Maple Pancake Mini Muffins

Maple Pancake Mini-Muffins (from Bakerella)

I make these almost every weekend for the kids. This was probably the first recipe that set off my love of Pinterest; I saw it posted there and realized there was a whole world of amazing baked goods worth discovering. The idea is so smart: pancakes for breakfast that are all ready at exactly the same time. And they couldn’t really be much easier to make. When my brothers visit with their kids I will definitely make these for everyone.

First step, because it’s morning: get a cup of coffee.

Then, assemble the ingredients. I forgot to put the sugar out, but this is everything else.

That coffee cup has been in my possession since I was a kid, maybe 10 or 12. I loved owls growing up and because I have such a strong connection to it, I have no idea if it is actually esthetically nice or not. To me, it’s beautiful. I have zero objectivity. A friend of mine, having been told about another owl I owned that truly was ugly, coined the term “owly things” for the objects from our childhood we can’t let go of and can’t look at objectively, and I think of it every time I use that mug, which is almost every day. If it’s ugly, don’t tell me.

First step in this easy like Sunday morning recipe: melt the butter.

Then, pull the dry ingredients together: flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. The only deviation I make from the original recipe is that I use whole wheat white flour instead of all purpose.

In a separate bowl, I threw together the sugar, buttermilk, egg, melted butter, and maple syrup.

I mixed that up pretty thoroughly, then poured it into the dry ingredients and folded everything together.

Then it gets tricky, because the kids like different kinds of chips in their mini muffins. Nathaniel wants chocolate (as the recipe suggests), Juliet wants butterscotch, so I split the batter as best as I can between the two bowls and pour in the chips. I don’t measure them, I just eyeball it to see that there are enough without overdoing it.

I forgot to snap a picture of the tray full of batter, and once I popped it into the oven I didn’t want to risk ruining it just for a photograph. Next time.

I had preheated the oven to 375 degrees, and as soon as I put them in, I reduced it to 350. They were done in exactly eight minutes.

I let them cool in the pan for about five minutes.

I gave them a few more minutes on the wire rack too, then transferred them to a plate with a bowl of maple syrup in the middle for dipping. I make sure all the butterscotch ones are on one side, chocolate on the other, so the kids aren’t reaching over each other.

And the kids came a-running. I had a bran muffin & a banana for breakfast, but they were thrilled to have their mini muffins again and I’m sure our table is now covered with drips of maple syrup.