Blueberry Pancakes

Bella harvested the first of the blueberries last night.  We were picking up branches from the storm last weekend and noticed the berries were ripe as we hauled the brush to the woods.  The raspberries are not far behind.  I've got lots more cleaning up to do this weekend since we were away for Memorial Day.  We spent a night at an amazing bed and breakfast, the Bella Vista in Akron.  French Toast for breakfast, my favorite! The next day we drove over to Hershey and spent the morning at Hershey Gardens, and the afternoon at Chocolate World.   (There is a recipe in here somewhere, I promise.) All this week Bella has been walking around, saying, quite dramatically, "I miss Chocolate World."  

Anyway, the blueberries... I always try to complicate pancakes, adding sour cream, or yogurt, or trying to make some ridiculous recipe that calls for whipping the eggs whites (who wants to whip egg whites first thing in the morning?) without actually whipping them.  They (the pancakes, not the eggs) end up heavy and undercooked, and the last time I made blueberry pancakes Bella wouldn't even eat them.  So when a Cook's Illustrated basic pancake recipe landed in a my inbox a few weeks ago, I printed it out.  Simpler is better for lots of things, and especially pancakes. 

These turned out perfectly.  I added the blueberries to each pancake as I poured the batter.  I think that works better than stirring them into the batter since they don't break up so much.  Of course we had extra, so they are in the freezer right now.  I'll pop them into a ziploc bag in a few hours and have toaster pancakes for next week. 

Classic Pancakes

2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups buttermilk (shortcut: add 2 T lemon juice or vinegar to a measuring cup, fill to 2 c line with milk, let sit for a few minutes to thicken)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 large egg

Vegetable oil for the pan

Fresh blueberries

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk, melted butter, and egg together. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, pour the buttermilk mixture into the well, and gently whisk together until just incorporated with a few lumps remaining (do not overmix).

Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet or griddle pan over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Brush the pan bottom with a thin layer of the oil. Using ¼ cup of batter per pancake, add the batter to the skillet and drop three or four blueberries on each pancake.  Cook until large bubbles begin to appear, about 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes and continue to cook until golden brown, about 1½ minutes. Transfer the pancakes to plates, or keep warm on a wire rack in the oven. Repeat with the remaining batter, brushing the skillet with oil as needed. 

If you have leftovers, put them in the freezer on a wire rack, and when they're completely frozen, transfer to a ziploc bag.  Pop them in a toaster for a quick breakfast.