How to Make Your Own Biscuit / Pancake Mix

My mornings are busy to the point of not being able to make myself a decent breakfast before I have to trudge off to my day job, let alone eat it before I hit the road. Even cold cereal takes too long. I've started eating at McDonald's a few times a week just get something warm in the mornings, but I can only take their overly salted, rubbery, and preservative laden sausage and egg biscuits for so long. I decided to start cooking my own in advance, so I could microwave them before leaving, saving me money and heartburn.

In order to expedite the weekend biscuit cook-athons, I decide to follow a recipe from Todd Wilber's version of “KFC Buttermilk Biscuits” from his cookbook, “Top Secret Restaurant Recipes: Creating Kitchen Clones from America's Favorite Restaurant Chains” His recipe starts with a box of Bisquick. I didn't want to pay a ton of money for that, so I decided to make my own biscuit mix. I wanted a deeper flavor than the recipes I had had hand for such things, so I kicked things up by replacing some of the all-purpose white flour with whole wheat flour.

Making your own biscuit mix provides a fresh tasting shortcut when making biscuits, pancakes, waffles and muffins. No, it's not health food, but at least it doesn't have all the chemical preservatives you find in the store bought varieties.

Ingredients

6 cups all-purpose white flour
4 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups vegetable shortening

Directions

Mix the flours, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a very large mixing bowl. Cut in the shortening until the mixtures resembles course crumbs. You can start with a pastry knife, if you've got one, but the best tools I find for the job are a pair of clean, dry, hands.

I chose vegetable shortening because most don't require any refrigeration. This way you can store it in an airtight container for up to 6 weeks at room temperature, or up to 6 months in the freezer.

Easy Pancakes: To whip up a quick pancake batter with this stuff, measure out one cup of the mix into a large bowl. Whip together 1 egg with 3/4 cup of milk. Add the milk mixture to the biscuit mix all at once and stir until blended. Pour about 1 /4 cup of batter onto a hot, lightly greased griddle and cook until golden brown, turning over when the pancake has a bubbly surface and the edges have gone slightly dry. Makes 4 -6 pancakes.

The “KFC Buttermilk Biscuits” I made with this mix turned out even better than the Colonels' original, but you'll have to wait until next time for that recipe.