This week we’re making tiny breakfast treats in a mini muffin pan. If you don’t have a mini muffin pan, consider this my argument in favor of your getting one. It might seem like a one-trick pony, but you can use them to make so much more than just mini muffins. This week I’ll share two recipes that aren’t even a tiny bit muffin-like. Also, did you know that you can bake meatballs in your mini muffin pan? True story. I’ve also made miniature truffle brownies. So go buy one.
Last week, I cooked exactly two things: the pommes anna, and these pancake muffins. That’s a pretty low week for me. In my defense, something about having a cold erases my appetite completely. I once read a description of the experience of eating bland diet food as being like when you have a cold, and you have the sensation of eating food without any of the taste. That really resonated with me.
But it’s much to early in this blogging thing for me to start slacking off, so I dragged my sorry sniffling self out of bed and whipped up some pancake muffins. Obviously, I have a thing for other foods transformed into muffin form: first doughnut muffins, and now this. I have recipes pinned on my ‘muffins to try’ Pinterest board for oatmeal cookie muffins and raisin bran muffins, too. I sense a theme week coming.
Harry love love loves pancakes, but until I married him I’d never made them before. The first time I tried, it was everything that could possibly go wrong in a pancake. I overwhisked the batter, so it was too thin and they spread all over the place (apparently some clumps are what makes the pancakes fluffy). I poured the batter in the pan too early before it was hot enough, so the first ones were all greasy. I didn’t turn down the heat as I cooked, so the later ones burned. Some of them didn’t flip right. Also, I burned my fingers. It was a disaster. I’m really inspiring confidence in my cooking skills, right?
I’m somewhat better at making pancakes now (although I still prefer a crepe or a dutch baby). But let’s just say that I understand why someone wouldn’t want to have to go through the whole pouring and flipping thing. These pancake muffins are a perfect compromise.
The best thing about pancake muffins – besides the obvious fact that they’re pancakes in muffin form, which is in itself awesome – is the fact that they’re almost infinitely customizable. Swap out half of the all-purpose flour for whole wheat, or even buckwheat, if that’s your thing. Fill them with blueberries, or chocolate, or anything else you like (nuts? sliced bananas? go for it! Although sliced bananas might be better in a full-sized pancake muffin). Top them with a reduced maple syrup glaze, or eat them warm with maple syrup and butter, or just pop them in your mouth plain. Unless you’re trying to create an abomination, you basically can’t go wrong.
