Make a fluffy, delicious buttermilk biscuit recipe with pancake mix. Only 3 ingredients needed. Or add cheddar cheese and herbs for savory biscuits. They will be a hit any time of day!
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When I think of homemade biscuits, I think of grandma out at the farm, prepping biscuit dough before the sun rises.
Grams is covered head to toe in flour, kneading the dough with the experience of a professional chef. She cuts each biscuit with care before putting them in the oven.
Makes your mouth water, doesn’t it?
Nowadays, you may not have the time to make everything from scratch. Fortunately, these biscuits are easy and homemade.
Maybe the mix is a shortcut. But you can take some shortcuts and still make something equally delicious to Grandma’s biscuits.
This 3-ingredient biscuit recipe with pancake mix is the perfect blend of comforting and delicious. With a hint of sweetness.
Butter it up. Smear with jam. Oh yeah!
3 Reasons You Will Love This Recipe
- Teensy, tiny prep. This recipe has only 3 ingredients. There is literally nothing to do beforehand. You don’t even bring the butter to room temperature.
- Easy. Start to finish is a breeze. You will love the easy cooking and delicious flavors.
If you are a beginner cook or a well-seasoned one (see what I did there?), these are a cinch to make. Everyone will think you spent all day (or at least more than a half-hour) baking.
- Cleanup is minimal. Nothing says I love you more than minimal cleanup. It wasn’t my turn for dish duty. But if it was, I wouldn’t have complained. I dirtied a large bowl, measuring cups, silicone pastry sheet, and baking mat.
Tips and Tricks
- Invest in a silicone pastry mat. Seriously. Go buy one now. This is good for rolling out the dough for biscuits, pizza, pie crust, etc. Once you’re done, wipe the scraps in the garbage and wash.
- Pat the dough, don’t roll it. The best way to get light, flaky, delicious biscuits is to use your hands to work the dough. Skip the rolling pin.
Transfer dough to your work surface. Flatten the dough, then fold it over and flatten again. You just created light, flaky layers.
- Invest in a silicone baking mat. Do you want easier cleanup? Buy a silicone baking mat. These piping hot biscuits slid right off when they were done.
Ingredients
- Pancake mix. There are a variety of pancake mixes to choose from. Krusteaz buttermilk pancake mix is easy to find and tasty. But all major pancake mix brands will work.
Consider Krusteaz, Trader Joe’s, and Bisquick pancake mix. Pancake mix is just as good as a biscuit mix. A waffle mix may work too.
- Butter (salted or unsalted butter). You may be tempted to melt the butter and throw it in. But resist. It only takes 5 minutes to cut the cold butter into the dry mix.
Use a pastry cutter or two butter knives to work the butter into the flour until pea-sized. This extra step will lead to fluffy biscuits.
Use melted butter or coconut oil if you really don’t have the time. Your biscuits will taste good, but they will be flatter.
- Buttermilk. Instead of a cup of water or cold milk, use buttermilk. It adds flavor and makes tender biscuits. Its role functions similarly to sour cream in muffins.
You can easily make a buttermilk substitute if you don't have buttermilk. Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice to one cup of milk. Five minutes later, your buttermilk is ready.
How to Make Biscuits with Pancake Mix
STEP 1: PREHEAT OVEN
- Heat oven to 400° F (200° C).
STEP 2: PREP THE BAKING SHEET
- Lightly spray a baking sheet pan with no stick cooking spray. Or use parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet.
STEP 3: MEASURE INGREDIENTS
- Pour the pancake mix into a medium bowl.
- Stir in the salt (optional).
STEP 4: RUB IN BUTTER
- Cut the butter into four pieces.
- Use a pastry cutter to cut (or rub) the butter into the dry mix. You are finished when the butter is in pea-sized pieces, and the dough is slightly moist.
STEP 5: ADD THE BUTTERMILK
- Pour the buttermilk into the dry ingredients.
- Stir with a wooden spoon or wire whisk. It will start with a lumpy consistency.
- Stir ingredients until the pancake mix is moist and a soft dough forms. If it is too dry, add up to 2 teaspoons more buttermilk. Resist the urge to make the batter wet.
STEP 6: PREP WORK SURFACE
- Lightly dust a clean work surface with pancake mix powder.
- Dump the bowl of batter out, scraping out the remnants with a rubber spatula.
STEP 8: WORK THE DOUGH
- Flatten the dough with your palms.
- When it is about 1-inch thick, fold it over once.
- Continue to pat the dough, flattening it again. Do not work dough too much, or the biscuits will be tough.
STEP 9: CUT OUT BISCUITS
- When the dough is 1-inch thick, cut the biscuits with a biscuit cutter or the top of a drinking glass. You want the dough to have at least an inch thickness because the biscuits do not rise much.
You can make 10 to 12 biscuits with a 2¾ inch biscuit cutter.
Note: If you do not have a biscuit cutter, divide the batter into equal piles of dough. The rough dough forms about 8 biscuits.
Roll the dough between your hands and slightly flatten to make easy drop biscuits. The final product will be more uniform when the dough is equally divided.
STEP 10: LOAD BISCUITS ONTO BAKING SHEET
- Place the biscuits on the baking sheet. They can be close because they do not spread very much when baking.
STEP 11: REPEAT UNTIL ALL THE DOUGH IS USED UP
- Continue to flatten the dough and cut the biscuits until the dough is gone.
STEP 12: BAKE
- Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven.
- Bake biscuits for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they are a light golden brown.
STEP 13: SERVE
- Remove your beautiful buttermilk biscuits from the oven.
- Serve hot with butter and jam.
Savory Cheese Biscuits with Pancake Mix Recipe
Next time you crave buttery biscuits, why not make savory biscuits?
- COMBINE 1 cup of pancake mix with ⅛ teaspoon of garlic powder, a pinch of black pepper, and ¼ teaspoon of oregano in a large mixing bowl.
- CUT IN 3 tablespoons of cold butter.
- ADD ½ cup of cheese. Cheddar cheese is the best.
- STIR in ⅓ cup of buttermilk.
- FOLLOW the rest of the instructions for the regular buttermilk biscuits with pancake mix recipe.
What to Serve with Buttermilk Biscuits
- Side dish with soup. Serve a big batch of biscuits with butternut squash soup. It is a great side dish for any kind of soup. Chicken chili, I’m talking to you.
- Fried or baked chicken. You’ve heard of chicken and waffles. Why not biscuits? They are a side dish at most fast-food chicken places, after all.
- Breakfast Sandwiches. Did you know Johnsonville makes sausage strips? Yeah, they do, and they are the bomb! Seriously, forget about eggs and bacon. Go grab some Johnsonville sausage strips!
They have original, maple, or spicy. The spicy sausage strips would go great with these biscuits. Yes, please!
- It’s good on its own! When you need a hot snack, bake up a batch. They are warm and comforting year-round. Snack on them alone. Or be fancy and serve them with tea. Pinky’s up!
How to Store Leftovers
Biscuits do not store well. They become too soft and mushy, and they lose their biscuit-like quality.
If you do want to save them, use an airtight container on the counter. Trust me, they are best eaten right after baking.
What to do with Leftover Biscuits
Ok. You know they are better fresh. But when you have a few extra, check out these leftover biscuit ideas.
- Make quick bread crumbs. Use a food processor to crumble the biscuits. Old biscuits are one of my favorite ingredients to turn into bread crumbs.
No food processor? No problem. Check out all the ways you can make bread crumbs without a food processor.
- Top easy chicken pot pie. Cut the biscuits in half or quarters. Dot the top of the pot pie before it goes in the oven. Yum. That is the right place for leftover biscuits. And it makes a quick Sunday lunch.
- Eat with gravy. Biscuits and gravy are a tasty breakfast. Heat the biscuits and moisten with gravy for a hearty meal.
- Use it instead of toast in chicken a la king. Leftover biscuits are the right texture. Forget the toast. You have biscuits.
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Recipe
Best Biscuit Recipe with Pancake Mix
Ingredients
- 2 cups of pancake mix like Krusteaz or Trader Joe's
- 6 tablespoons of cold butter salted or unsalted
- ⅔ cup of buttermilk
- Pinch of salt optional if using unsalted butter
Cheesy Herb Biscuit Variety
- ½ teaspoon of oregano
- ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon of black pepper
- 1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
- PREHEAT the oven to 400° F (200° C).
- LIGHTLY SPRAY a baking sheet pan with non-stick cooking spray. (Alternatively, use parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet on the sheet pan).
- MEASURE the pancake mix into a large bowl. Stir in the salt (optional).
- CUT the butter into four pieces. Use a pastry cutter (or two kitchen knives) to cut (or rub) the butter into the dry mix. You are finished when the mix resembles wet sand, and the dough is slightly moist.
- POUR the buttermilk into the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon. The batter will be lumpy at first. Continue to stir until the pancake mix is moist and a soft dough forms. If it is too dry, add up to 2 teaspoons more buttermilk. Resist the urge to make the batter wet.
- LIGHTLY DUST a clean work surface with pancake mix powder. Dump the batter out.
- FLATTEN the dough with your palms. When it is about 1-inch thick, fold it over once. Continue to pat the dough, flattening it again. Do not work dough too much, or the biscuits will be tough. (Alternately, roll the dough out with a floured rolling pin.)
- CUT the biscuits with a biscuit cutter or the top of a drinking glass.
- PUT the biscuits on the baking sheet. They can be close because they do not spread very much when baking.
- CONTINUE to flatten the dough and cut the biscuits until the dough is gone.
- PLACE the baking sheet in the preheated oven. Bake the biscuits for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they are a light golden brown.
- REMOVE the buttermilk biscuits from the oven. Serve hot with butter and jam.
- Note: If you do not have a biscuit cutter, divide the batter into equal piles of dough. Roll the dough between your hands and slightly flatten to make easy drop biscuits.
- Cheesy Biscuits
- FOLLOW steps 1 to 3 above.
- STIR in oregano, garlic, black pepper and cheese.
- FOLLOW steps 4 to 12 above.
Notes
Nutrition
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Jamie
Absolutely amazing!!!! Thank you- have looked and tried many recipes- LOVE this one!!! ❤️
Tami McBride
Thank you for your nice comment. I'm glad you love the recipe!