Blueberries Are the Assignment

The fluffiest pancakes and a maple + blueberry obsession

Friends, hi!

Today we’re talking all things blueberries, inspired by a Costco overbuy of the biggest, juiciest berries I’ve seen all summer and last weekend’s emergency pancake situation. If you’re anything like me: one minute you’re buying a sensible amount of fruit for the household, and the next you’re googling “how to grow blueberries in Texas” while emotionally planning a backyard berry patch, reading about chill hours, and thinking this kind of garden planning will definitely require a new sunhat. Doesn’t backyard blueberry picking sound dreamy? As soon as I find a large enough pot on sale, there’s no stopping me.

Elite blueberry pancakes (with a tiny pancake for the dogs), scrambled eggs, and a perfect mug for a sunny Saturday morning.

The 7am Blueberry Pancake Situation

This past weekend I realized (sure, rather dramatically) that I couldn’t go on without Blueberry Pancakes. It had been an early-early morning with the baby and by 7am I felt like it had to be darn near happy hour. Alas…

I’ve had this recipe for the yeasted Golden Diner Pancakes on my Make List for months now, but one skim through the recipe and I realized I had neither buttermilk nor the patience to wait an hour for the yeast to rest and rise. A recipe for a different version of me, perhaps.

I do have my own pancake recipe, but the thought of whipping them up just wasn’t inspiring me. I headed to my friend Erika’s website (not to be argued because she is The Pancake Princess) and found exactly the fluffy pancake recipe I hoped for: no buttermilk and best made with heavy cream (which I had and needed to use) and apple cider vinegar. Huzzah!

I added two handfuls of washed fresh blueberries, topped the golden pancakes with salted butter and maple syrup from the Catskills and honestly - the best pancakes I’ve ever made!

Here are my pro tips to take pancakes from good to great:

• For the most tender, not at all tough pancakes, leave the batter a little lumpy.

• Let the pancake batter rest for 10-15 minutes before scooping and frying. This gives the flour time to hydrate and relax.

• I prefer a nonstick skillet to cook my pancakes in with a small dab of butter and avocado oil melted together over medium heat. The butter brings the flavor and the oil keeps the butter from scorching.

• Adjust the heat from medium to medium-low as the batches of pancakes leave the pan so you don’t overheat the pan and burn the butter for the next batch of pancakes. I add a touch more fat to the pan before each batch of pancakes.

• Once the batter hits the pan, leave the pancakes be. Wait for bubbles to form on top, flip the pancakes once and for goodness sake, don’t press them flat once flipped!

Later that morning, because I could not get the salty maple blueberry combination out of my mind, I snuck back into the kitchen and tested a recipe for the upcoming Bakehouse Texas Popup Bake Sale on September 5th. I have a vision of a Salted Maple Blueberry Bread: a quick bread that gives both pound cake and pancake. My first recipe test was pretty close though I want the bread even squidgier. I made some tweaks to King Arthur Baking’s tried and true recipe here if you’d like to whip up your own loaf. Just brush it generously with pure maple syrup while the loaf is warm from the oven and sprinkle lightly with finishing salt.

Blueberry picking in Mississippi

And because I still have a few handfuls of blueberries left, we’re not done here. Blueberries are officially the assignment, so please allow me to point you toward a few very worthy recipes from the archives.

The Secret to My Best Blueberry Cobbler (spoiler: it’s a mixed berry sitch)

Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins (a blog classic for a reason)

Blueberry Mint Lemonade (seriously SO good - make as big a batch as you can!)

Lemon Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake (what a little lemon curd won’t do)

Your turn! Tell me what you’re making this weekend. I’ll most definitely be back in the kitchen making blueberry pancakes.

xo Joy