Do you like to keep a box of Bisquick baking mix in the pantry for a quick and easy way to stir up some biscuits or pancakes?
If you do, here’s a way to mix together your own homemade version that will save you money too!
The Bisquick brand of baking mix has been around since the 1930’s and was created to make cooking biscuits easy and convenient by using their mixture that already contained the baking powder and the shortening. You can usually just add some water or milk to the Bisquick and that’s all it takes for some basic biscuits, waffles, or pancakes.
When I set out to make my own Bisquick, I soon discovered that there were quite a a few versions of this mixture, and they were all just a tiny bit different. After comparing lots of recipes, I decided on a mixture that uses flour, baking powder, salt, and shortening. You should use white all purpose flour rather than whole wheat as whole wheat will give different, heavier baking results. A few things I left out were:
– Sugar: Some recipes called for a few tablespoons of sugar but many recipes did not. I feel that if you can eliminate some sugar from your diet the better off you are, so I did not include any sugar in my mixture.
– Dry Milk Powder: A few recipes had you adding in some dry milk powder, but again several recipes did not include that ingredient. Because the biscuits or pancakes are often made by adding milk, I decided to opt out on using any dry milk powder.
– Butter: If you want your homemade Bisquick mixture to be shelf stable, you will need to use shortening rather than butter or margarine. If you have objections to shortening you can substitute butter, but you will then need to keep your homemade baking mix in the refrigerator.
– Sifting: I read one recipe that said to sift your mixture – twice! I had good intentions . . . really I did. Got my sifter out and everything. I managed to sift about one and a half cups of flour and that was it. *Boring* If you are blessed with more patience than me, then go for it. Personally I think my mixture turned out OK despite the lack of sifting.
HOMEMADE BISQUICK BAKING MIX
Ingredients:
- 5 Cups All Purpose Flour (I used unbleached)
- 3 Tablespoons Baking Powder
- 2 Teaspoons Salt
- 1 Cup Shortening
1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. Cut in the shortening. You can use a pastry blender, however, I find it easier to just use my hands to get it mixed in really well.
3. Store in an airtight container.
4. Use the same as you would use Bisquick in a recipe.
This is a new mixture for me but I’ve used it in my Copycat Red Lobster Biscuits with good results. I did give in to temptation the other day and bought a new cookbook called Best Bisquick Recipes
Do you have a favorite Bisquick recipe to recommend? I would love some more ideas!
My favorite is the Impossible Cheeseburger pie or any of the Impossible pies! So good!
Just add sugar and melt butter over the top after baking. Used a similar recipe forty years ago.
I have a recipe that i have not seen.
How about the strawberry shortcake recipe! Or just shortcake.
I might have to put shortcake on my to-do list!
How much liquid do you use in making one patch of mixture
You can use the homemade Bisquick mixture the same as the store bought. I believe on the Bisquick box it says to use 2-1/4 cups of the mix with 2/3 cup milk. (I use this mixture the most for my copycat Red Lobster biscuits rather than plain biscuits).
I like the cheddar cheese biscuit I made. Thanks for the home made Bisquick mix. I love it!
So excited I found this, Just one thing I don’t like to use shorting can I use coconut oil instead of it and do you use the same amount or a little more?
Without having tested it myself I can’t say for sure Kim, but I would start by substituting it in the same amount as the lard.
can you use dry shortening in place of solid shortening?
I’m not familiar with dry shortening (sorry!) but it seems to me it should work and function like solid shortening and could probably be substituted.
Okay, so just to make sure: It’s okay to use butter instead of the shortening? Will the amount be the same?
Yes, you can substitute butter in the same amount. However if you use butter, then you should keep your homemade bisquick in the refrigerator.
Has anyone tried using lard instead of the shortening? I prefer to render my own lard and use that when ever shortening is called for.
I prefer not to add the butter/shortening, and add that when I mix up the pancakes, and then use olive oil, milk and an egg, for pancakes. This way the mix is good for shelf life and I keep it in a ziplock. Is there a problem with this?
Can you use self rising flour since I Have So much on hand?
If you use self rising flour, I would leave out the baking powder in this recipe. Self rising flour already contains baking powder, so I think it would work best if you just added the salt and shortening to make your homemade Bisquick.
I need to know a few things. How many buscuits does this recipe make in total and how much mix to how much liquid do i need to make busicuits ?
You would use this homemade Bisquick the same as a store bought box of Bisquick. I believe the recipe on the Bisquick box is 2-1/4 cups of Bisquick mixed with 2/3 cup of milk so you could use that same ratio with this homemade version. I believe that recipe would yield about a dozen biscuits (depending on the size you make your biscuits). So you should be able to get close to 3 dozen biscuits from this recipe.
Hello Beverly
Thanks for this useful recipe. I was thinking about using extra virgin coconut oil instead of shortening and leave the mix at room temperature. Can it work? By the way I use coconut oil for my traditional scones recipe(instead of butter) and it only does it work perfectly but I get the extra yummy flavor from the coconut
I think coconut oil would probably work Khady! Because it is stable at room temperature it will be OK in this mixture, and it will also provide the “fat” component needed in recipes using Bisquick. If you try it, let me know how it turns out!
Do you use the same directions as the bisquick box for drop dumplings?
Yes, you can use this homemade mixture the same way, using the same directions, as you would use the store bought Bisquick in a recipe.
I have a large family and I usually keep a big box of Bisquik on hand for biscuits, chicken and dumplings, pancakes, and chicken pot pie. This morning I was going to make biscuits and horror of horrors, my big (expensive!) box of Bisquik was full of weevils. Not wanting to make a trip to the store or spend so much on a new box, I did a Google search and found several recipes. I chose yours and the only change I made was to add some baking soda because I like the extra leavening. My biscuit recipe (5 C mix, 3/4 C buttermilk, 1/4 cup club soda, 1/2 C melted butter, 1 egg, 1 tsp salt, 2 Tbsp sugar baked at 450 12-14 mins) came out even better than when I use Bisquik. My sons declared then the best biscuits they’ve ever had. I never need to buy Bisquik again. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
That’s awesome Tamara! I’ve saved your biscuit recipe too and will be giving it a try – but maybe in a smaller version 🙂
Beverly, my math is very bad. Can you give me the smaller version of her recipe? Thanks
You could try cutting the recipe in half as follows: 2-1/2 cups Bisquick, 1/3 cup buttermilk, 2 Tbl club soda, 4 Tbl melted butter, 1 egg, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 Tbl sugar. You might need just a bit more buttermilk as a 1/3 cup is not exactly half of 3/4 C. in the original recipe, but it’s close. I also just left the 1 egg in, same as in the original. I hope it turns out if you try it . . . I might give it a try too!
Happy Holidays Bev!
I just browsed through these tips on making your own Bisquick, as I needed some for a no crust egg quiche I’m making for tomorrow. I have Aunt Jemima pancake mix and was wondering if I could used that in place of the Bisquick?
I know you can make pancakes out of Bisquick, but wasn’t sure if you could use pancake mix in place of Bisquick.
I’m serving it for company, so I’ll make my own Bisquick for now.
Thanks for your tips.
A mixture like Bisquick has some kind of fat/shortening added to it, and also has some kind of leavening (like baking soda or powder) added to it. I think most pancake mixes have those two features as well so you should be able to substitute pancake mix in a pinch.
have been looking for this for ever and my daughter is married and is low income with 2 children so any diy mixes packets ect. woruld so bee helpful for her and I will be shareing your page wither and her family it is great thanks
i stumbled upon a great bisquick recipe for biscuits as follows. 2 cups bisquick, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup 7 up and a 1/4 cup melted butter. put melted butter in a small baking dish, mix the remaining ingredients together in a bow. the mixture will be sticky. make balls of dough and place in pan of melted butter, evenly spaced apart. bake 400 for about 15 minutes. so good! and easy! will for sure use your recipe for this…
Hi Beverly,
Thanks for the recipe! I have a couple of off-topic questions for you- what font did you use for your jar label and did you make the label or purchase the labels and print them?
Thanks so much!
The label was made in the free photo editing software Picmonkey using the Overlock font. I uploaded a plain white square (that I made in Paint) to Picmonkey, then used one of the shapes in the Labels (which you find in the Overlay section) and then typed in the words for my label. Once I had it saved, I printed it off on a clear label that I bought at the office supply store. I bought the labels that are a 8.5×11 full sheet size that you cut down to any size you want. I was a little bummed, however, that the “clear” labels actually looked kind of frosted when they were stuck on glass.
can this be stored?? in the fridge?? and for how long??
This mixture is very shelf stable. I keep mine for several months at room temperature with no problems at all. However if you use butter instead of shortening, then you should keep it in the refrigerator where it will also keep for several months.
Would you by chance know if a gluten free flour will work for your bisquick recipe? I know they now sell gluten free bisquick…expensive! I too am new reading your blog….thanks for ll the great info…love it!
I think what you would have to do Marjorie, is make your own gluten free flour blend (like in this recipe: http://glutenfreecooking.about.com/od/glutenfreemixes/r/sorghumflourmix.htm ), and then substitute a blend like that for the 5 cups of flour in this homemade bisquick recipe. I think the challenge would be to find the gluten free flours like rice flour or quinoa flour to make your own blend.
I wasted about an hour looking through every cookbook I owned trying to find a substitute for Bisquik baking mix. Yours is the best one I found on the internet. Bless you!
Thanks Gloria! It’s been working well for me and I hope you like it too 🙂
Thanks, It has saved me a bundle and Its so great to make biscuits and my family’s fave coffee cake.
Thanks, need to mix some up so I can make Bisquick struesel coffee cake for breakfast tomorrow.
Terrific blog, Beverly! I found you via Pinterest and am having a great time reading. I haven’t tried anything yet but I wanted to give some insight on Amber’s question. When you make this mix, check the date on your baking powder and be sure to use it by that date. I had poor results once making a tried-and-true scratch cornbread recipe, and then found my baking powder to be expired. Good luck to all!
Good to know-Thanks! I’ll be trying this out this week, for sure!
Hi! Just found your blog via Pinterest, and am keeping busy checking it out!
Are there any recommendations on shelf life for this DIY bisquick?
Nice to hear you are having fun looking around the site Amber! I have kept this DIY Bisquick for several months without any problems. After a few months we have usually used it up. All the ingredients are very shelf stable though. My “guesstimate” would be six months to a year of shelf life.
I was checking out your Baking Mix post and I’m always looking for new ideas. I’ve been using a Quick Mix from the Utah State University Cooperative Extension website. It’s mix uses Canola Oil or Shortening and you don’t have to sift the mix and if you use Canola Oil you have to refrigerate but with shortening there is no refrigeration. To check it out type quick mix with canola oil.pdf in your search engine I use google and also check out quick mix with shortening.pdf.
While viewing pay attention to the page numbers it will make it easier to follow and it also has recipes to try.
extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/FNP_102.pdf
https://extension.usu.edu/…/…
Please read Article
https://extension.usu.edu/fsne/files/uploads/…/february%20scoop.pdf
Hope this helps
Can I substitute vegetable oil if I don’t have shortening?
I have not tried this with vegetable oil, but I would wonder if it would affect how the baked goods turn out. It would probably mix in OK and look about the same, but when you go to make biscuits or something, you might not get the same fluffiness or rise to the baked goods.
tks for great homemade mix-love to bake this way and needed this recipe=love your blog
I too just discovered your blog while waiting and will definitely be back to look at all of your posts
After today
I stumbled upon your blog today & have been gobbling up all the different posts. I recently made my own Bisquick and loved it. I used it just like the store bought stuff and we didn't notice a difference at all.
Is Bisquick the same as Jiffy? I have been using up my Jiffy store lately. Their 'rich' pancakes….. I make up double batches and just freeze them. I also use the Jiffy recipe, slightly altered, for banana bread…. a total favorite! Jiffy for the topping on cobblers….terrific! I am starting on Bisquick, to use it up, today with a batch of pancakes. As soon as it is all used up I will switch to your formula. It will be fun to compare all three……
Totally enjoy your site!
What a great idea! I don't use baking mix very much any more, but when my kids were little – oh, man! Pancakes galore!
Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe.. just got a 5 lb bag of flour and ran out of bisquick..Know what I'm making today!!