Blueberry Pancake Muffins
Why choose between a pancake and a muffin, when you can have both?
Makes 12 muffins
Total time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: muffin tin, dry measuring cups/spoons, liquid measuring cup, mixing bowls
See *Notes for more important tips/clarifications
Something magical happened this morning.
Blueberry. Pancake. Muffins.
Allow me to explain.
When my mom helped move my grandparents out of their old house, she found an old cookbook. Thinking it might be more useful in my hands, she gave it to me and I’ve started cooking my way through it - Meta Given’s “The Modern Family Cook Book”.
Meta’s goal was to give housewives in the 40s and 50s the tools to successfully make a variety of quality home-cooked meals for their families. The book focuses heavily on how to create well-balanced meals and even provides information on best budgeting practices. As you all know, back then, women were expected to stay home and run the house, and so the guidance was pretty much in line with what you’d expect.
The first recipe I chose was “Twin Mountain Muffins”, a recipe that seemingly became popular in New England more than 50 years ago. To make things a little more interesting, I decided to throw in a cup of blueberries. A LOT of sifting in this one recipe, like…3-4 times more than usual. The recipe also uses a lot more baking powder than I’m used to, which is probably why the muffins sank after baking.
Overall though? I enjoyed the muffins! They’re light, not too sweet and don’t require a lot of ingredients. You can easily see how Meta thought this would be perfect for the busy housewife to throw together on short notice.
I started thinking about how I would put my own spin on the recipe. I started writing out the beginnings of an idea. My Blueberry Muffins” was going to be the temporary recipe title. And then, , I accidentally typed “My Blueberry Panc...” I must have had blueberry pancakes on my mind. You can’t blame me for that, I’m always craving them!
I thought to myself, “blueberry pancake muffins?” Did I just stumble onto something amazing? If it worked, I could have myself a self-contained blueberry pancake that I could gobble down in a couple of bites.
Sounds pretty good to me. I immediately got to testing them out and yea…
They work. They totally work.
The muffins are fluffy and a little spongey - the ideal texture of a pancake. They’re loaded up with enough blueberries that you get at least one in every bite. I highly recommend saving a few extra blueberries to put on top before baking. They start to turn almost jam-like in the oven. The maple extract is subtle but noticeable, definitely noticeable enough you can taste that maple syrup-soaked pancake in your mouth. Except, it’s a muffin. They are super simple to whip up (no mixer required!). You could very easily get them in the oven in the morning as a fun way to switch up your usual breakfast routine.
Oh, and one more thing: do not skip the coarse sugar. Trust me, it’s a necessity. . Sugary, crackle-y muffin tops + jammy blueberries? That’s my kind of muffin.
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour (use about 1 tbsp of the flour to toss with the blueberries to prevent sinking)
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2/3 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1/2 cup/1 stick unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled (about 10 mins)
1 1/2 tsps vanilla extract
1/4 tsp maple extract
1 cup of blueberries, fresh or frozen (plus a few extra for the top)
Coarse/turbinado sugar, for topping
*Notes
Take the eggs and milk out 30 minutes before you’re ready to bake to get them to room temperature.
If using frozen berries, do not thaw.
More info on the baking method of starting at a high temperature and decreasing it at the end: https://www.thekitchn.com/for-quick-breads-and-muffins-two-temperatures-are-better-than-one-236762 . This method helps you get those bakery-style high muffin tops!
Serving instructions: These muffins will keep 1-2 days at room temperature, stored in an airtight container and up to 1 week in the fridge.
Process:
Preheat the oven to 425 °F and line a 12-cup muffin/cupcake tray with liners.
Melt and cool the butter. I let mine cool for about 10 minutes.
Toss the blueberries with about a tbsp of the flour to prevent the blueberries from sinking in the batter when baking.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and both sugars.
In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, butter and both extracts.
Make a well in the dry ingredients with your fingers and add the wet ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold in the wet ingredients, until the flour is just dampened (you should see a few streaks of dry flour left)
Fold in the blueberries.
Bake at 425 for 5-7 minutes, until the muffins rise about 1/4 inch above the liners. Turn the oven down to 350 and bake for another 12-14 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool in the cupcake tray about 15-30 minutes before eating. Or slightly less if you really can’t wait. ;)
