Today, I’m thrilled to share a delightful recipe that merges the love for pancakes and the charm of cupcakes into a single irresistible treat: Pancake Cupcakes topped with Browned Butter Maple Frosting. Get ready to embark on a journey filled with tantalizing aromas and the bliss of homemade goodness.
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How to Brown Butter
Browned butter is a magical ingredient that elevates the flavor profile of any recipe. Follow these simple steps to achieve that golden, nutty essence:
Melt the Butter:
Place the butter, cut into small chunks, in a saucepan over medium heat. Allow it to melt completely while stirring occasionally.
Foaming, Solidifying and Foaming again
The butter will start to foam. Stir frequently to keep an eye on the color. As the foam subsides, you’ll notice the milk solids turning brown at the bottom of the pan. It’s at this point that the nutty aroma will begin to fill your kitchen. The foam will kind of come back again when it’s almost ready.
Watch Closely
Remove the pan from the heat as soon as the butter reaches a golden brown color and you can see little brown specks on the bottom. Be cautious not to let it burn. Transfer the browned butter to a heatproof bowl and allow it to cool.
Put in the Fridge
This part is important! Place your browned butter back in the fridge until it turns solid again. You need cold butter to make good, non-runny frosting. It will take about an hour for your butter to solidify again, but it is SO worth the wait!
Pro Tips for Making Pancake Cupcakes with Browned Butter Maple Frosting
Use Foil or Non-Stick Cupcake Liners.
The cupcake base for this recipe is essentially pancake batter. It will stick to regular paper liners, and then you will miss out on most of your cupcake! Using foil or non-stick liners helps with this. As a note, I used a cheap brand of foil liners for this, and I wasn’t entirely happy with how much the cupcakes stuck to the liner! When I make this recipe again, I will spring for the good brand (I like the Reynolds cupcake liners), and I might even grease those liners a little bit!
Make sure your browned butter solidifies completely.
I know I said this already, but this point it really important! If your browned butter isn’t completely solid again before you go to use it, your frosting will be watery and won’t hold it’s shape.
Don’t over-mix or over-bake.
This cupcake truly is a pancake. That means, if you put the batter in your stand mixer for 5 minutes and walk away, your cupcakes will end up thick and flat, rather than soft and fluffy. This also means that the outside can burn and get hard kind of quickly. I recommend taking them out of the oven right when they look solid and not wiggly anymore. You can definitely do the toothpick test, too! Just don’t wait until they look golden brown on top. If they look golden brown on top, the edges and bottom are already burnt.
How to Make Pancake Cupcakes with Browned Butter Maple Frosting
Now, for the star of our show—the pancake cupcakes that serve as a perfect canvas for this tantalizing frosting:
Cupcake Ingredients:
– 3 cups all-purpose flour
– 1/2 cup granulated sugar
– 1 tablespoon baking powder
– 1 teaspoon baking soda
– 1/2 teaspoon salt
– 2 cups buttermilk (Or 2 cups milk with 2 tablespoons of vinegar)
– 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (but not hot!)
– 2 large eggs
– 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Browned Butter Maple Frosting Ingredients:
– 1 cup unsalted butter (browned and cooled)
– 4 cups powdered sugar
– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
– 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
– 2-4 tablespoons milk or cream
Instructions:
Preheat and Prep: Start by preheating your oven to 350°F (175°C) and lining a cupcake pan with foil or non-stick liners.
Mix Dry Ingredients: In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined.
Blend Wet Ingredients: In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla extract until smooth.
Combine Mixtures: Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Avoid overmixing to keep the cupcakes light and fluffy. You don’t really need an electric hand mixer or stand mixer for this recipe (I just used mine because I’m lazy!). You can use a whisk and be perfectly fine!
Bake to Perfection: Fill the cupcake liners about three-fourths full with the batter. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The cupcakes will still be white on top; if they’re golden, they’re probably already burnt.
Cool and Frost: Let the pancake cupcakes cool completely before generously topping them with the luscious browned butter maple frosting.
For frosting:
Prepare Browned Butter: Brown your butter according to the instructions above. Place your browned butter in a heat-resistant bowl and chill in the fridge until solid again. Once your browned butter is solid again, remove from the fridge. You can microwave it for maybe 5-10 seconds, just so it’s loose enough to get out of the bowl. Make sure you use a rubber spatula to scrape out every last bit of that browned butter goodness!
Mix Ingredients: In a very large mixing bowl, mix your browned butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and maple syrup until smooth.
Add Milk or Cream: You can add milk or heavy cream to help the texture one tablespoon at a time. I only needed 3 tablespoons, but it would depend on the overall thickness of the maple syrup you use. You may not need much milk or cream at all.
Pipe and Enjoy: Place your browned butter maple frosting in a piping bag with a piping tip. I like the Wilton 1M tip for frosting cupcakes. Pipe a little (Or big!) swirl on the top of each of your cooled cupcakes.
There you have it, folks! These pancake cupcakes adorned with browned butter maple frosting are a celebration of flavors that will enchant your taste buds with every bite. I hope you and yours enjoy this recipe as much as we did! Leave a comment to let me know how your baking adventure went!
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Pancake Cupcakes with Browned Butter Maple Frosting
Ingredients
Pancake Cupcakes
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups buttermilk Or 2 cups milk mixed with 2 tablespoons vinegar
- 1/2 cup butter melted but not hot
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
Browned Butter Maple Frosting
- 1 cup butter browned and then chilled in the fridge until solid again
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 2-4 Tbsp milk or heavy cream for texture
Instructions
For Browned Butter
- Cut your (1 cup unsalted) butter into smaller chunks. Place in a pot on the stove over medium-low heat (You can use medium heat, but be careful not to burn your butter!)
- Stir your butter so it melts consistently. Eventually, you will see that the butter starts to foam and froth on the top. Keep stirring.
- Then, you will see flecks of solidified milk fat floating around in your butter. Keep stirring.
- Finally, the butter will start to foam again, but with less vigor than before. Keep stirring and checking on the color of your butter.
- Your butter is browned when it achieves an amber color and you can see little brown specks on the bottom. The specks are kind of hard to see due to the foam on the top, you have to move the foam to be able to see.
- Remove the pot from the heat and let the butter cool a little.
- Place browned butter in a bowl and let chill in the fridge until it is solid again, about one hour.
For Pancake Cupcakes
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined.
- In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Avoid overmixing to keep the cupcakes light and fluffy
- Fill the cupcake liners about three-fourths full with the batter. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean
For Browned Butter Maple Frosting
- When your browned butter has solidified again in the fridge, remove it from the bowl. Use a rubber spatula to make sure you scrape out every little bit you can!
- Place browned butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and maple syrup in a large mixing bowl. Mix until everything is well combined.
- Add milk or heavy cream a tablespoon at a time until your frosting reaches the consistency you want.
- Put frosting in a piping bag with a piping tip and pipe onto cooled cupcakes
