The most popular Japanese pancake mix brand is Morinaga, and these are used not only to make pancakes (or lovingly called hot cake – ホットケッキ – in Japanese), but also cakes, bread, and so much more. Since it is not easy to find Morinaga pancake mix outside of Japan, and even when it is available, the price is crazy expensive compared to the more commonly found buttermilk pancake mix from Krusteaz. My experiments to substitute buttermilk pancake mix instead of Morinaga pancake mix has been pretty successful, and one such experiment is to recreate this beloved matcha muffin recipe. If you have a huge back of buttermilk pancake mix sitting pretty in your pantry, give this recipe a try so you get to make something new and fun with it and not just pancakes and waffles.