"Instant" Baking Mix

Pancakes made with my "Instant" Mix.
We swirled in come home made cinnamon roll filling to make these ridiculously good.  

Way back when we only had 1 daughter, I would often make pancakes for breakfast using Bisquick or some other "Instant" baking mix.  Then somewhere along the way, someone made the claim that these mixes were terrible for you and that I had to change to natural alternative.  Being the ultra-conservative and typical male that I am, I quickly dismissed the claim as "Hippy Malarkey".  It wasn't until a year of so later that I actually started caring about things like hydrogenated oils and trans-fats.  Come to find out, that crazy hippy was right!  Fooducate does a pretty simple breakdown of what is in Bisquick and why it is bad.

I then started playing with recipes for made at home "baking mixes" that used only standard baking supplies. After much trial and error, here is what I arrived at.  The recipe uses a 5 pound bag of flour as the base.  I suggest using a gallons size Tupperware container so that you can dump all of the ingredients in, shake and store in the same container.  The mix takes a little more work than Bisquick to actually use since there are no oils in it, but it really is only a few seconds to add the oil when you cook and the outcome is great.

"Instant" Baking Mix.

PRINT RECIPE

• One 5 lb. Bag of Flour
• 2 Tablespoons Baking Soda
• 4 Tablespoons Baking Powder
• 3 1/2 Tablespoons Table Salt
• 6 Tablespoons Sugar

Simply mix all of the ingredients together and keep sealed in a container or bag.

Here are my 3 common recipes made with this mix

Pancakes

• 2 Cups "Instant Mix"
• 2 Eggs, beaten
• 2 Cups milk
• 4 Tablespoons melted butter or vegetable oil

Combine all ingredients and mix until just combined.  Lumps are OK.  Thin out with more milk if you like a thinner pancake or go light on the milk if you like them thick.

Notes:  You can use butter-milk for a richer cake, or add 2 T. of lemon juice to the milk and allow to set for 5 minutes before adding to the other ingredients.  I've also made this with olive oil and the results are still pretty good.  But nothing beats real butter.

Waffles

• 2 Cups "Instant Mix"
• 3 Eggs, beaten
• 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil or Melted Butter
• 1 3/4 Cups Milk

Combine all ingredients and cook in a lightly oiled waffle maker according to the appliances directions.

Note:  If you want to get fancy, separate your egg whites and whip them until soft peaks form. Mix all other ingredients including the egg yolks together first.  Then fold in the whites just before cooking.  This will make a very light and fluffy waffle.

Biscuits

• 2 Cups "Instant Mix"
• 1/4 Cup butter, lard or shortening slightly cooled.
• 1 Cup Milk

Cut the butter into the dry mix until only small pea sized lumps remain.

Add milk and combine until the dough comes together.

Roll out to 1/2" thickness, cut square or use a round cutter.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Two great things about this recipe.  First of all it's cheap.  At under $5.00 for a full batch, you will be spending hardly anything on breakfast.  Secondly, it can be completely customized.   You can go as healthy and organic or as cheap and simple as you want.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.