
Early in the summer we were thrifting at the beach and I found these two cookbooks. I love vintage cookbooks from food companies, like Jello, Betty Crocker—that kind of thing. The one on the right is older and full of really funny and helpful entertaining advice. I could pull quotes from the whole thing, it's just so well written and wry, but also crazy and dated. Like how to entertain and cook for your husband's boss when he and his wife come over for dinner. That type of thing. A friend also pointed out that the tag line on the cover makes it sound like you are planning to eat your guests.
Anyhoo, I got all nutty and preoccupied with the other book on the left (So Quick with new Bisquick) when I realized that I actually had never really used baking mix at all and what a clever thing it is. Once, I bought a Trader Joe's baking mix when we were on vacation, but besides that, I never used it. I have no clue if my dad used a baking mix to make pancakes and waffles (grammie, did he?) so I don't even know if I had it growing up. I have always just baked it from scratch, mostly because I love baking so much. But this book was so addictive because it has about 7 basic recipes you can make from your mix: pancakes, waffles, biscuits, shortcake, coffeecake, that kind of thing, and then a ton of recipes with a variations. Some of which sound fantastically horrible. I immediately thought I needed to make my own mix, but not with white flour or shortening.
I did a bunch of online and cookbook searching and found so many recipes. I ended up making two different mixes and I love them both. This is the coffee cake I made from a mix #1.



and I made biscuits, too (recipe #2)

We also have made shortcake, waffles, pancakes, muffins, and cookies. I love having these at the ready and the efficiency I find so pleasing, especially early in the morning when I am not fully awake. The girls love using them because they are so simple, so much of the work is already done. But, they do like to measure, pour, and mix so going fast and speedy with very few ingredients isn't necessarily what they like about baking. I do love that I can mix 3 ingredients together and have muffins, however. There are a lot of limitations cooking with these mixes, but I still find it fun and thrilling.

Awesome title page from the book.
Here are the two recipes I made.
Recipe #1 (adapted from the King Arthur Flour recipe)
- 4 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup white flour
- 3 1/2 cups old-fashioned or rolled oats
- 3 tablespoons sugar (optional)
- 3 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
Chop the oats in a food processor until fine, dump this in big bowl of a mixer (I use my kitchen aid and it fillis it to the top) and add the other dry ingredients and slowly drizzle in oil. Store in the refrigerator or freezer.
Recipe #2
- 5 cups white whole wheat flour
- 3 tablespoons baking powder
- 4 tablespoons flour (optional)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 cup butter, cold
Mix all the dry ingredients and cut in the butter until it's finely mixed in. I do this with about half the amount of flour in the food processor and then mix the rest in a big bowl distributing the butter throughout. Store in the refrigerator of freezer.
5 Cups All Purpose Flour (I used unbleached)
3 Tablespoons Baking Powder
2 Teaspoons Salt
1 Cup Shortening
- See more at: http://www.themakeyourownzone.com/2012/05/homemade-bisquick-baking-mix-recipe.html#sthash.f2Zozz6R.dpuf
5 Cups All Purpose Flour (I used unbleached)
3 Tablespoons Baking Powder
2 Teaspoons Salt
1 Cup Shortening
- See more at: http://www.themakeyourownzone.com/2012/05/homemade-bisquick-baking-mix-recipe.html#sthash.f2Zozz6R.dpuf
5 Cups All Purpose Flour (I used unbleached)
3 Tablespoons Baking Powder
2 Teaspoons Salt
1 Cup Shortening
- See more at: http://www.themakeyourownzone.com/2012/05/homemade-bisquick-baking-mix-recipe.html#sthash.f2Zozz6R.dpuf
To make all the different items, I used my vintage book, but online you can find a lot too, there's a ton of recipes at the Betty Crocker site using Bisquick. I have found that across the board, the whole grain makes a much drier dough, so I always add more liquid. Sometimes a lot more. I definitely go with what looks and behaves like a typical dough or batter for what I am making rather than rely on the recipe. Also, Mix #1 has a lot more texture and flavor, with the ground-up oats, so I save that for hearty baking rather than anything I want fluffy—like shortcakes or biscuits, which is better with #2, because it's also got the butter.