Bacon In My Pocket: Is it a pancake or a muffin?

Yet another morning of the 'what are we having for breakfast' debate with the Bacon kids. One thing I've learned is that none of my kids like cereal! So the big question today....are we having muffins or pancakes for breakfast? I replied... BOTH! Yes I did get shocked and stunned faces, along with a moan (Little Boy Bacon wanted waffles, no I just can't win around here, and I'm not a short order cook!) But when I mentioned there were chocolate chips involved everyone seemed happy with that answer.

I found this recipe a while ago on a site I love called Bakerella. Goodness she has some amazing, yummy looking stuff. Much I can't make due to the fact I have 4 kids and a husband to take care of. Many of her recipes involve a lot of detail. Someday perhaps I'll have time to dawdle in the kitchen, but for now I have 4 hungry mouths to feed. This recipe was one that wasn't time consuming though. I have made it before and the muffins don't last in this house. So give them a try, I bet your family will fall in love with them too!

Maple pancake muffins:

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

2/3 cup buttermilk (or sour milk)

1 egg

2 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp melted butter

1/2 cup chocolate chips

In a bowl mix in the first 5 ingredients. I dump them all in and then take a fork to stir them around. Set this bowl aside. Now normally I don't use two separate bowls. I'd just mix the wet ingredients and then dump in the dry. Yes I like to save on how many dishes I need to wash! But I have found when I make muffins that this is a needed step. It helps keep the muffins more airy.

In the next bowl combine the butter milk (you can make sour milk by adding 1 tbsp vinegar to 1 cup milk and letting it sit for a few minutes, it will work the same as buttermilk) egg, syrup and melted butter. Mix these well. Then dump this mixture into your flour mixture.

Stir just until everything is combined. This is another great tip when making muffins. Don't over mix your muffin batter or anything you add to it (like chocolate chips, nuts, berries ect) will fall to the bottom and you won't get fluffy muffins. It's ok to have lumps in the batter, they are suppose to be there!

Once it's just mixed, it's time to dump in these! I think it's every kids dream to eat chocolate for breakfast! Little Miss Bacon requests these muffins all the time for this very reason! Gently mix the chocolate chips in the batter, a few turns of the spoon is all you need. Again you don't want to over mix.

Next place them in your well greased mini muffin tin.

Save some extra chocolate chips and add them to the tops!

Bake in a pre-heated 350* oven for about 10 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Be careful not to over bake them. Since they really are pancake batter it won't take as long to bake as normal mini muffins.

Here they are! Let them cool a few minutes on a wire rack. Enjoy the smell! Ahhhh...
And bat off little fingers trying to eat them. They need to cool!

Ooey, gooey, yumminess! I like them best when they are still a bit warm and the chocolate is still melted a bit. They taste delicious when they are all cooled too which makes them great for an after school snack too!