Making pancakes from scratch can be fun, but many households are always equipped with a box of brand name dry mix on hand. But which pancake mix should you choose?
We bought five different mixes: Krusteaz Buttermilk, Aunt Jemima Buttermilk, Hungry Jack, Bisquick, and Aunt Jemima Original.
For each mix, we followed the recipe option for the most basic pancake and in the smallest quantity. Though some brands require you to add milk, eggs, or oil, others simply need water.
First up: Bisquick
Recipe and Instructions
2 cups Original Bisquick Mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs
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— Stir ingredients until blended.
— Pour slightly less than 1/4 cupfuls onto hot greased griddle.
— Cook until edges are dry. Turn; cook until golden.
— Makes approximately 14 pancakes.
The first thing we noticed was how runny the batter was. We're used to pancake mixes that haveslightly more oompf, and so the liquidy mix threw us off. Especially because Bisquick didn't specifically say to rest the batter for any period of time before spooning it onto the griddle.
Despite the runny batter, the pancakes cooked up quickly and held a nice shape on the pan. But when it came to tasting time, we were underwhelmed. The pancakes were pretty bland, and the mix (despite our vigorous whisking) had left small clumps of flour behind, making the cakes dry.
Next up:Aunt Jemima Original
Recipe and Instructions
1cup Aunt Jemima Original Mix
¾ cup milk
1egg
1 tablespoon oil
—Heat skillet over medium-low heat or electric griddle to 375°
— Combine all ingredients and stir until large lumps disappear (do not beat or over-mix). Let stand for 1-2 minutes to thicken.
—Pour slightly less than¼ cup batter for each pancake onto lightly greased skillet.
— Turn when pancakes bubble and bottoms are golden brown.
— Makes 10 to 12 pancakes.
Even before letting the batter rest, we could tell that Aunt Jemima was a much thicker consistency. But abig downside was howhard it was to tell when these pancakes were done cooking on the first side. The batter didn't bubble very much at all, which is usually the tell-tale sign that they're done. We burned our first batch waiting for bubbles that never appeared.
Once we finally got a golden brown cake, we tasted the results. Though these had more flavor than the Bisquick, they were alittle too crumbly for our preference. But they were super thick — a very pretty pancake shape.
Aunt Jemima Buttermilk Complete
The next mix was also Aunt Jemima, but this one was buttermilk flavored and since it was "complete" we only needed to add water.
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Recipe and Instructions
2cups Aunt Jemima Buttermilk CompleteMix
1 ½cupswater
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—Heat skillet over medium-low heat or electric griddle to 375°
— Combine all ingredients and stir until large lumps disappear (do not beat or over-mix). Let stand for 1-2 minutes to thicken.
—Pour slightly less than¼ cup batter for each pancake onto lightly greased skillet.
— Turn when pancakes bubble and bottoms are golden brown.
— Makes 12 to 18 pancakes.
These pancakes had a beautiful texture. They were less thick than the Aunt Jemima Originals, but the batter bubbled nicely while cooking which made it easy to get golden brown pancakes. They had a good flavor that balanced sweet and savory, and each bite of griddled cake held together nicely on the fork.
Hungry Jack
Recipe and Instructions
1cup Hungry JackMix
¾cupswater
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—Coat griddle with vegetable oil, and heat it over medium-high heat or turn up your electric griddle to 375°.
—Mix your pancake mix and water in a bowl. Mix it until you get rid of any large lumps. Your batter will be a little on the lumpy side. For pancakes a bite above the rest, let your prepped mix stand for 3 minutes.
—Pouron a little less than¼ cup batter for each pancake onto your hot griddle.
—Cook 'em up for 1 to 1½ minutes on each side or until they're golden brown.
— Makes 6 to 8 pancakes.
The Hungry Jack batter was even more thin than the Bisquick mix had been, and that was after letting it stand for three minutes.
The runny batter made the pancakes super thin, and big craters appeared in the surface. The dough wasn't very flavorful, nor were the pancakes as fluffy as you might expect or hope.
Krusteaz
Recipe and Instructions
1cup Krusteaz Mix
2/3 cupswater
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—Heat pancake griddle to 375° (medium heat). Lightly grease griddle.
— Whisk pancake mix and water. Batter will be slightlylumpy.Do not over-mix. Let batter stand 2 minutes.
—Pour slightly less than¼ cup batter per pancake onto griddle.
—Cook pancakes for 1 to 1¼ minutesper side, or until golden brown, turning only once.
— Makes 6to 7pancakes.
This batter was a nice balance between thick and runny — it was sturdy enough to hold a good cake shape, but also spread nicely on the griddle.
The resulting pancake was chewier than some of the others we'd tried, and it also didn't hold a lot of flavor on its own.
THE VERDICT
Aunt Jemima's Buttermilk Complete wasdefinitely our favorite brand of the bunch.
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Aunt Jemima's Buttermilk Complete had it all — the best texture, shape, cooking experience, and, of course, taste. The buttermilk added a nice tang while keeping the texture light and fluffy. Best of all? All you need to do is add water.
Let's face it, when making pancakes out of a box it seems silly to need milk, eggs, and/or oil on hand. If you have those things, you're already more than halfway towards making pancakes from scratch.
The Bisquick pancakes required too many added ingredients without a big enough flavor payoff, and same went for the Aunt Jemima Original Mix.
Eating Hungry Jack's pancakes felt more like we were chowing down on thick crepes than a standard pancake, and Krusteaz cakes were too chewy for our liking.
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So next time you're planning a pancake breakfast and want an easy meal, we recommend Aunt Jemima's Buttermilk Complete Mix.
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