Contrary to the above title, this is not a blog post about what to do when your muffins bake up dry and crumbly (though I’d suggest you repurpose them into crunchy bits for topping). Rather, it’s simply a meditation on improvisational weekend baking motivated by nothing more than my insatiable appetite for carbs, more often than not the sweet variety. During the work week, toast with butter and jam does the trick, particularly sliced homemade sourdough–ah, that crackle of crust, melted butter and sticky fruit dripping through the honeycomb cells. I can almost (if I ignore crumbs on my keyboard) eat and type at the same time.

The languid pace of weekends (barring those reserved for bake sales) affords me time to indulge my cravings, play around with ideas or hacks gleaned from Instagram and YouTube for things like extra fluffy pancakes. While I know a lot of people, including chef David Chang, swear by Bisquick, I prefer to make pancakes and waffles from scratch. Since I always have some kind of flour and leavening in my pantry, it seems silly to spend money on a mix. And, to be honest, pancake mix invariably reminds me of the leaden ones mom used to make when I was a kid–you know the kind that no amount of margarine and Log Cabin syrup will moisten and only palatable when eaten piping hot.

Unless I’m cooking for more than two people, I rarely follow a specific recipe when making scratch buttermilk pancakes because I make such a small batch it isn’t worth the bother, winging it with whatever I have on hand. If I’m out of buttermilk, I use Greek yogurt diluted with milk. The amount of liquid varies depending on whether I’m using buttermilk or Greek yogurt. I start with approximately 2/3 cup combined with 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or melted butter) and 1 large egg yolk, then add more milk or buttermilk once I’ve incorporated all the dry ingredients, enough for a concoction similar to thick cake batter. I usually add a touch of vanilla extract to the liquids before stirring it into the dry mix, but any flavoring will work–from rum to coconut extract. For roughly every cup of flour (I like to use equal parts all-purpose and sweet rice flour or Mochiko), I whisk in 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1 tablespoon sugar. The reserved egg white is whipped to medium stiff peaks and gently folded into the batter. I use a 2-ounce scooper to drop mounds of the aerated batter onto a lightly greased skillet. Now here’s the “hack” I discovered on Instagram to give the pancakes extra lift as they cook: Pour a couple tablespoons of water into the hot skillet in between the pancakes, then cover the skillet so the steam can work its magic. After a couple of minutes, take the lid off and flip the “souffléd” pancakes. Voila! If you want pristine round pancakes, you can cook them in metal ring molds, but I find that the roundish shape formed by the scooper produces a perfectly fine pancake (one less thing to wash).

A couple of weekends ago, I set my sights on a slightly more challenging project inspired by a jar of Ube Spread, Trader Joe’s latest in a line of ube-centric products. Unlike the ube halaya or jam you find at an Asian market, the Trader Joe version is noticeably runnier (it literally spreads), making it less than ideal to use alone as a filling.

Mixing the spread with some softened cream cheese (about two parts spread to one part cream cheese), however, provided just enough structure to turn it into a proper filling, as well as a savory element to offset the cloying sweetness of the spread. For the dough, I used King Arthur’s recipe for Perfectly Pillowy Cinnamon Rolls, switching out the cinnamon filling. The dough has become my go-to favorite base for any sweet spiral roll creation–easy to make, produces a dreamy soft roll that you can pull apart as effortlessly as cotton candy, and retains moisture and tenderness for days after baking (though doubtful there’d be any leftovers). Since the spread itself didn’t have a pronounced ube flavor, I added a little ube extract to the dough and the icing. I leaned into the coconut undertones of the spread by substituting coconut milk for regular milk in the icing. My neighbor Amanda declared the rolls a delight, though she only got a hint of ube. Next time I’ll forgo the TJ spread for traditional ube halaya and pump up the ube extract.

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Positioned somewhere between pancakes and sweet rolls, are Buttermilk Crumb Muffins (see, I did wind my way back to the title). I start with basic buttermilk (or yogurt) muffin batter and take off from there. First, instead of plain melted butter, I use brown butter. My quick or “cheater” method for making brown butter is to place a few tablespoons of butter in saute pan and cook it until it stops sizzling and bubbling, at which point it begins to brown. Pull it off the heat and add the remaining butter in the recipe, gently swirling until completely melted. That’s it. For the batter, I use some of the brown butter combined with vegetable oil and set aside the rest for the crumb mixture.

Similar to pancakes, the batter is made by combining wet ingredients with dry, so no mixer is necessary. I reserve a couple tablespoons of flour to coat the fruit so they’ll stay suspended in the batter. Any seasonal fresh fruit will work, though my favorites this time of year are cherries, peaches, and fresh berries. Now for the fun part, or as I like to call zhushing. I make a quick crumb filling and topping by first making a crumb base of flour, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon moistened with some of the reserved brown butter. I fill the muffin cup halfway with batter, scatter a layer of the crumb mixture, then top with more batter. I add some rolled oats into the remaining crumb mixture, working it together between my fingers to form a streusel, then sprinkle it on top of each muffin cup.

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The finished muffins are a symphony of textures, from the crispy oat streusel topping to the juicy fruit and cinnamon-spiced buttery crumb running through the center–all the things I love about coffee crumb cake, made in less time with less effort…leaving me the rest of my day to enjoy.

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Buttermilk Crumb Muffins

Yield 12 -16 muffins*

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 + 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
• 2 teaspoon orange or lemon zest (optional)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup (1 stick butter), cut into 8 pieces
• 1 1/2 cups diced fruit (or whole blueberries, raspberries, etc.)
• 3 tablespoons rolled oats

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Measure out 2 cups flour and remove 2 tablespoons to toss with fruit to coat. Combine the remainder of the 2 cups flour with sugar, baking powder, baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a medium bowl. Whisk together, then create a well in the center.
3. Cook about 3 tablespoons of the butter in a saute pan on medium heat until it stops sizzling/ bubbling and begins to brown. Take the pan off the heat and add the remaining butter, gently swirling the pan to melt.
4. Using a 2-cup liquid measuring cup, measure out the buttermilk, oil, and 1/4 cup brown butter, then the eggs and flavorings. Whisk to combine.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the well of dry ingredients. Mix together until just barely incorporated, then fold in the fruit.
6. Fill the lined muffin cups scant halfway with batter.
7. In a small bowl, mix together the remaining 1/2 cup flour, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 cup brown butter, and brown sugar to form the crumb base. Sprinkle about half of the mixture evenly over the muffin cups, then fill muffin cups with the rest of the batter.
8. Work the rolled oats into the rest of the crumb base by rubbing it together between your fingers to form a streusel, then distribute it equally amongst the filled muffin cups.
9. Bake muffins for 18-22 mins, depending on size and number of muffins. *I lined my pans with deep tulip-shaped liners so my yield was 12 muffins.