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Most pancake mixes require a lot of additional ingredients. Once you’ve added in eggs, oil and milk, you might as well have made the pancakes from scratch.
At that point, the mix is just flour and baking powder, which doesn’t save much time. There are a few complete pancake mixes on the market, but they make rubbery pancakes at best. Why isn’t there delicious just add water pancake mix for camping or lazy weekend breakfasts?
If you want something done right, do it yourself! Time to make some homemade pancake mix.
Just about all the ingredients for scratch homemade pancakes are available in a shelf-stable powdered form. I’ve been experimenting with using powdered butter in homemade baked goods, and it was absolutely delicious in my just add water biscuit mix. Butter powder gives this pancake mix a rich flavor, and it actually tastes like butter.
Powdered scrambled eggs are often made by backpackers and campers with rave reviews. Eggs store well in a dehydrated form and retain their flavor and binding properties.
The only downside of powdered scrambled eggs is texture, but that’s not an issue if you’re using egg powder in pancake mix. There’s a subtle difference between egg powder used in baking mixes and powdered scrambled eggs.
Egg powder for mixes is completely granular and incorporates well into a pancake mix. The powdered egg helps bind the batter while adding protein and flavor.
Powdered milk is available in every grocery store, so milk is an easy addition. Malted milk powder gives the pancakes a great flavor as well, and really helps round out this just add water pancake mix.
I’ve also added powdered buttermilk, which provides extra lift to the pancakes and will help give them a pillowy texture. Buttermilk pancakes just taste better anyway.
That’s all the pancake ingredients that would normally be added wet, but now in powdered form. All you need at this point is flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
Since I’m adding buttermilk powder, this mix will also need baking soda. If you omit the buttermilk powder, you won’t need to add baking soda to the pancake mix.
Here are the basic ratios for a small batch:
- 2 cups Flour
- 1/2 cup Milk Powder
- 1/3 cup Malted Milk Powder
- 1/3 cup Powdered Buttermilk
- 1/4 cup Whole Egg Powder
- 1/4 cup Butter Powder
- 2 Tablespoons Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
Feel free to double or triple the recipe to make the pancake mix in bulk and save time.
In the end, to make pancakes, add 1/2 cup water to 1 cup pancake mix. There you have it, just add water pancakes!
I am looking for a just add water cake mix that uses butter powder, milk powder, powdered eggs and so forth. Do you have a basic cake recipe that uses all powdered ingredients? Thank you so much for sharing. I have learned so much already!
I’m sorry we don’t have a recipe for a cake mix but that’s a great idea for a future post.
I was wondering if the Malted Milk Powder is necessary in the recipe? I can’t seem to find it where I live and I wanted to ask if I can skip it or replace it with something else?
You could definitely try it without it and see how you like them.
I did not have butter powder, but I did add vanilla powder and they still came out great.
That’s good to know. Thanks for sharing.
We live in the UK and dried buttermilk is difficult to purchase. Do you think that dried yoghurt would be an adequate substitute? Thanks in advance for your reply!
I would definitely give it a try and see how you like them. Let us know if you decide to try it.
We did try it with yoghurt powder (not a live culture) and it worked well. The children were in charge of Sunday tea and the pancakes made up quickly and so deliciously! We’re trying to scale it up and see how much we’ll have to buy in bulk (buttermilk might be more available that way as well). In what sort of container do you store your pancake mix? (Sorry, I asked this question on your butter powder page, too, since the reason is related. Thank you for your response.
I think any container that keeps out moisture and light would be the best.
what is the shelf life time? can it be dry canned? thank you
The shelf life is as long as the ingredients separately. The butter powder, dried milk and egg powder have a shelf life of a few years, but you’d have to look at the out dates on the containers you use. Whatever is the shortest out date is the shelf life of this mix. Flour/salt/baking powder last for decades provided they’re sealed and dry.
I don’t dry can personally, because the heat can affect how the flour cooks. For this recipe, in particular, I wouldn’t recommend it because of the milk and egg powder. You can use a food saver vacuum sealer with a canning jar attachment to seal the jars instead if you want to get them totally sealed for longer storage.
I’m more interested in making a powdered “Bisquick” recipe. I want to use flour, sugar, powdered eggs, powdered milk , baking powder, baking soda and a powdered butter to make pancakes, waffles, bread, etc using water only. Any recipes or ideas other than the one provided?
I use same recipe by practicalselfreliance.com above and add 1/3 cup cornstarch . I make biscuit ,waffles, cake mix, bread. Rolls, and yeast rolls, pancakes it’s my all purpose copy cat Bisquick complete
Thank you for sharing this. We made our first batch today and the loft and texture were perfect. I hadn’t ordered the butter powder and I’m convinced it will be even better with it so it’s on order now. This is exactly what I was looking for. This time I used White Lily flour so they were very tender. The next batch will be a whole grain flour mix. I see this as being very adaptable. Love your site.
have you ever figured out a cost per batch?
If using only one milk powder, do you need to increase the amount to compensate for the milk powder not being used?
Yes, you can just use all regular milk powder in place of the others.
Would you use instant powder milk or the non instant powder milk?
Instant dry milk powder.
Have you experimented with powdered coconut milk or cream powder? My husband travels and backpacks and we’ve made a lot of dehydrated meals for him to take along. We have been substituting coconut milk powder for any milk called for in the recipe but where you have three different types of milk products, I’m wondering if it would be different. why do you have malted milk, butter milk and regular powdered milk? Thanks for the information! I’m looking to trying them for myself!
I haven’t tried dried coconut milk or cream, but I’ve heard plenty of good things about them from others.
Using three different milk powders is totally optional, but I’ve found it to be quite tasty. The butter powder has great flavor and gives the pancakes a light hint of butter flavor that’s pleasant and doesn’t taste artificial. The dried milk itself increases the protein content of the pancakes, and helps the pancakes stay soft when cooked (not rubbery), it’s like making dinner rolls with milk vs. water. The enriched dough from the milk has a softer texture. The malted milk powder is totally optional, but again, I think it helps give the pancakes great flavor and makes up for the lack of vanilla in the mix.
In truth, you could just use milk powder alone for a much simpler recipe.