Do you buy pancake mix? It used to be the only way I made pancakes until the day I ran out of mix after I had promised my kids a yummy breakfast of pancakes. I quickly made up my own homemade pancakes from scratch but it really got me thinking. I thought to myself, “Why can’t I make a large batch of a dry baking mix, (kind of like Bisquick) that I only have to add milk and eggs too??” After a little more research I discovered I could make my own homemade Bisquick recipe and it was super easy to do. My recipe uses flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and butter. I use this mix to make pancakes, waffles, scones, and biscuits. It is pretty awesome!
I think it’s time for you all to forget store bought pancake mix and give my homemade pancake and waffle mix a try. This baking mix takes only a few minutes to make from start to finish and stores for up to 6 weeks in an airtight container. It is quick and easy to make and also very practical. I hope it becomes a staple in your house as it has ours.
Homemade Pancake and Waffle Mix Recipe
Sounds great but is it worth it?
Yes! It’s not only easy to make but it’s also less expensive than the store bought varieties.
I am going to give a cost comparison to bisquick baking mix since it is the most similar product to my homemade pancake and waffle mix recipe.
A 96 oz. box of bisquick comes to: $6.52
The same amount of my homemade baking mix comes to: $4.02
There you have it. A win-win all around. Go make some!
Below I have added the baking mix recipe as well as my recipes for pancakes, waffles, and biscuits. Enjoy!
- 5 cups flour
- 1/4 cup baking powder
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup Butter flavor shortening or butter
- Using a Kitchenaid mixer or food processor – blend in ingredients until powder.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 6 weeks.
- If you use butter, baking mix needs to be stored in the fridge or freezer so that the butter wont go rancid. If using shortening, it can be stored in a cool, dry place.
- I usually do about 3 batches of this recipe at once.
- 2 cups mix
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- Mix ingredients together.
- Pour 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake unto a hot greased griddle.
- Cook until both sides are golden brown.
- 1 cup mix
- 1/3 cup milk
- Add milk to baking mix. Be careful not to over stir it.
- Drop by spoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet.
- Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes
- 2 cups mix
- 1 1/3 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 egg white beaten to fluff.
- Stir all ingredients until blended.
- Pour batter onto a heated greased waffle maker.
Can you use this homemade baking mix to make muffins? Great idea to make my own!
Just a thank you for the recipes.
You are so welcome! 🙂
Thank You so very much… my grand kids love the pancakes…baking mix awesome!!!!
Kari, I thank you too! I love your blog. Best blog I read. 😉
I’m kind of a spreadsheet nerd. Do you, by any chance, have a spreadsheet of your recipes with the cost comparisons? This would be a great reference tool. For example, the recipe name, size of package, package cost vs store bought cost, price per serving, etc.
Just an idea!
Keep on cooking!
Hi! So far all of the recipes that I have tried have been fantastic, so Thank you!!! now I’m really trying to incorporate more whole wheat in my families diet, do you think I can sub half the flour for whole wheat or white whole wheat? Any suggestions, pleeeease. Thanks so much!
I haven’t tried it but I don’t see why not! Try it out and see if you like it!
i used whole wheat pastry flour amount as regular flour and it worked perfectly. yummy
Is there a way to do this without butter OR shortening? I want to do this without having to store in the fridge but don’t use shortening.
I have only done it with the butter and shortening. If you figure out a better alternative let me know!
I wonder if you could use dehydrated powdered butter so you could just store in kitchen cabinet?
I haven’t tried it but that sounds like it could work!
I’ve never heard of dehydrated powdered butter. Where would I find that?
Kay-M, I found some on Amazon here if you want to try it out!
Thrive Life also carries the butter powder, shortening powder and instant milk powder as well so you can add the milk to the mix as well.
http://www.thrivelife.com/all-products/thrive-foods/dairy.html?p=1
You could try coconut oil.
I have made my Bisquick substitute with margarine and keep it in a cool place. it is wonderful to save time. Thank you Happy money saver Karrie!
Leave off shortening and use heavy whipping cream – – this supplies liquid and fat.
You could just put together the dry ingredients & add the appropriate amt of butter etc when you make the waffles etc
Try a cooking oil
Maybe you could try substituting coconut oil instead of butter.
The butter or shortening melts as your items cook and makes air pockets…it’s what makes your biscuits or pancakes fluffy..the dried butter might work but I doubt it
I mix it up without butter or shortening and keep it in the cabinet. When using, I melt the butter then add it to the COLD milk and stir. This gives little bits of butter that mix in with the dry ingredients and eggs the same way the crumbly pastry would work. Easy Peasy.
How much melted butter do you add compared to mix ratio?
for abby-
the ratio of fat to flour is about 1 cup of flour and 3 1/4 tablespoons fat. so just dont add the fat to the dry mix. work in the butter when you are preparing your recipe. for every cup of flour and 3 1/4 tablespoons butter. work it in then complete your recipe. no refrigeration, no shortening. it might take a minute longer, but it is what you are after. I have also successfully used coconut oil, while it is solid in place of butter, no refigeration necessary.
Thanks, Susan!
Thanks for the tips ladies! Love the coconut oil idea! 🙂
i love the idea of making your own Mix but I have one question. Do you think you can use Stevia in place of sugar along with white wheat flour?
I haven’t ever tried it before. Let me know if you do and what you think!
How about using gluten free all purpose flour? Gluten free Bisquick is so expensive for such a tiny box! Hoping someone has tried it!
I think it could definitely work. Anyone tried it?
Can you use Krusteaz gluten free flour? It measures cup for cup to all purpose.
I haven’t tried it but I can’t see a reason why it wouldn’t work!
I love this recipe! Thank you! I am always running out of bisquick but always have all these ingredients in hand! Do you have a recipe for scones? Or how would you incorporate this in a recipe? Thank you!!
I’ve only made fresh scones once, and they were amazing! You can use this the same way as Bisquick in any recipe you find.
And no icky chemicals!
you are smart ,THANKS……..
I used your recipe for rendering tallow and LOVED it. I wonder if you could swap out the shortening for the tallow….
I haven’t tried it yet! Let me know what you think!
I’ve been using a similar mix for years for going camping and hiking, but also added skim milk powder so you just need to add water.
What a great tip. I am always looking for new things to take camping!
I have saved this to my files and can’t wait to try it! I am thinking it would be interesting to add some buttermilk powder to these recipes and see how that turns out. Thanks for posting this.
Yes, that sounds great! Let me know if you like it.
Can you store this in room temperature? I’m assuming you need to store it in the fridge due to the butter.
Yes, it does need to be stored in the fridge. Read through the comments of my very smart readers who used different items so that it could be stored at room temperature! I love the idea of using coconut oil.
Thank you for this recipe and I did use coconut oil . It was great and now I’m on to making two (2) batches
For the waffle mix, you have 1 egg white beaten to fluff. Does that mean beaten until white fluff like meringue? Or until foamy?
Yes, beaten until it is fluffy like meringue. 🙂
I love the idea making/using foods that are not processed — Thank You for figuring this out. I have a question: how much of the homemade mixture do you use for your bisquit, pancake, and waffle recipes?
Look at my recipes at the bottom! Hope you like them! 🙂
I am currently living in Kuala Lumpur, Malayasia. Imported mixes are so expensive and while in Bangkok threw away more imported flour base mixes than I’d care to think about. This is an answer to prayer and my husband.
Off to the market in the morning to buy local and enjoy the pleasures of fresh made by me.
Thank you.
That makes me sooooo happy to hear! Yes, this mix has been my go-to and I hope it can be yours too! 🙂
If you have a Bisquick cookbook, or any of those recipes, you can use this mix in all of them. I’ve been making my own for years!!
Also try:
7 up biscuits. Tasty!
2 cups mix
1/2 cup 7 up
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup butter. 450/ 15 to 20 min.
Melt butter in bottom 9×9 pan (while oven pre heats)
Mix gently together remaining ingredients
Fold over knead 4 to 5 times
Pat down to about 1 1/2 inches
Cut biscuits
Place on top of butter in pan
Bake
Best one I’ve found!! Yummy!!
Thanks for that recipe, Bonnie!
Great recipe but I think I would just leave the butter out and melt a little to add to the batter, that way, the dry ingredients would last a lot longer on the shelf.
And I’d use “real” organic butter, not margerine. It would add to the cost a bit, but still wouldn’t be as expensive as buying Bisquick.
Stevia should be fine.
1 cup = 1 tsp powdered or 1 teaspoon of liquid Stevia = 1 cup
1 tblsp = 1/4 tsp of powdered Stevia or 6-9 drops of liquid Stevia
1 tsp= a pinch to 1/16 tsp of powdered Stevia or 2-4 drops of liquid Stevia
I’d love to have the scones recipe!
Would it be possible to just use plain shortening? I have a son who can’t have dairy.
Sure, give it a try!
Terima kasih, thank you.. Splendid breakfast recipe
Tried your mix and pancake recipe. Just as good as store bought! Thanks!!!
I use coconut oil instead of butter and also make a carb friendly one using almond and coconut flours…. Very versatile and without preservatives😉
Thank you so much for this recipe! My kids just loved it, I added a mashed banana to the pancakes and they came out divine. The Evans family thanks you!
Thank you so much for the recipe. I was wondering what you thought about using ghee instead of butter or shortening? Ghee is stored at room temperature in the cabinet like shortening, but is actually clarified butter. Could I still keep the mix in the pantry or should it be in the frig? What you do think?
Oh that is a great idea and really healthy! I would think that would be a great substitution. 🙂
Hi Karrie.
Thanks for sharing your recipes. This is a great idea!
I wanted to ask about a modification to the recipe. If I choose not to add the butter or shortening to the dry mix to store it longer on the shelf, how much butter or shortening do I need to add when it comes time to make the batter?
Why not mix the dry ingredients, leave the butter/shortening out. Then add canola oil when you get ready to use it?
It will not work for pancakes because it has butter in it. Pancakes do not have butter in the batter, just milk eggs and flour.
how long will it last in the freezer
4-6 months 🙂
Hello! I have 2 little ones that I babysit and I also have a 17 yr. old daughter that loves pancakes so I have a hard time keeping the mix on hand. So this recipe would be great. I was thinking of making it with the butter flavored shortening and storing it in an old icing bucket I got from Sams Club’s bakery awhile back. My question is how long will it last in my pantry with the shortening or does it need to be put in the fridge? I thought I saw that with the shortening it could be stored in the pantry? Thanks in advance for a reply! The little ones are waiting lol!
I don’t use butter nor oil for my baking mixes…I use applesauce so I would leave the oils out of the main mix. Applesause works amazingly well and gives a nice moist endproduct. AND it’s cheaper than the oils. Applesause can be used in everything from pancake/waffle batter to quickbreads. You don’t taste applesauce in the products either.
Can this be frozen for longer shelf life?
Yes, this freezes well!
After searching for a diy mix for a while and trying to avoid a store bought mix I finally made yours and it was perfect with pancakes. I used unsalted butter so kept it in the fridge overnight and this mornings blueberry pancakes were perfect. I made a test batch last night and I felt that the morning,s pancakes came out even better and had that perfect buttery yellow color. I’ve tried it with almond milk and 2% and both came out beautifully. I used all purpose this time, but next time I’ll try white whole wheat flour. I’m thinking it should be just fine. Super easy, thanks!