chocolate chip maple syrup pancake muffins

Right now I am obsessed with a few things. These things include: listening to The Civil Wars, watching How I Met Your Mother, knitting dinosaurs (more on that later), organizing, attempting to work out every other day, working, eating chocolate chips and French vanilla ice cream, reminiscing about Paris, and reading the blog and cookbook of Joy the Baker (she’s my favorite) and baking as many things as I can. That one’s normal though.

This book is the bomb. I got it for my birthday this year and promptly read the entire thing. I also got to meet Joy at her book signing in Chicago in April and it was awesome. You know when you meet someone you really admire (and happen to share a name with?!) and you don’t even know how to react? Yeah…that happened. (I would share the picture of the two of us together, but I look really awkward, so we’ll save that for another time.) Anyway, I highly recommend this book for bakers everywhere.

This recipe is from Joy’s blog. She has so many good recipes and it’s really fun to make her stuff. So. I found this recipe and decided to make it to take to work in the morning. Super user friendly. Recipes that don’t involve an electric mixer are awesome. This one’s just a couple bowls, a saucepan or two, and a whisk. Super awesome. Don’t be intimidated by the title. It sounds really complicated, but it really isn’t. I super promise (that’s better than a regular promise).

We’ll start with the browned butter. Browning butter adds a rich flavor to foods, especially cookies and muffins. For this you NEED to use real butter. No margarine, no “I Can’t Believe” stuff. Real butter. Just believe me. To begin, put butter in a small saucepan over medium heat (picture 1). Butter will melt (picture 2). After it melts, the butter will start to crackle and foam up. Then it will bubble a lot (picture 3). Don’t leave it alone at this point because it can brown really fast from here on out. After the crackling dies down, the fats in the butter will turn brown and it will smell really nutty. Remove from heat and place in a bowl to cool a little bit before using the butter in the recipe (picture 4). This process will take between 8-10 minutes, theoretically. Sometimes it takes longer, sometimes not. This sounds really scary and you may think you’re going to burn the butter, but don’t worry. It isn’t. And it adds tons of flavor.

These muffins are full of maple syrup flavor, making them really good for breakfast. But I just ate ice cream before I ate dinner so I’m pretty sure that’s not exclusive. This batter is really good and pretty simple. It’s the kind of thing that isn’t too dense but still allows for room for flavors to blend. I added chocolate chips to these because it seemed like a good idea. Why not?

These get baked up and the chocolate melts a little bit. There really isn’t anything better than that right now.

Now, these are good, but it gets even better. A maple syrup glaze. Guys. This is the best. It adds even more maple flavor to the explosion of deliciousness in these muffins. I really hope you make these. And then finish watching season seven of How I Met Your Mother. Well…that’s just what’s gonna happen in my life right now.

Chocolate Chip Maple Syrup Pancake Muffins

from Joythebaker.com

makes 12 muffins

For the muffins:

7 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1/3 cup milk (go 2% or whole)

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 Tablespoon maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 and 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

For the glaze:

3/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Brown the butter in a small saucepan. When brown, set aside to cool. Whisk together milk, egg, egg yolk, syrup, and vanilla. Stir in the browned butter. In another bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the milk and butter mixture to the flour mixture all at once. Stir to combine. Once combined stir in chocolate chips. Divide between the cupcake liners and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. While the muffins are baking make the glaze. Simmer syrup and lemon juice in a small saucepan over low to medium heat stirring occasionally. Syrup will reduce and become thicker. Remove the glaze from heat. When muffins are done baking, let them cool for 5-6 minutes, or until you can handle them. Poke some holes in the top with a toothpick and dip the tops in the glaze. Repeat for each muffin and when all have been dipped dip them a second time, starting with the first muffin dipped. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

These muffins will last in an airtight container at room temperature for 7-10 days.