The idea for this awesome little recipe came courtesy of Annie, who wrote to tell me that every since she tried The “One” Chocolate Mug Cake, she’s been trying all sorts of mug cakes! Her favorite? Mug pancakes! Annie uses pre-made pancake mix and blueberries to make single serving pancakes! Genius!
I didn’t have any pancake mix on hand so I set out to just make my own. While I was playing chemist in the kitchen, the term “mug muffin” popped into my head and made me giggle so much that I decided I had to use that name for the recipe. …and I guess it’s a little more like a blueberry muffin than a pancake anyway, although I did top it with maple syrup.
I also decided that I need to start calling people “mug muffin,” but I can’t decide if it’s going to be used as a term of endearment or an insult. Feel free to weigh-in in the comments below. I could use the help.
Anyway, mug muffins, let’s get to it!
Blueberry Mug Muffin
blueberry mug muffin
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup flour ($0.04)
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp baking powder ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp salt ($0.01)
- pinch cinnamon ($0.01)
- 1/2 Tbsp butter ($0.04)
- 2 Tbsp milk ($0.04)
- 1-2 Tbsp frozen blueberries ($0.19)
Instructions
- In a microwave safe mug, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon until well mixed.
- Add the butter to the mug and use your fingers to rub or smoosh them together until no large chunks of butter remain and the mixture looks like damp sand (see photos below).
- Stir the milk into the butter/flour mixture. It should now resemble a thick muffin batter. If it’s too dry, add a splash more milk. Sprinkle blueberries over top and push them down into the batter. Microwave on high for approximately 90 seconds. Enjoy with a drizzle of maple syrup over top.
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Notes
Nutrition
Step By Step Photos
First mix all of the dry ingredients together in a microwave safe mug (flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon).
Once the dry ingredients are well mixed, add the butter. I just used the lines on the butter wrapper to estimate a 1/2 tablespoon. It doesn’t have to be exact.
Use your fingers to rub the flour and butter together until they’re very well mixed and the mixture resembles damp sand. This is the only step that requites a little work, but still it’s only about 1-2 minutes.
Stir in the milk. You now have a thick batter. If it seems a little TOO thick or your end product seems a bit dense, you can add just a bit more milk. The recipe is flexible – just don’t DOUBLE the milk or anything.
Sprinkle the blueberries into the mug and then push them down into the batter. Microwave on high for about 90 seconds.
And then it’s done! Oh, and the mug will likely be very hot, too, so be careful! Try it with a little maple syrup – it’s amazing!
See, nice and cakey inside!
NOM NOM NOM. All gone. (you don’t want to know how many of these I ate while testing the recipe)
I did it with water instead of milk since i run out and didn’t had the time to go to the store, it come out delicious!
These turned out horrible for me! I don’t know if I did something wrong … I followed all of the directions and they tasted awful! Hopefully I can figure out what went wrong.
I swapped out the butter for coconut oil (for ease of mixing), and half the flour for vanilla protein powder (so that it was a little more filling for breakfast). Only did a tsp of sugar to counter this. Still completely delicious. It’s going to become a staple.
Love this simple little dessert. I substituted a few items and loved the turnout, so yummy.
I used coconut oil rather than butter, coconut milk in place of milk and gluten free flour ( I used red mill GF flour).
I also did double the recipe and it was the perfect amount for my sweet tooth.
Thanks! Just tried out the recipe with some vegan modifications: 50% whole wheat + 50% white flour, coconut oil (vs. butter), almond milk (vs. milk milk), and chocolate chips (vs. blueberries… hey, why not?).
Very tasty, and much better than cake-in-a-mug recipes (much lighter — those cake recipes feel like a blob in my gut!). Probably will double up the recipe in my next go, but other than that, yum.
Gluten Free/Dairy Free rendition: Tastes awesome also! All ingredients stay the same except: substitute brown rice flour for flour, almond milk for milk, and dairy free butter for butter. All measurements stay the same. This is a wonderful muffin! Thank you for the awesome recipe!
Love this!!! Now before school I can actually make myself pancakes without heating up the griddle! I didn’t have blueberries so I just left them out and It turned out ok. But mine was chewy and kindve dense and it tasted too salty… What do u suggest?
Well, I think it will always be slightly chewier than the real version just because of the microwave. I’m not quite sure what else you could do to adjust it for the chewiness. I wonder if making the batter a little more wet would help. Hmm. Experiment with it a little and see. And yeah, you can just adjust the salt down to suit your needs. :) People have quite a bit of variation in how they perceive salt, so you may just be more sensitive to it than I am.
We have made these four times the past week, and we really enjoy them! The blueberries we got were some of the super small ones, so there is a lovely amount of berry goodness in each muffin. We definitely prefer them with a bit of vanilla, and the maple syrup is a yummy addition too. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe! โค
So, I made this and it was such a disaster (my errors, not the recipe..) I just have to share what happened:
We made the muffin, took it out and then stared at it for a minute. It looked…weird. Lumpy and dry and yet shiny/wet in places? I took a bite and spit it out ’cause it was so nasty.
Then I poked it and started laughing. The texture was EXACTLY like when you poke someone’s butt!
We threw it away and refer to this as the “buttmuffin incident.”
Oh no! Hahaha… hilarious, but sad :)
I have the flu pretty bad. Seriously bad. I tell you that so you’ll know how incredibly inspiring this post of yours was. I HAD to get up and make one for my daughter as an after-school snack. I don’t buy snacks and this has opened up a whole new variety of snacks that we can make from scratch. Thank you! Btw, using a fork to cut the butter into the dry ingredients worked very well.
People in my college dining hall made these all the time – we called them “muggins” though!
This is along the lines of the One Minute Muffin that low carbers do. We sub flax meal or almond meal or a mix (1/4 cup)for the flour and we use oil, or butter (melted), or coconut oil, along with an egg. You are right in that the flavor combos are endless. I like a chocolate one (use cocoa powder and sometimes Torani sugar free chocolate syrup)and an almond one (almond extract), oh and a chocolate coconut, too! I like these three so much that I rarely try other flavors. I shall have to try your recipe (not low carb, I know) and see how my kiddos like it. I think it would be something quick for them to make for themselves if I have the dry ingredients bagged up in individual portions.
I really like your blog and I subscribe in RSS. You have so many good and budget friendly recipes. I look forward to reading more!
kelliinkc
Wow! I can’t wait to try this, will add the vanilla. My huz is low carb, but avoids eggs when possible, so I am anxious to try with flax meal and and coconut flour. Could you please let me know if this has worked for you? Coconut flour is so different, requires more liquid, as it absorbs so much. And expensive! (About $7.00 for a pound at Sprouds.) I’d love to know if anyone has used it like this successfully. Thanks! Feel free to email me, my first name at my last.
Andrianna – Hahah, you crack me up :)
Stephanie Ko – It’s a pretty small mug, about 8 oz., but the batter doubled in volume at least.
This looks delectable! How high does it rise? Your mug looks pretty shallow, but I can’t tell..
I think mug muffin should be an insult – it sounds like something you’d call a lady who is nice to your face but not-so-nice behind your back!