What do you do when you are hankering for blueberry muffins, but don’t have a muffin pan handy? Or maybe you just don’t feel like cranking up the oven on a hot summer day.
During a recent vacation (sans muffin pan) I discovered that you cook them in a skillet, using the muffin batter the same as you would pancake batter. And the results are outstanding.
Why not just make blueberry pancakes? To answer that, we need to look at the differences between pancake and muffin batters. Though recipes will vary, most pancake and muffin recipes call for equal amounts of flour and eggs. But while pancakes call for more liquid, muffins get more (often way more) sugar, fat and baking powder.
That’s why muffins are dense and cake-like, while pancakes are light and fluffy.
So while muffin batter cooked in a skillet may resemble a pancake, the taste is all muffin. I even top the muffins with a blend of cinnamon-sugar (just as you would a muffin); this caramelizes beautifully when you flip them. And while muffins can take half an hour to bake, these pancake-style muffins cook up in just minutes.
Also, this recipe works just as well with white whole-wheat flour as with all-purpose flour, so substitute equally if you want a whole-grain option.
SKILLET BLUEBERRY MUFFIN PANCAKES
Start to finish: 20 minutes
Makes four servings
For the muffins:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh blueberries
For the topping:
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
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