Homemade All-Purpose Baking Mix

With a newborn, very little sleep, three other kids to take care of, and dishes/laundry piling up, I didn't have the time or money for a box of Bisquick, so I looked up recipes online for homemade all-purpose baking mixes. I found a few that I combined together and tweaked to create my own. The mixture I came up with was light and tasty, and the kids LOVED the pancakes and biscuits I made with it. Here is the basic mix along with the directions for making simple pancakes, waffles, biscuits and dumplings.

Basic All-Purpose Baking Mix
(can be used in recipes that call for Bisquick or all-purpose baking mix)

6 cups all-purpose flour (use wheat flour if desired)
3 Tablespoons baking powder
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
3/4 cup coconut oil, butter, or shortening
(for a buttermilk baking mix, add 9 Tablespoons dry buttermilk powder to the basic mix)

Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Cut coconut oil, butter or shortening into the dry ingredients with a fork or pastry blender until it resembles cornmeal. Store in heavy duty ziplock plastic bag or airtight container. I store my mix in the fridge to keep the oil from going rancid.

Pancakes:
2 cups all-purpose baking mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs
Mix and ladle onto hot greased griddle. Flip when tops are bubbly. Cook until golden brown.

Biscuits:
2 & 1/4 cups all-purpose baking mix
2/3 cup milk
Mix and knead a little on lightly floured surface. Roll out and cut into biscuits. Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes until golden.

Waffles:
2 cups all-purpose baking mix
1 & 1/3 cups milk
1 egg
2 Tablespoons oil
Mix until blended. Pour onto hot greased waffle iron. Cook for 4-5 minutes until steaming stops.

Dumplings:
2 cups all-purpose baking mix
2/3 cup milk
Mix just until soft dough forms. Drop by spoonfuls into boiling water/liquid. Cover and cook for 10 minutes without lifting the lid.