Make a Substitute for Bisquick
Craving some pancakes but don't have quite enough Make Delicious Treats out of Bisquick to finish the recipe? Never fear — this easy substitution is ready in minutes. It's equivalent to 1 cup of dry mix and can be used in virtually any recipe that calls for Bisquick.
- Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Contents
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125 g) flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons (8 g) baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon (pinch) salt
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) shortening, vegetable oil, or melted butter
Steps
Making the Mix
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Use a whisk or a large spoon to get a nice even mixture.
- All-purpose flour works best here. However, alternatives are possible. For example, to make gluten-free pancakes, substitute buckwheat or almond flour.
- Cut the fat into the dry ingredients. Shortening, oil, and other fats are sometimes tricky to mix evenly into dry ingredients like flour. Using a technique called "cutting" can help. To cut the fat in, put or pour it onto the dry ingredients, then use two knives to distribute it in a "criss-crossing" motion. Continue until it is well-combined and the mixture naturally forms blueberry-sized clumps.
- If using melted butter, disperse the butter as evenly as possible before mixing. It's a little harder to get butter to mix evenly than it is when using the other ingredients.
- Alternatively, use a pastry blender. If you want a mix that's guaranteed to be even or you're having trouble cutting in solid fat like shortening, consider using a pastry blender. Some recipes even call for for this handy kitchen tool specifically.
- Simply the pulsing the ingredients together a few times until they're well-combined should be enough to achieve the desired consistency. If it has a "cut" setting, use this. If not, any general "combine" setting should be fine.
Using the Mix
- Substitute the mix for 1 cup of Bisquick in recipes. Using your substitute is easy. Simply use it in place of one cup of "normal" Bisquick mix. Add the extra ingredients called for in the recipe, including additional oil or fat. Follow the directions for preparation as they are written — you shouldn't need to change them to account for the new mix.
- The recipe above makes one cup of substitute mix, so it's perfect when just one person is eating. To serve multiple people, just scale the ingredients (multiply each by two, three, etc.) and follow the directions as normal.
- A good source of Bisquick recipes is available here.
- Store in a cool, dry place. If you're not using the Bisquick substitute right away, you can store it. Be sure to place it in a sealed, airtight container. It should keep well in the same places that Bisquick itself does: closets, pantries, etc. Stored correctly, this mix should last at least a few weeks.
- Put the Bisquick in the fridge for long-term storage. Stored in the fridge, Bisquick substitute can last up to four months. If you're making it way ahead of time, put it in an airtight container in the fridge to keep it fresh.
- If you're using your Bisquick substitute fairly quickly, you shouldn't need to worry about storing the mix in the fridge unless you used butter as the fat in your mix. Butter can eventually go rancid at room temperature, so it's wise in this case to keep your mix in the fridge.
Tips
- If you have a choice in which type of butter you use, use unsalted butter, as the recipe already has salt in it. If you have to use salted butter, consider leaving out the salt unless you prefer the slightly saltier taste.
- One way to make this substitute with butter and not need to refrigerate it is to prepare ghee from your butter. Ghee is clarified butter — butter that's been melted down and separated from the milk solids, which are the parts that can go rancid. Ghee is easy to make: see our guide to clarifying butter for more information.
