Bisquick Pancakes

mmmmm, pancakes:

So if I'm going to make pancakes, I usually make them from scratch (only because I don't usually keep bisquick on hand).  Today I will be making the standard bisquick pancakes and a fancy pants recipe from Alton Brown. 

The bisquick recipe: 2 cups bisquick mix, 2 eggs, and 1 cup milk - mix together

The Alton Brown recipe:

The mix: 

6 cups flour

1.5 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tbsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

For the pancakes:

Use 2 cups of the mix prepared above

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk

4 tbsp melted butter

butter for greasing pan

Directions:

Whisk together the egg whites and the buttermilk in a small bowl. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the melted butter.

Combine the buttermilk mixture with the egg yolk mixture in a large mixing bowl and whisk together until thoroughly combined.

Pour the liquid ingredients on top of the pancake mix. Using a whisk, mix the batter just enough to bring it together. Don't try to work all the lumps out.


The batter looked very different.  The bisquick batter (left) was smooth and thinner, while the Alton Brown pancakes were thick and lumpy in appearance:

While actually cooking the pancakes the Bisquick (left) puffed up much more than I thought they would and they ended up looking remarkably the same:

Taste-wise?  Well testing side by side sans toppings, the Alton Brown pancakes may have a slight edge.  They have a little bit more flavor, but in all fairness, they have pure buttermilk and half a stick of butter.  So I'd have to say nutrition-wise, my Bisquick with skim milk and egg must have the leg up, even with the preservatives from the mix.

How the costs compare:

Pancake Mix
Bisquick	40 oz	$      3.79	$      0.09
Homemade	50 oz	$      1.45	$      0.03
Prepared Pancakes
Bisquick	makes ~10	$      2.10	$      0.21
Homemade	makes ~10	$      1.86	$      0.19

The mix is much more cost effective to make, but once you factor in the buttermilk and the extra butter, the cost to make both recipes is about the same.

The main factors for my decision include:

- I'm an impulse pancake maker, and it's not often, so the likeliness of me having buttermilk on hand is almost zero.

- The buttermilk and melted butter is an added evil, that didn't give enough extra deliciousness to warrant the fat and calories.

- I can save about 5 minutes (and 3 less dirty dishes) by the ease of ingredient combining with Bisquick.

- Once you top these things with fruit or syrup, the taste difference is almost indistinguishable.

Bake or Buy? BUY!