Quick and easy breakfast ideas are my jam, which is why I love these pancake muffins.
Why They Are Amazing
They’re easy homemade pancakes that are perfect for breakfast on the go…because who has time to stand and flip pancakes all morning? Simply pour them into a mini muffin pan and be done!
Homemade pancakes are my favorite breakfast food but, as I’ve mentioned before, breakfast is not a meal I typically have a lot of time to prepare.
Quick and easy is my morning breakfast routine and though they’re not necessarily difficult to make, quick is not a word I would use to describe traditional homemade pancakes.
They’re not a food you can leave cooking while you finish getting ready, unless you’d like one side to be completely burnt.
Pancake Bites: Mini Pancakes
That’s where these Pancake Muffins come in. With these, I turned my favorite pancake recipe into a grab-and-go breakfast that can bake while I finish getting ready. Perfect for feeding the entire family- they’re a big hit and the perfect solution for busy mornings.
No need to hover over the stove waiting for the pancakes to be the perfect amount of cooked before flipping. No flipping required at all, actually.
As well as with regular pancakes, mixing the delicious pancake batter too much can lead to tough or chewy Pancake Muffins, when they really should be light and fluffy.
Pancake Muffins Mix-Ins
The fun part about these delicious pancakes is adding your favorite toppings. I love to mix it up between mini chocolate chips, berries, and walnuts. Great for kids and slumber parties to let everyone create their own. Here are more ideas for different flavors!
- Sprinkles
- Nutella (though be prepared for these to be messy)
- Trix
- Fruity Pebbles
- Any fresh fruit
- Nuts
- Peanut Butter Chips
- Butterscotch Chips
- Chocolate Syrup
- Cinnamon Sugar
- Swap vanilla extract for lemon, rum, butter or almond
Syrup
You can eat these Pancake Muffins two ways – as traditional pancakes at breakfast, with maple syrup and butter, or as breakfast on the go.
Syrup isn’t exactly portable so on busy mornings I’ll grab one or two Pancake Muffins, slather on some butter, and eat them without syrup in the car.
But if you want some… check out these:
- Dutch Honey
- Homemade Blueberry Syrup
- Apple Cider Syrup
- Cranberry Syrup
- Blueberry Reduction
- Homemade Caramel Sauce
- Fudge Sauce
Ingredients
Start by gathering your simple ingredients. You can also use the same recipe, but swap in dry pancake mix and make it according to the instructions on the box. I like to make my own.
- Eggs – It’s usually best to bake with room temperature eggs. Also always assume that the recipe is calling for large eggs when eggs are required.
- Buttermilk – To achieve that buttermilk pancake flavor, you obviously need buttermilk. Or you could use a buttermilk substitute.
- Unsalted butter – Always use unsalted butter when cooking. However, just omit the additional salt if using salted butter.
- Vanilla extract – This helps to provide some flavor to your, but almond or raspberry flavor are great too!
- Flour – Take your pancake mix muffins a step further and opt for cake flour instead of all-purpose. It has a lower protein and gluten content so the result is even more feathery and light.
- Sugar – While pancakes themselves are typically savory with the syrup being sweet, a small amount of sugar in the batter helps to balance flavors but also caramelize and brown on the griddle.
- Baking powder and baking soda – While powder needs something acidic or heat to activate, soda just needs moisture. You are coming at the “create pockets of fluffy” from two different angles.
- Coarse sea salt – If using salted butter, omit this completely. But salt helps to bring out the natural flavors of these easy mini pancake muffins.
- Mix-Ins – See the section above about all of the delicious ways you can customize these pancake muffins. The whole family can even choose different toppings.
How to Make Pancake Muffins
- Prepare oven and pan. Preheat the oven and coat the muffin tin with cooking spray. I used a standard muffin tin, but feel free to use a mini or jumbo (but make sure to adjust the cooking times accordingly).
- Wet ingredients. Assemble the pancake batter by whisking the eggs until fluffy, then incorporating in melted butter, buttermilk and vanilla extract.
- Dry ingredients. Blend together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Combine. Gradually add dry mixture to wet mixture. Do not overmix. Batter will be lumpy.
- Add to pan. Equally divide batter into mini muffin tin, about half full. I find the easiest way to do this is to use a cookie scoop.
- Add ins. Place add-ins on top of batter as desired. See out list below for ideas!
- Bake. Bake until edges start to crisp and brown. If you opted for a mini or jumbo tin, adjust cooking times up or down.
Make Ahead & Freezing
You can make a batch ahead of time if you need to. Although I would recommend reheating them in the oven so they don’t get rubbery like breads tend to do in the microwave. You can also make the batter ahead of time and just refrigerate until ready to bake.
Freeze your mini muffins in an airtight container or freezer bag, being mindful to get out as much air as possible. They are good for up to 4 months.
More Homemade Pancake Recipes
Pancake Spaghetti (Breakfast Spaghetti)
Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes
Red Velvet Pancake Recipe
Sheet Pan Pancakes
Pancake Muffin Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 4 tablespoons butter , melted
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- Cooking spray
- Add-Ins
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 2 muffin tins with cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until fluffy.
- Whisk in buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla extract.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Gradually add dry mixture to wet mixture. Do not overmix. Batter will be lumpy.
- Equally divide batter into 24 muffin tins, about 1/2 full.
- Place add-ins on top of batter.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until edges start to crisp and brown.
- Remove and serve with butter and syrup as desired.
- If you've tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or ratings!
Can you use gluten free pancake or gf flour for this recipe
You should be able to, but we have not peraonlly tested it! Come back and let us know how it went if you do!
Really good recipe. Great base for a bunch of other recipes. This may replace even my regular muffin recipes.
I made this with my 12yr old grandson and he enjoyed choosing his add-ins. We had frozen blueberries and strawberries on hand as well as chocolate chips. The fruit were our favorites. This makes a large batch ,so I’m cooling the others on a rack before putting them in the freezer. We will definitely be making these again.
Hello Jessica, this recipe looks delicious! I did want to let you know that I received an error message when I tried to print it.
Thanks so much, Melissa- I just checked and didn’t have any issues on my end. Do you, by chance, have a pop-up blocker enabled, that will cause an error. Either way, I forwarded it over to the tech team to double check the backend stuff is good to go. Hope you enjoy!
Hello! How do you make this recipe with a pancake dry mix? You didn’t specify if I would just use the normal process to make the mix or if you added additional ingredients. How much dry mix do you use?
Hi, I didn’t use pancake mix, I used a from scratch recipe. You can just use the recipe on the side of the pancake box, however much 1 batch and then add your add-ins.
Hi thanks for the fast response. Sorry, I was looking at a lot of other pancake muffin recipes that incorporate a dry muffin mix, so I assumed when you said you could use a dry muffin mix that you also used additional ingredients. Your recipe sounds delicious though! Thanks for the advice!
No problem!
I’m sure you can just add a tbsp of vinegar or lemon juice to milk as a substitute for buttermilk.
You sure can.
Delicious.
Thank you!
How many calories. Are these plain? Thanks 🙂 wonderful idea! 🙂
Hi- the nutrition displayed is for plain, add additional calories or your add-ins.
This are delicious! Super easy to make, and most importantly, the kids love them!!!! Great way to start The day!
I also like that I can pack them for a little snack during the day.
Thank you! I agree- they are great as a snack. I even freeze them and they only take 10-15 minutes to defrost.
I used half a teaspoon salt and subbed 1 cup Greek yogurt/1 cup milk for the buttermilk. They are so good! I don’t think they even need butter or syrup!
Nice! Thanks for letting us know, I’ll have to try Greek yogurt next time.
I was super excited to try these, but they came out a little salty. They were good with syrup, but i’ll alter the recipe a little next time.
Thanks for the feedback! I happen to love salt, LOL.
Confused about the size on these to make 12 servings. Are they regular muffins in two pans of 12 (24 count) or mini’s in a pan of 24 or two large pans of 6?
Hi Susan! Great question- it makes 24 muffins in a standard muffin tin. I allowed for 3 muffins per serving.
No stores near me have WHOLE buttermilk as this recipe asks for. All anyone ever sees is the low fat buttermilk and i dont think that would taste right. where or where do you go and are able to just buy regular buttermilk?
Hi Diana, You can probably use low fat buttermilk and be ok. If you want to use low fat and add a tablespoon of melted butter for every 1 cup buttermilk (not sure how much you are making), that will be fine too.
I made these and I would recommend them for sure. They are delicious and you don’t have to stand at the stove and make them which is a bonus for me because my back is sore a big thumbs up to you
Thank you for coming back to let us know, Judy! And so glad you loved them- I agree, the griddle is the worst part of making pancakes.
Pancake muffins, genius! Can’t wait to whip a batch of these up!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Very pretty and looks yummy!
I love these! So many different flavor ideas! There’s an option for everyone.
These pancake muffins are genius! I’m looking for recipes to freeze ahead, and I think these will be great for breakfast!
These are Awesome! Perfect for an on the go breakfast.
Oh how cute- I love this idea! I am a big fan of how customizable they are and how easy they are to grab and go… My kind of breakfast!