Bisquick is a commercial product developed to make it easy for anyone to make biscuits.
Marketed by General Mills as a Betty Crocker product, it has been a household name for decades.
Containing all of the ingredients of scratch biscuits, Bisquick requires only milk to make a biscuit mix.
Can You Use Bisquick Instead of flour?
It can be used in some recipes in place of flour, such as biscuits, dumplings, piecrusts, and other baked goods that require flour mixed with shortening, baking powder, and salt.
However, it needs to be used proportionately, and it takes a little math to determine what you must add or take away to make Bisquick work in a recipe.
Bisquick may be challenging to convert if baking a cake is what you have on your mind.
However, a coffee cake is within the realm of your possibilities, as are muffins.
Continue reading to learn if you can use Bisquick instead of flour in your recipes.
Can you use Bisquick instead of flour?
You can use Bisquick instead of flour if your recipe calls for the same ingredients as Bisquick. A cup of Bisquick contains 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder and three tablespoons of shortening. It is more like self-rising flour with added fat. It also includes a pinch of salt and sugar for that mix. So, for a recipe that uses these ingredients in the same proportion, you can use Bisquick instead of flour for your recipes.
The Origins of Bisquick
Bisquick baking mix first appeared on the scene and on store shelves around 1931.
This product revolutionized how home cooks prepared and baked for their families, one of the earliest convenience foods found.
Bisquick is a baking mix branded by General Mills and Betty Crocker foods, consisting of flour, leavening, salt, and shortening.
Bisquick soon went from a quick way to bake homemade biscuits to a staple ingredient in a wide range of both savory and sweet dishes, recipes, and snacks.
What is Bisquick Baking Mix?
When Betty Crocker came out with Bisquick, a pre-mixed baking mix sold by General Mills, it changed lives.
Housewives across the country saved countless hours rolling, kneading, and preparing biscuits and crusts for home-cooked meals- simply by using this innovative baking mix.
Bisquick contains flour- bleached wheat flour- as well as a leavening agent (baking powder), salt, dextrose (sugar), and oil, typically soybean and palm.
Some cooks depend on a box of versatile Bisquick in their kitchen pantry for far more than biscuits and pancakes- though these are two very popular preparations.
Bisquick makes it easy to bake pies, crusts, cobblers, crisps, cakes, dumplings, and bread- plus a whole lot more!
Since the introduction of Bisquick Original baking mix, General Mills has come up with a heart-smart variety that boasts less saturated and zero trans fats.
The formula uses canola oil in lieu of the soy/palm in its original recipe.
Also, some regions may find a gluten-free Bisquick in their grocery stores, featuring rice flour.
Bisquick Baking Mix Versus Flour
It can be very handy to keep a staple box of Bisquick on-hand in the pantry or cupboard, and while Bisquick and flour are not necessarily interchangeable, they can often be reworked to substitute for each other in certain recipes.
In some instances, the added ingredients in the baking mix may improve, enhance, and elevate the dish you needed the flour for.
For example, if you have a recipe that calls for a cup of flour, and you happen to be out – use Bisquick instead!
Add a cup of Bisquick baking mix for the cup of flour, but omit any additional baking powder, leavening, or salt that the recipe may call for.
When trying to figure out an exact substitute for one cup of Bisquick, culinary experts suggest that you use this formula to replicate it with regular all-purpose flour:
- One cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt, preferably with iodine
- 2 ½ tablespoons of melted oleo, oil, shortening, or butter
If you have never used Bisquick or other baking mixes, you are missing out on a true time saver.
Bisquick also has a palatable flavor and ease that make it a great pantry staple to keep on hand.
Some clever cooks have contributed recipes and inventive ideas that are widely found online- as well as in the many Bisquick-themed cookbooks published or on the market today!
From decadent desserts to hearty one-pot meals, Bisquick has become a brand that is associated with family fare, cozy comfort food, and eating well!
Pancakes made from Bisquick
Like biscuits, Bisquick offers a recipe readily available for pancakes.
It may be close in composition to your recipe, or it may need to be adjusted.
I like a lot of baking powder in my pancakes because it makes them fluffier.
You can add a little to your mix and adjust it until you get your pancakes exactly as you like them.
Sugar is another ingredient with a lot of room for adjustment in pancakes.
Although Bisquick has a little sugar in it, you may need to add more if you want golden brown pancakes.
You can also add bananas, chocolate chips, or blueberries to your pancakes, just as you would a scratch pancake batter.
Muffins made from Bisquick
There aren’t many things that beat a warm muffin and a cup of good coffee.
Bisquick offers this versatility also and is a great muffin mix base.
From banana nut to lemon poppy seed muffins, you can make many muffin flavors with Bisquick as the basis of your recipe.
Store-bought muffins are expensive, and making them yourself allows you to save money and get your favorite flavored muffin every day.
Biscuits made with Bisquick
Why, of course, and you can make them savory by adding cheese or sweet by adding more sugar.
The biscuit is a versatile food and added to the main course to make a sandwich, or you can add a little shortening and a bit of sugar to the mix and make shortbread.
Biscuits were the focus of Bisquick, thus the name. However, cooks have learned that it can make many other baked goods.
It includes baking powder, and shortening means they don’t need to keep many products on hand.
It also means that you always have a way to make bread of some kind.
Piecrust made with Bisquick
Piecrust is another bakery product that requires combining flour and shortening.
However, it likely doesn’t have enough shortening, and you will need to add some.
If your recipe requires more than three and a half tablespoons of margarine for every cup of flour, you will need to add more.
A certain amount of shortening is required to get the dough short enough to make an excellent flaky pie crust.
Dumplings made with Bisquick
Apple dumplings, chicken, and dumplings or beef stew with dumplings are all easy to make with Bisquick.
Whether your desire is dough that you can wrap an apple in or cut into ribbons and add to chicken stock, you can use Bisquick as the basis for your creation.
Dumpling dough, like shortbread, requires more shortening than biscuits.
So, if you are making dumpling dough with Bisquick, you will need to add shortening to get your dough to the right consistency.
Can I use Bisquick to thicken the gravy?
Whether breakfast gravy or a smooth brown sauce, Rue for gravy begins with browned flour and shortening, although Bisquick has some shortening, you will need to add a bit more when making gravy with it.
You will need to take care with salt in your dish, as it is an ingredient in Bisquick.
In addition, the flavor profile of your gravy may not be the same with Bisquick as it is when using plain flour.
Frequently Asked Questions About Can you use Bisquick Instead of Flour
Can I use Bisquick as the same amount as flour in a recipe?
You can use Bisquick as the same amount as flour If all of the other ingredients align.
Is Bisquick gluten-free?
Original Bisquick contains gluten; however, they make a gluten-free pancake and baking mix.
What can you use as a substitute for Bisquick?
If you are substituting one cup of Bisquick in a recipe, use one cup of flour, 1 ½ teaspoon of baking powder, and 3 tablespoons of butter, shortening, or oleo. When substituting Bisquick for regular flour, use the same amount, that is, use one cup of Bisquick for each cup of flour called for in your recipe.
Can you use Bisquick in place of self-rising flour?
While Bisquick contains leavening which helps to make it rise, you should not simply substitute Bisquick for self-rising flour. Since Bisquick already has baking powder and other ingredients in it, it could impact the results of your recipe and the finished results.
What is the difference between Bisquick and flour?
The difference between flour and Bisquick is that the latter is a baking mix, containing other ingredients like salt, leavening, and oil.
Is Bisquick the same as self-rising flour?
Self-rising flour and Bisquick mix are not the same things, nor should they be used interchangeably in all recipes. Both products do have the ability to save chefs time in the kitchen.
Can you use water in Bisquick instead of milk?
Milk creates a moister result when baking and cooking with Bisquick- more so than mere water. The flavor of your biscuits, pancakes or other dishes will likely taste the same whether you use milk or water in the preparation.
What can you substitute for self-rising flour?
You can substitute self-rising flour for all-purpose flour in most applications and recipes. If using self-rising flour, you may want to omit any baking powder or salt called for in the recipe to prevent a culinary mishap.
Why Bisquick works for some baked goods and not others
Biscuits are more like a pastry than they are like cake.
When you combine flour, baking powder, shortening, salt, and sugar, the result can be a batter or dough.
The result is based on the amount of liquid added and other ingredients.
The dough you get from basic Bisquick and water is not battering, and you use it to make pie crusts, muffins, biscuits, and cookies, of course.
However, pancakes, crepes, and cakes form a batter, and batter requires different ingredients.
Bisquick will transfer nicely for some recipes; however, you may need to add shortening, salt, or baking powder for others.
In other instances, only plain flour will be able to make your recipe work, even when using Bisquick as a base for baked goods.
However, there are many Bisquick recipes online, and if it is all you have in the cupboard, a quick search may yield a wonderful recipe.
Conclusion On Can You Use Bisquick Instead of Flour
You can use Bisquick instead of flour. However Bisquick is a baking mix that contains several other ingredients, so flour on its own is not really an adequate substitution.