Saturday, April 9, 2011

"Fake" Pillsbury Freezer Biscuits

I Love Biscuits! 

I love them with butter. 

I love them with country gravy. 

I love them with homemade jam.

They're perfect accompaniment to breakfast or dinner and they're even useful for desserts! 

You know what I used to hate about biscuits?  The price of biscuit convenience. 

Let me show you how super easy (and super cheap) it is to make your own freezer biscuits and you may never pick up those grocery store Grands again!

First things first.  Assemble everything you'll need on the counter.  It saves time and keeps you organized.


Next, dump the ENTIRE BOX of biscuit mix into your bowl.  I'm using Cook's Corner biscuit mix from Aldi.  Add about 2 and 3/4 Cups of Milk and mix until blended.  You may need to add a little more milk depending on the consistency of your dough. 


Turn dough onto a well floured counter top and knead it once or twice.  Kneading it too much makes the dough too tough and no one wants a tough biscuit! 


Roll out the dough and cut circles using a biscuit cutter, cookie cutter, or the top of a drinking glass.


Reassemble the dough and roll out once more.  Cut out as many more biscuits as you can.



Put two biscuits into a fold top sandwich bag.  Fold bag in half, and in half again to separate biscuits.  This will keep the biscuits separate when they freeze and make it easy to use them later.


Take all of your individually wrapped biscuits and put them all into a large freezer bag.  Make sure to mark the date on your bag. Biscuits are good for up to 1 year in the freezer, but you know you're going to eat them all before that!


Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 8 minutes -- just like you would for Pillsbury Grands!


Uh oh....there's some leftover dough.  It would be a terrible shame to throw it away, and we can't use it again to make more biscuits or they'll end up tough. 


How about pressing it into a muffin tin and sprinkling generously with cinnamon sugar?   Bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes and....


They look like flowers!



Serve warm with strawberries and whipped cream and you've created a BONUS DESSERT! 

Fake-It Yourself Breakdown:

Box of Aldi Biscuit Mix  - Yields 36 Biscuits (plus 4 Bonus Dessert Biscuits) -

Total Fake-It Cost:  $1.79

Compare to 36 Pillsbury Grands Frozen Biscuits (3 bags of 12 biscuits @ $3.79 each)

Total Fake-It Savings:  $9.58

Why haven't I been doing this all along??? 

33 comments:

  1. How big is the box of biscuits? We don't have Aldi so I can't use their box to measure.

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    Replies
    1. Pioneer biscuit mix works well, but it's a lot more expensive than the Aldi brand.

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  2. your pictures are really nice! i LOVE the little cinnamon sugar flowers. :) Again, I'm sharing this on my FB page.

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  3. I made these tonight. I didn't have a round cutter and the "use the glass" technique doesn't really work well for me. :0) I just cut them into squares with a floured knife. They did take about twice as long to bake, though. And, mine were super sticky. I had to add a LOT of flour...I think next time I will use less milk!

    They are "husband approved" so the ones in my freezer definitely won't go to waste!

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  4. Wonderful! Thanks for the great post!

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  5. Also nowhere near an Aldi. Would Bisuick or something similar work?

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  6. Hi Karen,

    Yes, Bisquick would work just the same...and I have a recipe for DIY Bisquick to make it even cheaper: http://fakeitfrugal.blogspot.com/2011/05/fake-it-yourself-bisquick.html

    Cheers!

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  7. EVEN BETTER!!! Thanks, Heather. Just discovered your blog--LOVE IT!

    Karen Lynne

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  8. So would I use one of the 8 cup bags in place of the Aldi box?

    Karen Lynne

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  9. Yup - 8 Cups of any biscuit mix will work. Cheers!

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  10. Do I need to thaw before baking? Thanks!

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  11. Nope! Just like the real Pillsbury Biscuits, you can put them frozen on the pan and straight into the oven! Cheers!

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  12. A tip for when you bake in a muffin pan that isn't filled, put a little water in each of the empty spots. It will help the pan heat evenly and bake evenly.

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    Replies
    1. Oh! Thanks for that Tara! That is a great tip :)

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  13. So glad I found your blog this morning! Sees you and I are just alike..love the taste of name brands but not the price. I have a KFC chicken recipe you might like. I'll be following your blog for sure. Have a great day!

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  14. I'm trying to be healthier. Can you use wheat flour for the DIY bisquick mix and to make these biscuits?

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  15. Any basic biscuit recipe would work - doesn't have to be a mix. Or you could just buy self-rising flour like they use in the South and use one of those recipes. Probably be even cheaper, and far fewer unpronounceable ingredients.

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  16. I would think all of those plastic bags would use up your savings. How about some parchment or freezer paper in between the biscuits?

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  17. Here we call cookies biscuits, and biscuits scones! But are these biscuits scones, or do they just look similar? We make ours with whipped cream and jam but not with savoury foods like chicken.

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  18. how bout covering up the biscuits on a cookie sheet and freezing first then putting frozen individuals in a big freezer bag to save on the little bags!

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    Replies
    1. great idea - I do this with meatballs and when I make peanut butter cookie dough. Just make the balls and freeze them in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Throw the frozen balls into a freezer bag and Voila I can pull out the amount I need without worry of them sticking together

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  19. I wouldn't use Aldi. They are cheap but not natural or healthy. Their cans of biscuit run about .25 to a dollar.
    I wouldn't pay a 1.79 for the box mix.When Its even cheaper to make your own recipe mix(and most likely more natural). You have great ideas for freezer wrapping and using a muffin pan but I think your suggestion of using Aldi biscuit mix is horrible.

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    Replies
    1. Our family, along with MANY others, absolutely loves Aldi. They have fantastic products, save us a ton of money on the basics and essentials and are so easy to shop at. I love this recipe idea and have bought the box of mix to make them. To each his own, but I disagree with Lisa's comment whole heartily. Not every one can make every single thing from scratch. This recipe is a way to make a homemade convenience healthier and cheaper than buying rolls of biscuits. Get off you high horse and don't make others feel bad because we love this idea!

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    2. Our family, along with MANY others, absolutely loves Aldi. They have fantastic products, save us a ton of money on the basics and essentials and are so easy to shop at. I love this recipe idea and have bought the box of mix to make them. To each his own, but I disagree with Lisa's comment whole heartily. Not every one can make every single thing from scratch. This recipe is a way to make a homemade convenience healthier and cheaper than buying rolls of biscuits. Get off you high horse and don't make others feel bad because we love this idea!

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    3. I agree with Lisa - all she is saying is that you can control the quality of the ingredients with your own homemade mix. Heather has a homemade version of Bisquick on this blog which guarantees no preservative and the other ingredients which we could do without. If you like eating chemicals,by all means choose retail mixes, Thanks for all the great ideas Heather!

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  20. Most Aldi products are manufactured and packaged by the same companies who do the name-brand foods. Their biscuit mix tastes much better than what I made myself and was cheaper than the products I had to buy and half the time and trouble. "From scratch" may work for some people but for many of us, it simply doesn't. Great recipe adn great ideas. I love it!

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  21. I have been making my own homemade bisquick for years because the name brand stuff where I'm from (one grocery store within 2 hours) was way too expensive. So I tried this last night and oh my goodness, I'm impressed. I never made roll out biscuits before because I was afraid they wouldn't be any good, but these were great!

    I only do from scratch most of the time so this is perfect! I go back to school (college) next week so I'm going to stock the freezer with these for easy breakfasts! Thanks!

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  22. How thick do you roll your dough?

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    Replies
    1. Most biscuits are about a half inch thick. You may have to experiment a little for thickness.

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  23. I've never seen frozen biscuits in the store but I've long wondered if it's possible. Can't wait to try this - thank you!

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  24. If I use your FIY bisquick mix for these biscuits how many cups do I use of the mix?

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