I dread the after school chaos that happens some days.

I dread the thought of juggling school pick up, and bus pick up, and after school activities, and homework, not to mention finding a way to feed everyone!

Some nights are just so crazy at our house, and tonight is one of those nights. I know things will get even worse if I don’t feed all the hangry beasts something for afternoon tea, so today I’ve made some quick and easy cinnamon sugar pancake bites!

Pancake bites are like little mini pancakes, but they are baked, not fried. So that means you just pour the mixture into a muffin tin and pop them in the oven, no standing around flipping pancakes. It also means that you can make a whole lot of them at once, so no arguing over who gets the next pancake… or is it just my kids who argue about that?

You can use your favourite fluffy pancake recipe to make these, and you can add fruit, or choc chips, or sultanas, or anything you like.

On this occasion I brushed the warm pancake bites in melted butter and tossed them in cinnamon sugar… and they came out like little mini donut bites! So good!

Cinnamon Sugar Pancake Bites

Yield: 24 mini sized

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

You can make a big batch of these cinnamon sugar mini pancake bites quickly and easily, perfect for an after school snack.

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Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp sugar or maple syrup
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp melted butter (extra)
• 1/3 cup sugar (extra)
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 180 Celsius (approx 350 F) and grease a mini muffin pan very well (or use a silicone pan).
2. In a medium sized bowl whisk the egg, sugar, 2 tbsp of melted butter and vanilla together.
3. Add half the milk, the flour and baking power and mix well, adding the rest of the milk as you go.
4. Pour the mixture into the muffin tin and bake for 15 minutes, or until they begin to turn golden on top and are cooked in the middle.
5. In a small bowl combine the extra sugar and cinnamon.
6. While the pancake bites are still a little warm, brush them with melted butter and toss them in cinnamon sugar.
7. Eat while still warm, or store in an airtight container for a couple of days.

Please note: this recipe uses Australian measurements and temperatures, if you need to convert measurements or temperatures you can find our printable cooking conversion chart here.

I served the cinnamon sugar pancake bites with some sweet yoghurt dip, fruit, and a bit of homework, before we rushed off to dancing, and I totally felt like I was winning at parenting!

What do you feed your kids on those nights when there is after school chaos?

How do you juggle all the things you need to do, and make sure your kids don’t lose their minds because they are hungry?

I need to get a big list of quick and easy after school snacks together, so if you have any great ideas, or recipes, please leave a comment and let me know!