Biscuit mix can be used to make a variety of recipes from casseroles to chicken pot pie. But it can be frustrating to get a hankering for one of those comforting foods and realize you’re out of Bisquick or your other go-to biscuit mix. But don’t ditch your brunch plans just yet — homemade biscuit mix can be whipped up in no time.
Believe it or not, all you need are some household pantry staples to make your own biscuit mix. As long as you have butter, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, you are only a few steps away from making flaky, flavorful biscuits from scratch. And if you happen to be out of some of those ingredients, here’s a list of some baking substitutions you should know.
After getting all of your dry ingredients together, combine them into a large bowl and add butter to the mixture. The most important step is using a pastry cutter to break the butter into small pea-size amounts and adding them into the flour so that the butter is evenly distributed.
Use the biscuit mix to make traditional biscuits, or try out these recipes you never knew you could make with biscuit mix.
Buttermilk Biscuits from Scratch
Ingredients:
1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter
3 cups Lily White flour, or all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting work area
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup heavy cream
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cut cold butter into half-inch cubes. Place in the refrigerator for 5 minutes.
Generously flour work area.
Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Combine dry ingredients and sift into a large bowl. Add butter to the flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, break butter into pieces smaller than peas, at the same time incorporating it into the flour so that the butter is well distributed.
Add buttermilk and heavy cream to the mixture. Using hands, mix dry and wet ingredients until you get a sticky dough. Don’t overwork the dough. Drop dough onto the floured work area. Dust top of dough with a little flour and pat it down to about 2-inch thickness. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough in one direction into a rectangle that’s about a half-inch thick and measures roughly 8 inches by 16 inches. Working at one long end, fold the dough in thirds: fold one third of the dough over to cover two thirds of the dough. If the dough sticks to the work area, scrape it gently with a spatula and add a little more flour to the work area. Now take the opposite end and fold it all the way over the folded dough. Pat the dough so that the edges are straight and squared off. Turn the dough 90 degrees. Dust top with a little flour if necessary.
Using a rolling pin, roll the dough again in the same manner as above: a long rectangle, and fold it over itself in thirds. Roll the twice-folded dough to a 9-inch square, about ¾ to 1 inch thick.
Dust a straight long knife with flour. Cut dough into thirds, cutting straight down the dough without sawing back and forth. Dust knife with flour again and cut dough into thirds in the opposite direction to yield 9 squares.
Place cut biscuits on a parchment-lined pan so that they are touching. Bake in a preheated oven for about 25 to 30 minutes, rotating pan halfway, until biscuits are nicely browned.
By Madeline Buiano
