Sausage Pancake Bites

Sausage pancake bites are small pancakes baked around a piece of breakfast sausage in a mini muffin tin. Brown a pack of breakfast sausage links, cut them into pieces, and press one into each cup over a spoonful of buttermilk pancake batter. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes, until puffed and golden, and serve them warm with maple syrup for dipping.

They give you pancakes and sausage without standing at the griddle flipping, and they are easy for small hands. Make a double batch on the weekend and freeze them; they reheat in about a minute.

At a glance: makes 48 bites, about 6 servings. Prep 15 minutes, cook about 30 minutes. Uses two 24-cup mini muffin tins, or one tin in two batches, which adds about 15 minutes.

Gray Shipley, who runs the farm, was asked what he wants people to think of when they hear the name Shipley Farms. He was talking about the farm as a whole, not about breakfast, and part of his answer was this:

“I want them to think of Shipley Farms as a place they can trust”

Gray Shipley

A tray of pancake bites is a small thing, but breakfast for children is where many families are most careful about what goes on the plate. These are made in your own kitchen from a short list you can read at a glance: sausage, flour, buttermilk, an egg and butter. And a bag of them in the freezer makes a weekday morning much easier.

Ingredients

• 1 pack pork breakfast sausage links, 1 to 1 1/4 pounds
• 2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter, for the tins
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup, warmed, for dipping

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Brush 48 mini muffin cups generously with the softened butter, rims included.
2. Cook the sausage links in a large skillet over medium heat, turning them often, for 10 to 12 minutes, until browned all over and an instant-read thermometer in the center of a link reads 160 degrees F. Move them to a paper-towel-lined plate and let them cool for 5 minutes.
3. Cut the links into pieces about 1 inch long. You need 48; any extra pieces are the cook's.
4. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, egg, melted butter and vanilla.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir gently with a spatula just until no streaks of flour remain. Small lumps are fine; overmixing makes tough pancakes.
6. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of batter into each cup, so they are about two-thirds full, and press a piece of sausage into the center of each one.
7. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, swapping the tins between the racks halfway through, until the bites are puffed and golden at the edges and a toothpick in the pancake comes out clean.
8. Let them cool in the tins for 3 to 5 minutes, then run a thin knife around each one and lift it out. Serve warm, with the maple syrup for dipping.

Add 1 pack of breakfast sausage links to cart

Why the sausage is cooked first

Twelve to fifteen minutes in the oven is plenty to bake a small pancake, but not enough to be sure a piece of raw sausage buried in batter reaches a safe temperature. Browning the links first settles that. It also renders some of the fat, so the bites are not greasy, and gives the sausage a browned, savory outside that tastes much better than sausage steamed inside batter. The guide below covers cooking breakfast sausage in more detail.

Getting them out of the tin

Butter every cup well, including the rim, because the batter rises over the top and can stick there. A few minutes of cooling lets the bites firm up; try to lift them out straight from the oven and they tear. If your tin is old and sticks no matter what, a light coat of cooking spray over the butter helps. Silicone mini muffin pans release easily, though the bites brown a little less.

Using pancake mix

A boxed mix works if you are short on time. Make about 3 cups of batter, following the package, but use a little less liquid than it calls for so the batter is thick and the bites hold their shape. Bake them the same way.

Variations

Stir 1/2 cup of finely shredded cheddar into the batter for a savory version. A pinch of cinnamon, or a tablespoon of maple syrup in place of the sugar, makes them taste more like a diner breakfast. Cooked, crumbled bulk sausage works in place of links: put about a teaspoon in each cup. Leftover links from another breakfast work too, as long as they are fully cooked.

How to freeze sausage pancake bites

Let the bites cool completely on a rack, then spread them on a sheet pan and freeze until firm, about an hour. Pack them into a freezer bag, press out the air, and label it. To reheat, microwave 5 or 6 bites on a plate for 45 to 60 seconds, or warm them on a sheet pan in a 350-degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes. They should be hot all the way through, 165 degrees F, the FSIS figure for reheating leftovers.

Food safety

Breakfast sausage is ground meat, and USDA FSIS lists 160 degrees F as the safe minimum internal temperature for ground meats, so check a link with an instant-read thermometer before you cut them up. FSIS lists 165 degrees F for reheating leftovers. Wash your hands, and anything the raw links touched, before you start on the batter. See the FSIS Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart.