Pancake Mini-Muffins (2024)

Tomorrow is Shrove Tuesday, which the day before Ash Wednesday, which is the day the Christian season of Lent begins, which is typically the time of year I wrestle mightily with whether to give up coffee or wine and I wind up choosing wine because giving up coffee would be next to impossible, which, of course, is an indication that I should give up coffee since the whole purpose of Lent is sacrifice, but I’ll just be honest: I haven’t got the guts. Which, of course, means that coffee is exactly what I should give up. Which, of course, is precisely why I can’t give it up.

I’m so glad we had this talk.

Shrove Tuesday (more commonly known as Fat Tuesday) is also sometimes referred to as “Pancake Tuesday” since feasting on rich, indulgent foods (uhh…pancakes, anyone?) is a tradition just before Lent. Growing up, our Episcopal church held an annual Shrove Tuesday pancake supper, and I always remember it being so much fun—especially knowing that the next day, the party was totally over for the next 40 days.

Since I’d had pancakes on the brain, and since my two boys had had their two best friends spend the night, I made a double batch of pancake batter yesterday morning. Once the four hooligans had wolfed down approximately 30,000 regular pancakes, I looked at the rest of the batter and decided to have some fun with it.

These mini-muffins are as delicious as they are fun! Make as many as you want, serve them with a dish of warm syrup, and watch everyone dig in!

(Note: If you’d like to consider some other pancake possibilities for your Shrove Tuesday pancake feast, here is my Pancake Archive!)

Start with pancake batter. You can use mine, or you can use whatever favorite of yours you like to use, or (gulp, please forgive me…) you can use a mix.

Then grab some blueberries.

Or not, if you want plain pancake muffins. Either is delicious.

(Or how about this? Mini chocolate chips.)

(There, I said it.)

Spray a mini-muffin pan really generously with baking spray and fill the cups 2/3 of the way full with batter.

I use a small kitchen scoop. Makes it really easy to fill them really quickly, which means you’ll get to eat them sooner.

Ergo, small kitchen scoops are necessary to sustain life.

If you’re going the blueberry route, drop 2 to 3 blueberries in each cup, leaving space in between them.

Now pop them in a 425 degree oven for about 8 to 9 minutes!

This first batch, I baked at 400 for about 11 minutes and they were fine. But I liked the slightly crispy edges and darker golden color of the batch at 425. (Plus, the latter batch puffed just a little more.) Just keep an eye on them whatever temp you use.

Take them out when they’re nice and golden.

Let them sit in the pan for a couple of minutes, then turn them out. You may need to use a small, sharp knife here and there, but generally speaking, they should come out easily.

Yum. They look like normal little muffins…but one bite and you instantly know they’re pancakes!

Here are the plain ones. I really can’t make up my mind which ones are better. The blueberries are lovely and juicy and fruity and all…but with these plain ones you just get that good, unadulterated pancake goodness.

But the good thing is…

You don’t have to choose!

Talk about fun. If you have a bunch of kids over to your house, just set this plate in front of them and watch them disappear.

The muffins. Not the kids.

There’s butter in the batter, so no need to mess with that step. Just dunk ’em in warm syrup and you’re good to go.

You’ll love these!