Pancake Poppers Recipe Bite Sized Breakfast

Are you looking to elevate your weekend breakfast or brunch? Let’s move away from the hob and the single-pancake flip. We’d like to introduce you to a new morning delight: Pancake Poppers! These charming, bite-sized treats offer all the fluffy, golden deliciousness of a classic pancake, but they’re conveniently baked in a mini muffin tin. They are wonderfully simple to prepare, incredibly adaptable, and a true pleasure to eat. Ideal for small hands, relaxed weekend mornings, or as a fun party snack, this Pancake Poppers Recipe is sure to win everyone over. Let’s head to the kitchen!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Light & Delicious: These little bites are wonderfully airy and packed with the comforting, classic pancake taste we all cherish. They develop a lovely golden-brown crust with a perfectly soft and fluffy interior.
- Wonderfully Simple: This is an easy mix-and-bake recipe. Forget about flipping or standing over a hot pan. The oven handles the cooking, leaving you free to sip your morning tea.
- Everyday Ingredients: You’ll most likely find all the necessary ingredients for this recipe already in your kitchen cupboards. It’s made with basic staples like flour, sugar, milk, and eggs.
- Fantastically Flexible: The base recipe serves as a brilliant starting point for your own culinary twists. Feel free to add chocolate chips, blueberries, sprinkles, or a pinch of cinnamon. Serve them with a simple dusting of icing sugar or set up a dipping station with syrup, fruit sauces, and melted chocolate.
Top Tips for Perfect Pancake Poppers
We’re here to help you make sure your pancake bites are a resounding success on every occasion. Follow our essential tips for guaranteed fluffy and tasty results!
- Avoid Overmixing the Batter: This is the most crucial rule for pancakes, and it’s just as important here. Gently combine the wet and dry ingredients until they just come together. A few lumps are a good sign and are the key to achieving a tender, light texture. Overmixing develops gluten, which can lead to chewy, heavy poppers.
- Grease Your Tin Thoroughly: To make sure your poppers pop right out, be liberal when greasing your mini muffin tin. We find a baking spray that contains flour works wonders, or you can grease it well with melted butter and follow with a light coating of flour. This creates a vital non-stick surface.
- Pour from a Jug: For a tidy and efficient process, we suggest pouring the batter into a jug before filling the tin. This provides better control, helps prevent spills, and makes it easier to distribute the batter evenly. A piping bag is also an excellent tool for this job.
- Fill Sensibly: Fill each mini muffin cup to about the two-thirds mark. This allows the pancake poppers ample space to rise and create their lovely domed tops without spilling over and making a mess in your oven.
Ingredients
- 200g plain flour
- 2 tablespoons caster sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large free-range egg
- 180ml whole milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Optional Mix-ins: 100g chocolate chips, fresh blueberries, or sprinkles.
Instructions
- Preheat and Prep: To begin, set your oven to 190°C (170°C Fan / Gas Mark 5). Generously grease a 24-hole mini muffin tin with either butter or a non-stick cooking spray. This is a key step to ensure your pancake bites don’t stick.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, sift and whisk together the plain flour, caster sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mixing the dry ingredients first helps to distribute the baking powder evenly for a consistent rise.
- Combine Wet Ingredients: In a separate bowl or a large jug, beat the egg until it’s light and airy. Next, whisk in the milk, the slightly cooled melted butter, and the vanilla extract until fully incorporated.
- Merge Wet and Dry: Pour the wet ingredient mixture into the bowl containing the dry ingredients. Use a spatula to gently fold everything together until just mixed. As per our top tip, a lumpy batter is what you’re aiming for, so don’t be tempted to overmix!
- Fold in Extras (Optional): If you’re adding any extras such as chocolate chips or fresh blueberries, carefully fold them into the batter at this stage. Try not to overwork the mixture.
- Fill the Muffin Moulds: Carefully spoon or pour the batter into your prepared mini muffin tin, filling each section about two-thirds full. This will give them the necessary room to expand and become puffy.
- Bake Until Golden: Put the tin into your preheated oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. The pancake poppers are done when they’ve puffed up, turned a lovely golden brown, and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Cool and Enjoy: Take the tin out of the oven and allow the poppers to cool for a couple of minutes before handling. If needed, run a small knife around the edges to loosen them, then move them to a wire rack. They are absolutely delicious served warm.
Variations and Serving Suggestions
A wonderful quality of this recipe is its sheer adaptability. These miniature pancake muffins provide a perfect base for a wide array of tasty ideas for your next breakfast or brunch gathering.
- Fruity Delights: For a fruity infusion, gently fold in finely chopped strawberries, fresh raspberries, or a little mashed banana to the batter just before baking.
- Cinnamon Crunch Topping: Before they go into the oven, combine 1 tablespoon of brown sugar with 1/2 a teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Sprinkle this lovely mixture over the batter in each cup to create a sweet, spiced topping.
- Zesty Lemon and Blueberry: For a fresh and vibrant flavour, add the zest of a whole lemon and a handful of juicy blueberries to the batter. This combination is particularly lovely in the spring and summer.
- Create a Dipping Platter: Arrange the plain pancake bites on a large board and surround them with small pots of various toppings. Consider classics like maple syrup, a sprinkle of icing sugar, Nutella, Biscoff spread, lemon curd, fresh berries, and a dollop of whipped cream. This makes for a wonderfully interactive brunch experience. If you share our love for Biscoff, you absolutely have to try our Biscoff Truffles recipe!
- The Hearty Brunch Board: For an exceptionally satisfying brunch, serve these poppers alongside your favourite cooked breakfast items. They go beautifully with salty bacon, sizzling sausages, and fluffy scrambled eggs. For a novel take on bacon, have a look at our amazing Bacon Brown Sugar Chicken Tenders recipe.
Frequently Asked Questions
So there we are – the definitive guide to creating perfectly light, fun, and scrumptious Pancake Poppers. They are a fantastic way to make any morning feel a bit more special with minimal effort. We’re confident this recipe will soon become a firm favourite in your breakfast line-up. If you’re on the hunt for another sweet indulgence, we highly recommend our beautiful Peach Crumb Cheesecake.
We’d be delighted to see how yours turn out! If you decide to make this Pancake Poppers Recipe, please drop a comment below to let us know your thoughts. Happy baking!
Recipe Card

Ingredients
- 200g plain flour
- 2 tablespoons caster sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large free-range egg
- 180ml whole milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Optional Mix-ins: 100g chocolate chips, fresh blueberries, or sprinkles.
Instructions
- Preheat and Prepare: First, preheat your oven to 190°C (170°C Fan / Gas Mark 5). Thoroughly grease a 24-hole mini muffin tin with butter or a non-stick baking spray. This step is crucial for preventing the pancake bites from sticking.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the plain flour, caster sugar, baking powder, and salt. Combining the dry ingredients first ensures the baking powder is evenly distributed, which helps the poppers rise evenly.
- Mix Wet Ingredients: In a separate medium bowl or a large jug, whisk the egg until it’s light and frothy. Then, whisk in the milk, cooled melted butter, and vanilla extract until everything is well combined.
- Combine Wet and Dry: Pour the wet mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to fold the ingredients together until just combined. Remember our top tip: do not overmix! A few lumps in the batter are a good thing.
- Add Mix-ins (Optional): If you’re using any mix-ins like chocolate chips or blueberries, gently fold them into the batter now. Be careful not to stir too vigorously.
- Fill the Muffin Tin: Carefully pour or spoon the batter into the prepared mini muffin tin, filling each cup about two-thirds of the way to the top. This will give them space to puff up beautifully in the oven.
- Bake to Perfection: Place the tin in the preheated oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. The pancake poppers are ready when they are golden brown, puffed up, and a skewer or toothpick inserted into the centre of one comes out clean.
- Cool and Serve: Remove the tin from the oven and let the poppers cool for a few minutes in the tin. Then, carefully run a knife around the edges if needed and transfer them to a wire rack. They are best served warm.
