These Muffins Are Actually Pancakes

You’re a busy person. You try get to work early. You do favors for your friends. You sometimes go to the gym. Of course you don’t have a lot of time for a sit-down meal on a weekday morning. But at the same time, you deserve to start the day with a big ol’ pancake breakfast. Allow me to offer a compromise: pancake muffins. Pancake muffins offer all the flavor of a stack of pancakes with the on-the-go ease of a muffin.

The best time to prep pancake muffins for the week is on the weekend (or whenever you have an hour to spare). Start by whipping up a batch of your favorite pancake batter, or use whatever mix you have on hand. Mix in a extra egg—this is what will help the muffins rise without taking away from the pancake-y flavor. If you’re feeling a savory pancake, omit the sugar from the batter. (If there’s already sugar in your dry mix, it should be OK as long as the mix isn’t chocolate or blueberry flavored.) Pancake muffins will keep in the freezer for at least a month, so feel free to double the recipe if you’d like to make an extra large batch of muffins.

Select your mix-in: It could be a pancake classic like chocolate chips or blueberries. It could be something a little more nutrient-dense, like mashed banana, pumpkin puree, or chopped fruit or nuts. It could also be the exact opposite, like crushed sugary cereal. For savory pancake muffins, toss in sliced scallions, grated cheese, crumbled bacon, or diced ham. Do what your heart tells you, and fold in ¼ cup of whatever you’ve picked into the batter.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease a muffin tin with butter or cooking spray, or line the pan with cupcake liners. Fill each cup about halfway with muffin batter. Bake the pancake muffins for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick poked inside comes out clean.

Let the muffins cool inside the tin for 5-10 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack. Make sure the muffins cool completely before you freeze them.

As I’m sure you can imagine, sweet and savory pancake muffins are wonderful dipped in syrup, but the sweet ones also go well with jam, nut butters, and yogurt. The savory versions also do very well when dipped in a runny fried egg yolk, but seeing as you’re probably eating these bad boys in the way to work, it may not be the time for that, so try cottage cheese, hummus, or a tahini-based falafel sauce.