how-to-make-self-rising-flour

How To Make Self Rising Flour & Biscuits Without Yeast

How to make self rising flour

Self rising flour does not require yeast.
So lets make some biscuits…
(recipes below)

 

Baking Powder For Self Rising Flour

Baking powder is the key ingredient for self rising flour.

Rumford (Aluminum-free) Baking Powder

It is a leavening agent that releases carbon dioxide when moistened. The process makes tiny air bubbles in baked goods which cause them to expand and become lighter while baking.

Technical:

Baking powder contains 3 ingredients:

Sodium bicarbonate (Baking Soda)
Monocalcium phosphate (acid salt)
Cornstarch (filler and moisture absorbent)

Baking powder works by releasing tiny carbon dioxide gas bubbles into a batter or dough. It is a reaction between the baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and acid/salt (monocalcium phosphate) when exposed to moisture. The bubbles in the wet mixture expand and thus leavens the mixture.

 
Self rising flour (and baking powder) does not require refrigeration (maybe a good thing for the preparedness kitchen!).

It’s not a living organism like yeast. So long as you keep it dry, the unopened shelf life can be years (once opened it will lessen depending on environmental conditions such as humidity).

Test Your Baking Powder

To test your baking powder for efficacy, add about 1/2 tsp to some hot water in a cup. If it foams and bubbles, it has enough ‘zip’. If it just sits there, well, it’s no good…

 

Self Rising Flour Recipe

1 Cup of milled Flour
1-1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt

Stir /mix until well blended together. That’s it!

 

Self Rising Flour Biscuits Recipe

In the spirit of cross-training in the kitchen, I decided to try my hand at making something edible from my self rising flour. I actually surprised myself by successfully making a simple but tasty batch of biscuits.

All the ingredients used require no refrigeration, making this a reasonable food prep for preparedness without electricity.

I only cheated by using the oven for baking. However you could substitute by cooking over a fire (dutch oven?), or using a solar oven, or even improvising by using a covered pan on low heat over a hot burner.

Related: Cast Iron Cooking & Cookware Tips

This makes 8 or 9 biscuits.
First mix all the dry ingredients well.

2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup sugar
4 Tablespoons powdered butter (or 1/4-cup real butter)
1 Tablespoon powdered egg (or 1 real egg)

Then add 1 cup water and mix well.

This will produce a sticky blend of dough. Unlike a yeast mixture, the self-rising-flour does not ‘rise’ prior to cooking. The rise will happen as it cooks.

I spooned the mixture into foil baking cups.

Bake at 375-degrees for 25-30 minutes until golden.

It doesn’t rise like a traditional loaf of bread would, but it makes for a tasty biscuit.

 

Biscuits Recipe – on Cast Iron

(from a reader here on the blog – a previous post)

“I make biscuits all the time because they’re a quick bread.”
I use the Lodge Cast Iron biscuit pan (can be purchased via Amazon).

Here’s my tried-and-true recipe:

Cast Iron Baked Biscuits

2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon. baking powder
1 teaspoon. salt
1/4 cup shortening (or lard)
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450-degrees F.

In bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt with fork. Cut in shortening (or lard) with 2 knives or pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add milk. Gently mix until mixture forms soft dough that leaves the side of the bowl.

Prepare biscuits by gently rolling into individual biscuit-size rolls, each about 2.5-inches around.

Place rolled-biscuits into greased cast-iron biscuit skillet. Bake at 450-degrees for about 14 minutes, or until lightly browned. Makes 7 large biscuits.

More: THE Best Bread Machine For Bread Lover’s

18 Comments

  1. Biscuits and ham, buscuits and sausage, biscuits and syrup, biscuits and gravy, biscuits and honey, biscuits and jelly, biscuits and biscuits!

    1. And… what a great preparedness food! Simple, stores well, easy to make.

      All you need is flour (wheat berries / milled to flour?), baking powder, salt, a pan, and a cooker! Although adding butter or shortening, milk, etc., would make it even better ;)

      No electricity required…

      1. Ken,
        These sort of biscuits are very good for cooking in a dutch oven

      2. and if you have some bacon grease put just a dab in with the other shortenings.

  2. What were the ingredients to make baking powder?
    Baking soda and cream of tartar?
    If i remember right, the separate ingredients store well but the baking powder doesnt.

  3. I have found that when baking powder goes off it gets a little bitter. Anyone else? Think I will keep baking soda and cream of tartar on hand for LTS.

    1. Anony Mee, I have found it can be old, as long as unopened, up to a year past its date. yes it’s taste goes off after that…but does work and may need slightly more if out of date…. storing in cool area, not in cabinet above stove…etc.helps as well. I use one with no aluminum. I have enough aluminum already. Cream of tartar is expensve in some areas. can never stock enough baking soda it has so many uses.

      1. Just Sayin’

        Prices for cream of tartar are all over the place. Ken’s link to AMZN will show quite a variety. I tend to buy bulk spices and such from sfherb dot com. They’ve got one pound going for $6.25.

  4. My mom’s drop biscuits
    2 c flour
    1 T baking powder
    Pinch of salt
    1 T sugar
    1/3 c shortening
    1 c milk
    are a basic recipe. I grew up on them, but now bling it up.

    Buttermilk powder added or buttermilk substituted for part of the milk with added 1/2 t baking soda

    Handful of oats, half and half or cream substituted for part of the milk, plus a little more milk, with added 1/2 t baking soda (scones)

    Leave out sugar, add some sage, serve with sausage gravy – the best!

    Make as for scones, add a sprinkle of dried orange peel, sprinkle of cardamom, pat into a small rectangle, spread on butter, sprinkle cinnamon and brown sugar, maybe add dried fruit, nuts, candied fruit, roll up and cut into rounds, bake like cinnamon rolls. Much quicker than yeasted cinnamon rolls and have a nice crunchiness to them. (roommate’s mom taught me this one decades ago)

    Add fresh, frozen, or dried blueberries and 1/4 to 1/2 t baking soda

    NOTE – when acidic ingredients are added, baking soda is also added.

    1. Anony Mee,
      Thanks for the recipe and variation ideas. I’m saving this for my recipe collection. I’m definitely making some.

  5. OMG.! I just got home, midnight, been hauling cattle. Cold and tired
    Check out MSB
    BISCUITS.!!! GRAVY.! CHEESE.!
    Now I’m hungry. Too tired to cook
    YOU ARE ALL NAUGHTY.!!!!
    ROFL……

    1. I know Stand, it took me two tries to read through everything as I had to stop and eat halfway through the comments.

    2. Then there’s variations on fat – shortening, shortening to the second power also known as butter flavored Crisco, butter, margarine, any combination of them, with more than recipe calls for, or added bacon fat, flavored oils, ghee, coconut oil. Fat makes anything more yummy.

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