
3) It smells sweeter than it tastes. The pecans add a nice texture, but overall the flavor is a bit boring. Doesn't mean that the mix is bad. It just means if you like things with a bit more flavor, you might want to add your own spices to make it more interesting. I mean, what else are you going to do with that jar of pumpkin pie spice that you picked up in September during all that pumpkin spice craze?
4) If you don't want to use pumpkin pie spice, I'm sure any combination of ginger, cinnamon, or even that vanilla extract with bourbon would be enough to jazz this mix up. But it's not bad as is.
5) $3.49 for a single-use baking mix. On par with typical TJ's pricing. Not a bad value if you're not much of a baker or want something quick and easy with a smidgen of effort.
TL;DR: Trader Joe's Maple Pecan Cookie & Baking Mix. Minimal effort for a pretty decent yield. Additional spices recommended but not included. 7.5 out of 10. Mantou Joe repurchase? Not for me personally, but would recommend for non-bakers.
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