Sausage-Maple Pancake Muffins

I invented these super-yummy breakfast muffins for my son, who refuses to eat meat. The sausage is hidden inside a scrumptious maple/whole-grain batter and tastes soooo good that even my little meat-hater devoured them!

You can make these two ways. The first is a regular muffin with the sausage patty inside :The second is a mini-muffin with cooked sausage bits inside:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Either way, these taste SO good that you’ll never want to buy prepackaged breakfast foods again. Best of all, they’re super healthy, with two different grains and no oil or butter!

 Here’s the recipe:

Maple Sausage Pancake Muffins

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cornmeal

1 tsp salt

1 tsp soda

1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar

3 cups buttermilk (or 3 cups milk w/ 3 tablespoons vinegar, let sit for 5 min. to curdle)

2 large eggs, beaten

1 and 1/2 tsp maple extract

**Prepare and set aside: one 12-ounce roll of sausage (flavored according to your preference) and cook it in patties, or crumbled, or half of both styles.

Combine flours, salt, soda, and brown sugar. Whisk egg and maple extract in the buttermilk, then add this wet mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir until just moistened–batter will be slightly lumpy.

For mini-muffins, fold the  pre-cooked, crumbled sausage into the batter until combined.

 

 

 

 

Spray mini-muffin tins with canola oil cooking spray. Drop batter into the pan using a mini cookie scoop.

 Bake at 400 for 8 minutes (mini muffins) or 18 minutes (regular-sized)

 

 

 

Before removing muffins from the pan, trace around their edges with a toothpick to loosen them without tearing or shredding.

Store them in an air-tight container in the refrigerator or freezer.

 

 

 

 For regular-sized muffins, spray muffin pan with canola oil cooking spray. Drop one ice cream scooper full of batter into tin, add sausage patty, then top with a second scoop of batter.

When I bake these muffins, I usually divide the sausage roll in half; I make one half into patties, the other into crumbled sausage. Then I divide the batter in half and make big muffins for the older kids, minis for the little tykes.

These muffins freeze well, too, so you can double up, make a bunch, and freeze them for quick breakfasts! Just grab ’em, nuke ’em, and kids can pop them into their mouths for a quick and tasty sausage and pancake breakfast on the run! Who needs fast food when you’ve got tasty, healthy, and cost-effective meals like this??