Is Making Biscuits From A Mix Any Easier Than Making From Scratch?
With all the intense preparation needed for Thanksgiving dinners, a baking mix or sauce mix here and there isn't going to make or break the authenticity of your meal. The key is to use mixes that actually make life easier, rather than ones that complicate your free time. While I may not be preparing a whole meal for the holidays, the least I can do is bring a side dish, or perhaps, a bag of fresh buttermilk biscuits. So when Ed Levine handed me a pack of Organic Southern Buttermilk Biscuit Mix ($10.50 at Williams-Sonoma, at stores only) to try at home, I happily obliged and got to work.
The tools necessary: the mix, a stick of unsalted butter, and a cup of milk. Easy enough, right? My verdict, and the final biscuits, after the jump.
Of course, the dirty work still remains: cutting cold butter into the dry mixture, stirring in the milk, and and patting down the messy and somewhat sticky dough into a rectangle. I only had cookie cutters in the shapes of a heart or a horse, so I used the top of a jar of peanut butter as my biscuit cutter. While everything seemed to come out according to plan, I couldn't help but think this mix only cut maybe one or two steps: whisking together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. It also eliminated the need to buy buttermilk specifically, since the mix includes buttermilk powder.
They were baked perfectly after twelve minutes, and topped with melted butter and a dollop of honey, they tasted like homemade. However, at $10.50 for a mix that makes only 12 biscuits, you might be better off purchasing the ingredients at the supermarket for less money (Williams-Sonoma actually provides a very similar recipe for buttermilk biscuits without the need for a mix). No matter what, you'll have to leave your house to pick up ingredients, so it's up to you whether you want to try out this organic mix or simply buy organic ingredients at your own discretion.
Related
Bird-Head Buttermilk Biscuits
Best Drop Biscuits
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
23 Comments:
$10.50 for a dozen biscuits!!!! For $10.50 you can make what ... 3, 4 dozen or more?
Make your own mix now. Get some dried buttermilk, measure all your dry ingredients and pop it in the freezer. (Once opened, dried buttermilk should be kept refrigerated.) If you can manage a trip to the store, use real buttermilk instead and just keep your mix in your pantry. Use a sharpie to write the mixing instructions on the outside of the plastic bag you store in and you don't even need to look up your recipe. Just dump it in a bowl, cut in your butter, add your wet ingredients and done.
The same ease simplicity as a purchased mix at a fraction of the cost.
kjgibson at 2:28PM on 11/06/08
If you're going to cheat, might as well use the ones from a can. I mean. Otherwise, you're not saving much time/effort.
wunami at 3:03PM on 11/06/08
I don't know about the mix but I used this recipe last week and it made wonderful biscuits! This is very surprising considering I'm a horrible baker.
http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2007/04/everythings-better-with-biscuits.html
I found the recipe to be quick, easy and simple! We finished the dozen biscuits in a day between the two of us.
Gastro888 at 3:09PM on 11/06/08
Making biscuits is super easy & simple. The ingredients would only cost
about $1.50, to produce a dozen.
Well, the bag is very cute.
$10.50 for biscuit mix. Completely nuts.
WS is marketing towards wealthy idiots.
salty at 3:23PM on 11/06/08
If you need to add more than just water, then it is no short cut and may as well start from scratch.
kobetobiko at 3:36PM on 11/06/08
If you want a shortcut, make cream biscuits. Skip the whole cutting step altogether.
cyberroo at 4:33PM on 11/06/08
And forget the peanut butter jarlid.Just use a sharp knife and cut squares. Less handling of dough, no re-rolling. The only thing is to slice with a horizontal movement rther than just pressing down, to make for a higher rise.
lemons at 4:56PM on 11/06/08
I'll stick to making mine from scratch. I have to agree - the $10.50 price tag is just ridiculous.
renoles at 5:11PM on 11/06/08
I buy a mix. It is from a small mill in NC and the biscuits are better than mine and the flour is milled by a family that owns the mill. Lovely place and lovely people.
http://www.atkinsonmilling.com/cart-guru/cart.php?m=product_list&c=8
They sell this stuff all over NC but you can order it via their web site.
It is the best biscuit mix ever. I have bought it for my MIL and she could not believe it was a mix either. The mix was better than her biscuits too.
It is not as expensive as WS and a 2 lb bag makes about 3-4 doz biscuits. Depends how big you make them.
I often order a whole box of assorted mixes from them as gifts.
JerzeeTomato at 5:13PM on 11/06/08
Anyone for some Jiffy Baking Mix? I have half-a-box in the pantry, and can make some mean biscuits with it.
I don't buy from Williams-Sonoma. Too elitist for me, and far too expensive for what you get. Kroger works just fine for this kind of thing.
LunaPierCook at 6:20PM on 11/06/08
@Jerzee...great website...thank you for sharing it! Atkins has good prices....I love supporting small companies...I'm definitely going to check out some of their products. The cornmeal looks good too...have you purchased that too?
mepolo at 7:30PM on 11/06/08
Alton Brown's Biscuit rcipe is foolproof and easy.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/southern-biscuits-recipe/index.html
winebill at 7:56PM on 11/06/08
'Scusa...did you say $10.50???
Hells no.
I like this buttermilk biscuit recipe. Foolproof (and I have always been a fool at biscuits)
missbhavens at 8:42PM on 11/06/08
Go to http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com and you'll find a very good homemade biscuit recipe.
Mares at 10:12PM on 11/06/08
My grandmother switched to using Teays Valley biscuit mix about eight years ago, which is inexpensive and very good. I use White Lily self-rising and eyeball my wet ingredients, although AB's recipe provides good results for biscuit novices.
How good is Teays Valley? It took our family several years to figure out the biscuits were no longer from scratch!
jenilowrance at 11:36PM on 11/06/08
Sandra Lee would definitely think this was way too much work.
buffy at 1:22AM on 11/07/08
I have purchased most of their stuff. Their corn muffin mix I use to make cornbread with. The chicken and fish breaders are good.
I even got my neighbor mr biscuit from scratch guy to use it. I gave him a sack of it to try and he said to me ok where did you get it. Once you try it you will dig it. When people are in NC I tell them to stop and get some. Even Walmart has it in NC.
I love small mills and families devoted to old fashioned milled grains.
These folks are just great.
White Lilly is a soft southern winter wheat just like Atkinson. However White Lily is due to change and we are all sitting on edge waiting for the results. I been hoarding White Lily whenever someone comes from down south to our home.
http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/stories/2008/06/24/white_lily_flour.html
JerzeeTomato at 6:24AM on 11/07/08
@lemons I never thought of slicing the biscuits instead of cutting, Thank you! I hate rerolling they are never as good. I'm i newbie biscuit maker, i always hated them growing up because all my mom ever did was the B mix or the canned things, it wasnt till i moved south of the mason dixon that i had "real" biscuits. I like tyler florence's recipe, simple and easy. The day I spend 10$ or more on a dozen biscuits is the day they need to stick my in an asylum, even considering the difference in NY prices, thats just plain stupid.
huneybumper at 7:55AM on 11/07/08
$10.50 (plus the cost of the butter & milk!) for a dozen biscuits? Wow. @ jenilowrance, I've used the Teays Valley mix in a pinch. It does indeed make decent biscuits. Homemade are so easy and quick, though, a mix rarely seems necessary.
Melinda at 10:58AM on 11/07/08
Also, does anyone else think canned biscuits taste and smell just plain gross? I don't know if it is a preservative ingredient or what, but they always have a sort of metallic taste and unappetizing smell to me.
Melinda at 11:04AM on 11/07/08
ALL you need to make biscuits is White Lily Self-Rising Flour and Buttermilk. Really, that's all.
If you don't have buttermilk, mix regular milk with a splash of vinegar and let it sit for a few minutes before you mix it with the flour.
MollieBeth at 11:11AM on 11/07/08
At that price I would definitely rather make them myself...Hmm maybe that will be my baking project for the weekend.
FrostyGhost at 12:43PM on 11/07/08
that sky top farms unhomogenized whole milk is the most delicious milk i've ever tasted. they have it at whole foods columbus circle.
mr guy at 1:11PM on 11/07/08