pancake muffins

I have a loyal follower who has commented here a couple of times, but most often she emails me with comments and kind words.

The day after Christmas, Sharon, emailed me the photo below and said,

“A friend sent this; have you tried muffin pancakes?”

Pancakes in muffin tins, no I haven’t tried that, but it looks and sounds kind of like Dutch Baby Pancakes, also known as German Pancakes, and what we’ve always called a Magic Pancake Basket.

My first intuition was to use my magic pancake batter, then instead of pouring the batter into a cast iron skillet, use the muffin tins and see if it would turn out the same. But since the photo Sharon shared indicated that regular pancake batter was used, I decided to go that route.

I used a classic lemon pancake batter I found in The Joy of Cooking, only adapting slightly, substituting yogurt for sour cream.

After about 9 of the 15 minutes of baking time, I could see that the pancakes were not going to puff up and create a crater in the center, as the photo showed. I pulled them out and used a spoon to press down on the muffin and make a crater of my own in the center. I then returned them to oven to finish baking and that worked just fine. They were cute little pancake muffin baskets and they tasted great! Next time, I’ll use my Magic Pancake batter though. I’m sharing both recipes with you today.

Thanks for the inspiration, Sharon. Even if it did take me over 6 weeks to get to.

Lemon Pancake Muffins

1 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1  1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup milk
Zest of two lemons
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
1  1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Powdered sugar
Fresh berries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 18 muffin cups and set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In another bowl whisk together the yogurt, milk, zest, lemon juice, melted butter, egg and vanilla.

Pour yogurt mixture into dry mixture and stir to just combine. The batter will be thick and bubbly.

Fill each greased muffin cup halfway full. Bake in preheated oven for 9 minutes.

Remove from oven and use a small spoon to press down on the center to make a crater. Return to oven and bake for another 6 minutes for a total of 15 minutes baking time.

Remove pancakes from muffin cups and give a good dusting of powdered sugar and then fill with fresh fruit… or syrup, peanut butter, Nutella … whatever you like.

Makes 18 pancake muffins

OR use this batter to make one big pancake or fill muffin tins halfway with batter, there should be no need to press down with a spoon. They should puff on their own…

Magic Pancake Basket

2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 basket of strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced
1 cup sour cream mixed with 3 tablespoons brown sugar

Place oven rack in center of oven and preheat to 450 degrees.

In a small bowl, whisk eggs until combined. Whisk in milk, salt and flour.

Put butter into a 9-inch cast iron skillet or a 9-inch nonstick skillet. If the handle of your skillet is not ovenproof, wrap it in several layers of heavy-duty foil. Place in the oven for 2 minutes or until butter is melted and sizzling; quickly swirl to coat bottom and about 1-inch up the sides of the pan.

Immediately pour in egg batter. Bake for 15 minutes.  If the bottom puffs up, prick it with a fork.  Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking for 8-10 minutes or until puffed and golden brown.

Remove from oven, lift out basket and place on a serving plate.

Serve with strawberries and  with a dollop of the brown sugar – sour cream.

Cut into wedges and serve.

Serves 4