Mini Maple (Whole Wheat) Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins

It's not secret that I'm in love with Bakerella and her latest recipe was just what I needed for a school morning.  Quick and simple with very little cleanup!  But oh, so good!  Here is a teaser for what is to come!

I'm loving the fact that I have been making a homemade breakfast for my kids every morning before school.  We have oatmeal, pancakes, eggs, waffles, muffins....lots of great starts to the day.  I think that it gives them a better start than cereal.  Let's face it, Raisin Bran might be healthy, but kids prefer the sugar!


Plus the homemade breakfast makes me feel better about the days that I wimp out on dinner and don't make anything!  Homemade food once a day is good, right?  Who needs a big dinner anyway?


So here is the recipe, with my notes italicized.  I think I may replace some of the butter with applesauce.  They were a tad greasy for my taste, but the whole wheat worked well.  Just note that chocolate chips sink in the batter.  Not a big deal, but if you wanted to use MINI chocolate chips, it might work well too.





Mini Maple (Whole Wheat) Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins.

(Bakerella said, "Someone please come up with a shorter name for these."  but I only made it longer!)

1 cup flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter (maybe a tad much for this recipe? 1/2 applesauce next time)
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (I only had semi-sweet)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Sift together with a wire whisk.
• In another bowl, stir buttermilk, egg, maple syrup and melted butter until just combined.
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until combined.
• Stir in chocolate chips. Reserve a few chips to sprinkle on the tops.
• Bake for 8-9 minutes.

Makes 24 mini pancake muffins.

Let cool slightly and remove from the pan. You may need to use a toothpick around the edges to separate the pancake muffins from the pan.

Serve immediately with warmed butter if you like or even just with maple syrup.  My kids ate them with no butter or syrup, they had plenty of butter in them and a slight hint of maple syrup.