Of course, if you’ve read my blog much, you probably know that bacon is a staple in my home. I might even go as far as to call it a food group. It’s in my cart pretty much every week. Bacon and chocolate? Classic combo…new classic, anyway. If you haven’t had Mo’s Bacon Bar by Vosges….try one. Now. But I digress.
A couple of weeks ago, I posted a recipe for banana-pumpkin-chocolate chip muffins. We seriously love those muffins, and we finished them off quickly. When I don’t have muffins in the freezer, I find myself longing for them….they’re such an easy grab-and-go breakfast. Friday night, I was searching for a muffin recipe that didn’t require a bunch of ingredients that I needed to purchase, and I found this one by Bakerella: mini maple pancake muffins. I had all the ingredients, and they sounded sublime….but I put a little thought into how to make them my own. Bacon? Check. Whole wheat flour? Check. Full-size muffins? Check. So….here you go.
Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees.
Whisk a cup of flour, a teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons sugar in a bowl. I, of course, used my favorite King Arthur White Whole Wheat. In a separate container, whisk together 2/3 cup buttermilk (I didn’t have buttermilk so I added a tiny splash of vinegar to 2/3 cup of milk), 2 tablespoons of melted butter, 1 egg, and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. I just did this all in my measuring cup.
Now, pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients. This, if you didn’t know, is called “the muffin method”. Pouring the wet into the dry prevents dry ingredients from flying all over the place when you stir. Stir the batter till it’s just incorporated; if you overmix you’ll end up with tunnels in your muffins. Add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, and, if you’re brave like me, crumble in a few strips of bacon, then stir it all up.
Spray a muffin pan or line with paper cups. Scoop the batter into the tins, filling them about 2/3 full. This made 9 muffins, so I filled the empty cups halfway with water so the pan wouldn’t buckle. Did you know that trick? Bake these for about 15 minutes, checking them with a toothpick to make sure they’re done.
I like to cool these on the cooling rack then transfer them to a towel to serve. Serve the muffins with a little bit of maple syrup for dipping or drizzling. These were fantastic…but next time I make them I’ll add a couple of drops of maple flavoring to up the ante on the maple. If you love the bacon-chocolate combo, you should make these! They’re fantastic.
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