Brown Butter Cranberry Almond Pancake Muffins

[W]ell… I mean… once you have half a bag of fresh cranberries sitting in your refrigerator, you really can’t ignore them.  Technically, you can ignore them until they soften and just about turn themselves into something between wine and jam… but that takes months and is not listed among ideas that are good.

These particular fresh cranberries were left over from the Apple Cranberry Crumble Pie:  a good idea that I will continue to support.

It’s the weekend which means it’s time for warm things straight from the oven, preferably covered in maple syrup.

This recipe is inspired by a recipe in my latest cookbook.  I smash together a pancake and a muffin using browned butter, buttermilk, and a maple glaze.

Tart cranberries in every bite, and a dash of almond extract because it’s cheeky.

Flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt are combined in a good-size bowl.

Eggs, milk, vanilla, and almond are whisked together to bring together the wet ingredients.  Butter is melted until browned and fragrant and added to the wet ingredients.

Simple, right?

Wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and a good stir.  The batter will be relatively thick.  Not to worry.

Halfway through stirring I toss in the whole and sliced fresh cranberries.

Blueberries would also be fantastic!

Scooped generously into well-greased muffin tins.

This recipe makes 9 tall or 12 small muffins.  Does that make sense?

Fresh from the oven!

I used a toothpick to prick the warm muffins, creating small holes to absorb the lemon and maple reduction.

Warm maple reduction onto warm cranberry muffins.  They’re tender and just right!  I suggest enjoying these muffins the day they’re made… most probably standing at the kitchen counter and licking your sticky fingers clean.

Brown Butter Cranberry Almond Pancake Muffins

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• Prep Time: 0 hours
• Cook Time: 0 hours
• Total Time: 0 hours
• Yield: makes 9 to 12 muffins depending on how full you fill your cups 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the Muffins:

• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted until browned and slightly cooled
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• heaping 1 cup whole and sliced fresh cranberries

For the Glaze

• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions

1. Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or line a muffin tin and set aside.
2. For the muffins, in a bowl, whisk together milk, egg, yolk, and extracts. Whisk in the slightly cooled butter until well combined. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
4. Add the wet ingredients all at once to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Just before the batter comes together, stir in the cranberries. Try not to over mix the batter or the muffins could be tough.
5. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through.
6. While the muffins bake, cook the syrup. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat stir together the maple syrup and lemon. Simmer gently until reduced and thickened slightly, about 10 minutes.
7. Remove the muffins from the oven allow to rest for 5 minutes before removing from the pan. While still warm, use a toothpick to poke holes in the muffins.
8. Drizzle the warm muffins with warm reduced maple syrup. Serve warm or room temperature. They’re sticky and delicious!