It may not come as a surprise that there’s yet another scrumptious morsel you can easily whip up with the help of boxed pancake mix. This malty, self-rising baking mix makes an excellent frying batter for veggies and a perfect dough for apple fritters (among other tempting carb-laden snacks). With both sweet and savory applications, complete pancake mix can do no wrong. Let’s add another one to the list of Boxed Mix Greatest Hits: quick and easy blueberry muffins.
Most cakes and quick breads contain similar ingredients—flour, leavening agent, sugar, salt, fat, and eggs—just in different proportions. Baking from scratch comes easy to some, and they’re the folks who might find boxed pancake mix a veritable baking scam. It’s premixed dry ingredients (and sometimes even dry egg powder), so why not do it yourself? To that I say: Precisely!
Complete pancake mix is already pre-measured and combined, so all you have to do is mess with the proportions a bit and add some liquid to make the type of quick bread you want. Less time spent pulling six different containers out of the pantry, fewer measuring utensils, and an easier cleanup. Plus, sometimes you're just plum outta eggs.
Even boxed-mix baking can be easier with the right tools:
The right ratio for muffins
Muffins have a slightly higher sugar and fat content than pancakes, so besides liquid (which needs to be added regardless) that’s all that needs to be added. Oh, and the blueberries of course. I don’t like my muffins to be as sweet as cake, but if that speaks to you then add another tablespoon of sugar to the mix. Muffin batter is also much thicker than pancake batter, so keep in mind that the mixture should be rather thick.
How to make blueberry muffins from pancake mix
1. Whisk the boxed pancake mix, sugar, oil, and milk together in a mixing bowl. The mixture should be well combined, but a few lumps are okay. Add the blueberries and stir gently. You can use frozen blueberries, though they’ll tint the batter blue-gray.
2. Spoon the batter into a buttered or paper lined cupcake pan. I usually fill them just shy of the top because I like the muffin to crown. For a crunchy crust, generously sprinkle granulated sugar over the tops of each muffin.
3. Bake the muffins in a preheated 400°F oven for about 12 minutes, or until browned and springy in the center.
Feel free to zhuzh up your pancake mix muffins with a pinch of ground cinnamon, a splash of vanilla extract, orange zest, or even different fruit. This recipe makes about five muffins and can certainly be doubled.
Easy Blueberry Muffin Recipe (from pancake mix)
Ingredients:
1 cup complete pancake mix
2 tablespoons sugar + more for topping
2 tablespoons canola oil
4 tablespoons milk (subsitute alternative milk, or water)
½ - ⅔ cup blueberries
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a 6-cup cupcake pan with paper liners, or generously butter the cups and the top edge around each cup.
2. Whisk the pancake mix, sugar, oil, and milk together in a bowl until combined. The mixture should be well combined but a few lumps are okay. Stir the blueberries into the mixture gently with a spoon.
3. Divide the batter into each muffin cup. Generously sprinkle the tops with more granulated sugar.
4. Bake the muffins for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the tops are lightly browned and they’re springy in the center.