Blueberry Pancakes

About Blueberry Pancakes

Blueberry pancakes are an American breakfast standard, the classic fluffy buttermilk-style stack with fresh berries built right into each cake. What sets them apart from plain pancakes is both the burst of jammy, tart-sweet fruit and the tender, cakey crumb that comes from a properly leavened batter. This version is straightforward comfort food: a simple batter of flour, milk, egg, and melted butter, raised with baking powder and served in a stack under a pour of maple syrup. Warm and homey, they are weekend-morning food, the kind of thing made in a family kitchen while the coffee brews.

A couple of small moves make them noticeably better. The batter is mixed only until just combined, because overmixing develops gluten and turns pancakes tough and flat rather than light. It then rests for about five minutes, which lets the baking powder activate and the flour hydrate, giving you a better rise and a more tender cake. The blueberries are scattered onto each pancake after the batter hits the griddle rather than stirred in, which keeps them from bleeding blue-gray streaks through the whole batch and stops them sinking to the bottom. Cook until the surface bubbles set, flip once, and serve the stack hot with butter and maple syrup, and a few extra berries if you have them.