We’ve had the Miller 64 sea shanty stuck in our heads since the first time we saw the ad. And a very effective piece of marketing it is, too – the sea shanty sold us, and we had to run out and immediately sample some Miller 64. It’s been our favorite beer since. 64 calories per bottle is quite a bargain for such a full-bodied, tasty brew. In fact, we like it so much, we’re not content just drinking it – we’re making biscuits with it, too.
For some time now, we’ve been making our own healthier Bisquick-style mix using whole wheat flour and simple cooking oil, instead of processed white flour and trans-fats (gasp!), which is what Bisquick basically consists of. If you’re taking notes, trans-fats are oils which go through a chemical process called hydrogenation, which results in a cheap, tasty, and monumentally unhealthy processed food additive. Studies have shown that trans-fats cause comparatively more weight gain than non-trans-fats, lead to atherosclerosis, and are linked to bad moods and feelings of depression. It’s easy to see why nutritional experts, doctors and other presumably sane people recommend avoiding them at all costs.
And in all honesty, not only is Bisquick bad for you, it’s expensive and not that much more convenient. It takes all of a few cents’ worth of ingredients and a minute to whip up our healthier Bisquick alternative, which goes like this:
Eat Healthy’s Quick and Dirty Baking Mix
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Mix the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Use your hands to work the oil into the dry ingredients, then whisk everything together to make sure it’s well blended. Voila.
We were combining this mix with diet lemon-lime soda, which resulted in a pretty decent, if slightly heavy, whole wheat biscuit. Then one evening, we decided to get frisky and replace the soda with a bottle of Miller 64 instead. That evening changed our biscuit-making lives forever. Not only does the beer add a rich, malty flavor to the biscuits, but the yeast it contains makes the biscuits – these are whole wheat biscuits, mind you – fluffy, soft, and melt-in-your-mouth GOOD. Our minds are still blown by how good these biscuits taste.
If you’re trying to save on ingredients and calories, cut the recipe in half. This will result in nine tasty little 61 calorie biscuits, plus you’ll be able to drink the other half of the beer while they bake. However, if you feel like a splurge, make the recipe as shown below. This will yield nine whopping, giant 122 calorie biscuits. Also, you’ll notice we’re omitting the salt from our baking mix in this recipe. We’ve found that the flavor of the beer comes through loud and clear in the finished biscuits, and no additional salt is required. You will probably want to include the salt in most other things you make using the mix.
Eat Healthy’s Miller 64 Biscuits
2 cups whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 bottle Miller 64
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Lightly coat an 8″ x 8″ baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Mix the first three ingredients together in a medium bowl. Use your hands to work the oil into the dry ingredients, then whisk everything together to make sure it’s well blended. Stir in the beer until it’s just combined, taking care not to overmix. The batter will be moist and slightly lumpy.
Spread the batter in the pan. Give the top of the raw biscuits a very light spritz of cooking spray for optimal browning, if you like. Bake for 15-18 minutes. When cool enough to handle, cut into 9 large, square biscuits. These go very well with salads, soups, and chili, and are sturdy enough to be split and filled as hearty little sandwiches. Our favorite way to eat them is as a meal by themselves, topped with a low calorie spread.
Sometimes we get some help from our cat crew. Here, our little friskette Koshka is photobombing our attempt to snap the a pic of the biscuits indoors.
Go back for more Healthy, Easy Recipes
| Stuff That Works (we know cause we use it!) | |||
 silicone bundt pan  |
 Tornado Whisk  |
 9 in. springform |
 silicone baking set  |
