Betty Crocker Recipes

Yes folks for over 70 years Betty Crocker has been handing her culinary skills out to millions of people and families. Adults and even children the world over adored Betty Crocker Recipes that were and still are today wholesome delicious recipes and also tips for using the kitchen as it should be used as well as the tools of the trade and even hygiene.

Even today Betty Crocker recipes are branching out to include oriental cuisine and delights that would endear almost everyone to the worldly art of culinary delight. It was whilst researching this article that I came across something that I really did not believe.

I found out that dear departed Betty Crocker was dreamed up by an American company called Washburn-Crosby in 1921 as far as I can gather. Yes folks apparently it's true. This company dreamed her up in response to personal mailed in requests to them for household advice.

They chose the first name of Betty because it was quite a common first name in the 1920s and her last name came about because the late company secretary and director of the Washburn Crosby company was William G. Crocker and so the name that we know and love as a worldwide household name was born.

The company then used this name to sign all of the future requests for personal household advice. Washburn Crosby company became known as General Mills after merging with other milling companies in around 1928. In the 1930s soft bound recipe books were issued by General Mills.

Betty Crocker's infamous 101 Delicious Bisquick Creations was brought out in 1933 by General Mills. A portrait of Betty Crocker appeared in 1936 which was representative of how a typical modern woman of that era looked. The image was subtly changed over the years to represent women of each period that captured the cultural perception of General Mill's American homemaker. e.g. Caring and very knowledgeable.

In 1941-1945 As an aid to war time constraints on general food and supplies General Mills brought out the Betty Crocker Cook Book of All-Purpose Baking. Then in 1949 the actress Adelaide Hawley took on the persona of Betty Crocker and this lasted for a great many years until around 1964.

Todays modern current image of Betty Crocker is reckoned to be a combination of around 75 real life women from diverse backgrounds and ages that are thought to be representative of the real Betty Crocker according to General Mills Corporations view.

The 10th edition of Betty Crocker's Cookbook was published in 2005. In 2006 it was announced that the Betty Crocker Catalog was going out of business and all of the inventory to be sold off. 2007 saw the launch of Betty Crocker.com website.

Today millions of Betty Crocker Books are still being sold all over the world and even venturing into the world of Oriental Cuisine.

To the left you will find just a few samples of Betty Crocker Cookbooks on sale from Amazon.


Here is just one old recipe for making two loaves of white Bread:

Measure into mixing bowl ½ cup of warm water, 2 pkg. dry yeast. Add 1¾ cups lukewarm scalded milk. Stir in 7 cups sifted flour, 3 tbsp. sugar, 1 tbsp. salt, 2 tbsp. shortening. Beat with a spoon, cover, knead, let rise. Shape into loaves. Bake 425°.

--Betty Crocker recipe for white bread, two loaves. Source Clyde Freeman Herreid
other sources of information: Wikipedia
CookBooks by Janet Jarvits