It's So Easy To Transform Pancake Mix Into Delicious Breakfast Biscuits

Our hot take of the day? Pancake mix is a vastly underestimated pantry staple. When it's a Saturday night, and you forgot to plan a meal, breakfast for dinner saves the day. Need an easy base for corn dog batter? Pancake mix. And adding to the line-up of secondary uses, whipping up a batch of sweet or savory breakfast biscuits simply by adjusting the ingredients you add to your regular pancake mix is super easy, and delicious. 

Although the ingredients vary by brand, pancake mix typically includes flour, sugar, baking powder or baking soda, and salt, among other additives. It's simple, which is why pancake mix is so easy to DIY. It essentially includes all the pillars of a simple base for many baked goods, which means it's easy to switch up the ratios of the wet ingredients you add to make something entirely new.

For biscuits, the key is to make the batter significantly thicker than that of pancake batter, adding less water, vegetable oil, or egg to keep the moisture to a minimum. You should also keep the batter cold to produce the flakiness that characterizes the best biscuits. So long as the dry mix is fully incorporated, you're free to experiment with cold butter instead of vegetable oil, or milk instead of water, and so on, in your batter. Each will produce a slightly different flavor and texture, some flakier, some firmer, but biscuits aren't too finicky, making them an amicable test subject. Once you've got your mixture down, drop spoonfuls of dough onto a cookie sheet, and bake for about 10 minutes, or until they turn golden brown.

Once you've mastered the basics, you're free to enter the wide world of biscuit experimentation. There are a number of ways to make your biscuits feel homemade, from mix-ins to toppings, but your first step is to decide whether you want a sweet or a savory treat.

If your pick is savory, stirring shredded cheese or fresh herbs like rosemary and thyme into your batter can make the biscuits a perfect mid-morning or after-school salty snack. If you go this route, remember that biscuit dough shouldn't be overmixed or overhandled, so mix in extra ingredients with caution and intentionality. Or, for a more complete meal, cut the biscuits in half to build protein-packed sausage, egg, and bacon breakfast sandwiches, or top them with a hearty ladle of sausage cream gravy.

If your breakfast style comes with more of a sweet tooth, try harking back to your biscuits' pancake batter roots for topping inspo. Since they were made with more or less the same ingredients, there's a good chance that your favorite creative pancake toppings will similarly hit the spot on a slightly denser, crispier version of the dough. Slather on some strawberry jam, peanut butter, and honey or even just a bit of high-quality butter, and eat the biscuits while they're warm for a mouth-meltingly flaky twist on everyone's favorite Saturday-morning ritual.