I don't know if you could tell that I love Trader Joe's, but I do. I used to cross state lines to go to one! Their products are so great and so reasonably priced. The one area they are really lacking in is their gluten free baking. They discontinued their gluten free pancake batter a few years ago and it shattered our gluten free world. The only 'baking' thing they've had for the last few years is a brownie mix. No specialty flours. No multi purpose mix. No cakes. No cookies. Just brownies. Until now... When I walked in and saw it I could not wait to try it!!
My favorite store bought multi purpose mix has always been King Arthur Flour. I decided I needed to test them! Problem was I didn't want four dozen cupcakes around the house (we have self control issues). I remembered seeing a 'just two' recipe on pinterest and decided to dig it up.
I ended up using Brett Bara's recipe because it was easily adapted to be vegan.
Here's what you need:
-3 tbsp flour (regular or gf of your choice)
-2 tbsp sugar
-1 1/2 tsp cocoa powder
-1/8 tsp baking soda
-pinch of salt
-2 tbsp cold water
-1 tbsp non dairy milk** (the gf flour required a bit more moisture)
-1 tbsp oil (veggie or coconut)
- a few drops of vanilla (I poured a little into the 1/4 tsp spoon and dripped it in)
Woohoo let's get testing!! I made these guys in side by side coffee mugs.
Mix together all your dry ingredients and give it a whisk with a fork. TJ's flour is on the top and KA's is on the bottom of this photo (if you were curious).
Now add your wet. I'd hold off on adding the extra milk if you're not using KA or TJ's you may not need it. Once it's all mixed up divide up your batter (from one cup) into two cupcake liners.
TJ's is still on top here. You can already see the differences in the flours. They actually mirror what the final taste of the cupcake.
**Side note** Did you know that cupcake liners will stand on their own on a cookie sheet?? True story!
I have a terrible memory so I used an extra cupcake liner to remember which cupcakes were which. Bake at 325 for about 20 minutes. Keep an eye on them and check doneness with a knife.
Here they are after baking
You can really see the difference!! Sorry about my finger print in the KA cupcake...
Here are the other two. You can see the the TJ's one really has a great peak to it and the KA's cupcake is really kind of sunken in and has kind of deflated around where I tested the doneness.
Both of these were really good. I was super impressed that they did turn out with gf flour (that often isn't the case). Here's the breakdown:
The King Arthur Flour cupcake was really very dense and moist. The flavor was yummy (especially with the chocolate).
The Trader Joe's flour cupcake was surprisingly smooth and creamy in consistency. It rose beautifully. My only negative was that it did have a little grainy-ness similar to other gf flours.
Over all I would definitely use the TJ's flour again especially for cakes!!
** Update- If you're using TJ's flour for cookies you need to CHILL the batter!! Or they will go CRAZY!! I'll post an example soon!
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