Make Your Own Biscuit Mix

Homemade Biscuits... Light, fluffy and delicious!

I'll admit it.  Regardless of my knowledge of baking or extensive baking skills, I have always had a weakness for biscuit mix... specifically, Pioneer Biscuit Mix.  It's so quick and easy... with one product I can have biscuits, pancakes or waffles... easy peasy!  I always feel guilty every time I get that lovely blue and golden  box out of the pantry, but gosh-darn-it it is so E A S Y!  Periodically, I've tried to find a good scratch recipe, but always found that easy and simple always won... ergo, the biscuit mix... sigh...

Anyhow, with my recent obsession with Americanizing the classic Victorian sponge cake, I find myself with self-rising flour on-hand at all times. Sooooo, I decided once again to re-visit finding a simple but delicious scratch biscuit recipe.  This time, I searched for one that called for self-rising flour. As I hoped, I found a recipe that only had three ingredients... self-rising flour, shortening, and milk.  Eureka!  This was exactly what I was looking for.  The biscuits were yummy... they were approved by my 7 year old (the toughest test of all)... and I always have the ingredients on hand!

It didn't take long for me to realize that I had stumbled upon my own version of a homemade biscuit mix.   The combined flour and shortening, minus the milk, should basically be a biscuit mix, right?  I decided to take it a step further and use this "biscuit mix" exactly as I had my old favorite, Pioneer Biscuit Mix.  I used the same recipe measurements to make waffles and pancakes.  They... were... awesome!

2 Ingredients for Your Own Biscuit/Baking Mix!

Self Rising Flour found in the baking isle of your grocery store

Vegetable Shortening

The Ratio - 5 to 1

Once I converted the recipe from the traditional "cups" measuring to weight, I discovered something amazingly simple.  The flour to shortening ratio was 5 to 1 for the biscuit mix.  No messy measuring of the shortening (something I have always loathed)....  In this example, I used 10 ounces of self-rising flour and 2 ounces of shortening. (I have since discovered that I can get up to 20 ounces of flour and 4 ounces of shortening in my food processor!  yay!!)

Weigh 10 ounces of self rising flour (don't forget to tare/zero out the scale after you put the bowl on the scale, but before you weigh the flour)

Zero/Tare the scale then add 2 ounces of shortening.

Put the flour and shortening in your food processor and pulse several times.

Your mixture should resemble slightly wet sand.

That's it!  Now you've made your own biscuit mix.  It has such a variety of uses, so don't be afraid to experiment.  

Recipe for Biscuits and Pancakes/Waffles:

BISCUITS:

8 ounces of homemade biscuit mix
*6 ounces of milk (approximate)
*  I find the amount of milk is very subjective, depending on how firm or soft you like your biscuit dough.  A 4 to 3 ratio is a good starting point.  Adjust per your preference.

In a medium sized bowl, combine biscuit mix and milk.  Stir with a fork just until combined.  DON'T over mix your dough or you will have tough biscuits!  Pat out onto a floured surface to 1/2" thick.  Cut with a biscuit cutter and transfer to a greased baking pan.  Bake at 425 until golden brown (15 minutes or so depending on your oven).

Tip!  One ounce of baking mix equals roughly 1 biscuit!

FYI - I get roughly 1 biscuit per ounce of biscuit mix.... (this, of course, depends on how thick you pat your dough out and how big you cut your biscuits).  Notice - this is roughly a 4-3 ratio of biscuit mix to milk.  With this knowledge, you can make as many or as few biscuits as you need!

PANCAKES AND WAFFLES

9 ounces of biscuit mix
12 ounces of milk (by weight or by volume - either way it's the same :)
2 eggs
(for a richer batter, you can add 1/2 ounce of melted butter per egg)

Whisk the ingredients together until you have a smooth batter.  Don't over-mix.  I prefer to mix and let the batter rest for 10 minutes or so before I pour on the griddle.  For pancakes, I use a griddle heated to just under 300 degrees.  I make my pancakes about 4-5" in diameter (that's the way my kids like them!).... I get about 15 pancakes with a full recipe.

For waffles, heat your waffle iron.  Spray with cooking spray and pour the batter into the griddle.  Cook per your waffle iron's instructions.  And... enjoy!