These make ahead pancake mini muffins are wonderful to have in the freezer. My youngest daughter loves having some of these as an after school snack. The other kids prefer having them for breakfast, but no matter when they eat them, they are a hit!

I like to make these pancake mini muffins in large batches. I double or triple the recipe. I bake them and whatever is left after the kids get their hands on them, goes into freezer bags and is frozen.

The best thing about this pancake mini muffin recipe is how easy it is to customize them and create different variations.

Mini pancake muffin topping and filling suggestions:

• chocolate chips or white chocolate chips
• blueberries
• raspberries
• strawberries
• bananas
• apple pie filling
• coconut
• brown sugar and cinnamon
• lemon juice and icing sugar
• dried fruit
• Nutella
• syrup
• jam or jelly
• sprinkles
• nuts
• sausage
• bacon
• cheese
• peanut butter
• caramel
• lemon curd

Mini Pancake Muffin Recipe:

2 1/2 cups flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
dash of salt
1 3/4 cups buttermilk*
2 eggs
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
toppings or fillings of your choice

*If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, add 2 Tbsp. of vinegar or lemon juice to the milk. Stir and let it sit for a few minutes before including it in the recipe.

In a bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together buttermilk, eggs and melted butter. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry mixture and stir until just combined.

Grease mini muffin tins. Use a spoon or cookie dough scoop to fill the muffin tin compartments 2/3 of the way full. Add any toppings you wish at this point. For ours, I added chocolate chips to some, blueberries to some, coconut to some, and brown sugar and cinnamon to the others.

Bake in 400° oven for 10-12 minutes. Serve as they are or dip in syrup.

Once the pancake mini muffins are cooled, place them in a large resealable freezer bag. Remove excess air and freeze. When you want to eat them, take out as many as you want and reheat in the microwave, being sure to reseal the bag.

Some of my kids prefer to eat them cold so experiment to find which you prefer. These are great for packing in school lunches, as snacks or for busy morning breakfasts.

Print

Mini Pancake Muffin Recipe

These make ahead pancake mini muffins are wonderful to have in the freezer.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• dash of salt
• 1 3/4 cups buttermilk*
• 2 eggs
• 3 Tbsp. butter melted
• toppings or fillings of your choice

Instructions

1. In a bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together buttermilk, eggs and melted butter.
3. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry mixture and stir until just combined.
4. Grease mini muffin tins.
5. Use a spoon or cookie dough scoop to fill the muffin tin compartments 2/3 of the way full.
6. Add any toppings you wish at this point.
7. Bake in 400° oven for 10-12 minutes.
8. Serve as they are or dip in syrup.
9. Once the pancake mini muffins are cooled, place them in a large resealable freezer bag.

10. Remove excess air and freeze.

11. When you want to eat them, take out as many as you want and reheat in the microwave, being sure to reseal the bag.

Recipe Notes

*If you don't have buttermilk on hand, add 2 Tbsp. of vinegar or lemon juice to the milk. Stir and let it sit for a few minutes before including it in the recipe. Mini pancake muffin topping and filling suggestions: • chocolate chips or white chocolate chips • blueberries • raspberries • strawberries • bananas • apple pie filling • coconut • brown sugar and cinnamon • lemon juice and icing sugar • dried fruit • Nutella • syrup • jam or jelly • sprinkles • nuts • sausage • bacon • cheese • peanut butter • caramel • lemon curd

You can find other make ahead breakfast recipes as well as the printable shopping lists and labels in our Breakfast Freezer Meal Plan.

Make Ahead Freezer Smoothie Bags

Freezer Cinnamon French Toast

These make ahead freezer smoothie bags can be made using all kinds of fruits and vegetables. It’s fun to try different combinations. My kids love having these in the freezer.

On this particular day, the smoothie bags that we assembled had the following combinations:

• kiwi, apple, avocado
• kiwi, apple, banana, spinach
• mango, pineapple, banana
• blackberry, raspberry, blueberry
• blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, roasted beets (we found we needed to add honey to this one)

Here are two sample recipes for freezer smoothie bags:

1 cup blueberries
1 cup strawberries, sliced
1 cup bananas, sliced

Divide the blueberries, strawberries and bananas up into medium sized resealable freezer bags. Remove excess air, seal and freeze. To serve, add 2 cups of milk or fruit juice and blend in a blender or with a hand blender. Pour into glasses.

1 cup frozen mango cubes
1 cup pineapple, chunked
1/2 cup spinach
1/2 cup avocado, cubed

Divide the mangos, pineapple, spinach, and avocado into other medium sized resealable bags. Remove excess air, seal and freeze. To serve, add 2 cups of milk or fruit juice and blend in a blender or with a hand blender. Pour into glasses.

To make the smoothie bags, you can use fresh or frozen fruits or vegetables or a combination of both. Other ideas of what to include in the freezer smoothie bags include strawberries, cranberries, peaches, grapes, kale, broccoli, clementines, oranges, cantaloupe, and honeydew melon.

You can also freeze yogourt by pouring it into an ice cube tray and freezing and then popping a few of the frozen yogourt cubes into your smoothie bags.

The possibilities for variety with this are endless! This makes it easy to personalize and create smoothie bags that you and your family will love. You basically just need to stick to a ratio of 3 cups of any fruit/veggie combo and then when blending, add 2 cups of liquid.

You can add in chia seeds, hemp seeds or flaxseed for added nutrients. If you or your kids like it, you can also toss in some unsweetened coconut in the bags.

When serving smoothies for breakfast, you can make it a more complete meal by topping with granola such as our freezer granola.

Print

Make Ahead Freezer Smoothie Bags

These make ahead freezer smoothie bags can be made using all kinds of fruits and vegetables. It's fun to try different combinations.

Ingredients

• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 cup strawberries sliced
• 1 cup bananas sliced
• 1 cup frozen mango cubes
• 1 cup pineapple chunked
• 1/2 cup spinach
• 1/2 cup avocado cubed

Instructions

Recipe 1:

1. Divide the blueberries, strawberries and bananas up into medium sized resealable freezer bags.
2. Remove excess air, seal and freeze.
3. To serve, add 2 cups of milk or fruit juice and blend in a blender or with a hand blender.
4. Pour into glasses.

Recipe 2:

1. Divide the mangos, pineapple, spinach, and avocado into other medium sized resealable bags.
2. Remove excess air, seal and freeze.
3. To serve, add 2 cups of milk or fruit juice and blend in a blender or with a hand blender.
4. Pour into glasses.

Recipe Notes

More smoothie combinations:

• kiwi, apple, avocado • kiwi, apple, banana, spinach • mango, pineapple, banana • blackberry, raspberry, blueberry • blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, roasted beets (we found we needed to add honey to this one)

These freezer smoothie bags are one of the recipes included in our Breakfast Freezer Meal Plan along with other recipes, shopping lists, prep lists, and printable labels.

Last Sunday, I was making my make ahead cinnamon freezer french toast and my husband commented about how good this new recipe was. I laughed and said that this was the same recipe I always use when I make french toast for the freezer. We soon discovered that he had never eaten a piece because in all the years of me making these, my kids eat them so quickly that my husband had never even gotten to try one! It was a bit funny, especially when one of our older sons came forward and “confessed” to being the culprit behind eating most of them.

Sure enough, that same son ate most of a double batch of these ones in just a few days with a bit of help from his younger siblings! When you have a large family, delicious food like this doesn’t last long.

Cinnamon Freezer French Toast Recipe:

1 loaf of bread (about 16 slices)
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
zest of 1/2 an orange

Whisk together the milk, eggs, spices, vanilla, and orange zest. Heat a skillet or griddle to medium heat and grease with some olive oil. Dip each slice of bread in the egg mixture and cook on both sides until browned.

Lay the cooked slices on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Place cookie sheet in freezer. By freezing them individually like this first, they won’t stick together in the bag and will be easy to remove one at a time.

Once frozen, place slices in a large resealable freezer bag. Remove excess air, seal and freeze.

These make such an easy weekday breakfast. The french toast slices can be taken out one or two at a time and popped in the toaster or toaster oven. Top with syrup or fresh fruit.

When I make this, I use cinnamon bread from a local bakery and double or quadruple the recipe so that I can fill many bags with french toast in the freezer for busy morning. My kids love these and eat them almost as quickly as I can make them!

Print

Make Ahead Cinnamon Freezer French Toast

When I make this, I use cinnamon bread from a local bakery and double or quadruple the recipe so that I can fill many bags with french toast in the freezer for busy morning.

Ingredients

• 1 loaf of bread about 16 slices
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• zest of 1/2 an orange

Instructions

1. Whisk together the milk, eggs, spices, vanilla, and orange zest.
2. Heat a skillet or griddle to medium heat and grease with some olive oil.
3. Dip each slice of bread in the egg mixture and cook on both sides until browned.
4. Lay the cooked slices on a cookie sheet in a single layer.
5. Place cookie sheet in freezer. By freezing them individually like this first, they won't stick together in the bag and will be easy to remove one at a time.
6. Once frozen, place slices in a large resealable freezer bag.
7. Remove excess air, seal and freeze.
8. These make such an easy weekday breakfast. The French toast slices can be taken out one or two at a time and popped in the toaster or toaster oven. Top with syrup or fresh fruit.

You can find this recipe along with other easy freezer breakfast ideas with printable shopping lists and labels in our Freezer Breakfast Meal Plan.