Have I told you guys that we’re heading off on vacation in a few days? If not, we are, and man am I excited! We haven’t been away since our honeymoon 4+ years ago and though we’ll be gone less than a week, I am so looking forward to it. Our plans mostly consist of eating good food, soaking up the sun by the pool and taking in the sites – all the hallmarks of a good vacation in my book. I won’t lie and tell you I’m not dreading the 6 hour flight just a little bit because I am. I don’t have a fear of flying, but I really dislike being cramped in a tiny seat for such a long time (though this will certainly be easier than our overnight flight to Iceland many years ago – poor Shane, I was the worst. companion. ever). Before our plane takes off, there are of course a million and one things last minute things to do – shopping for clothes and reading material, cleaning up a bit (because I hate returning from vacation to a messy house), and packing, to name a few.
Instead of checking items off the to-do for the trip, however, I’ve been in the kitchen cooking and baking up a storm. Mostly, I’m trying to clear out as many of the odds and ends as possible so things don’t go bad. In the case of these blueberry pancakes, it was all about satisfying a craving. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about blueberry pancakes since Deb over at Smitten Kitchen posted about them a few weeks ago. I was going to make her recipe, but for the life of me I can’t seem to remember to buy yogurt when I’m at the store. Even when it’s specifically on my list.
Fortunately, I did have everything I needed for this recipe from Cook’s Illustrated – well, mostly. I substituted frozen blueberries for fresh since there was only a handful left in my fridge. They worked perfectly – just dump them into a strainer, rinse until the water runs clear and dry on a paper towel-lined plate. These pancakes would be perfect for a lazy weekend morning – whipping them up is as easy as combining dry ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in another, and then mixing them both together. The pancakes are thick and fluffy with sweet pops of flavor in each bite from the blueberries. They definitely satisfied my craving, and added bonus – there were leftovers to stick in the freezer for another day!
Blueberry Pancakes
from Cook’s Illustrated
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 cups milk
2 cups (10 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 cup fresh blueberries or frozen blueberries, rinsed and dried
{If you aren’t going to serve the pancakes until you’ve cooked all of them, preheat oven to 200 F. Spray a wire rack with cooking spray and set it inside a baking sheet then place the baking sheet in the oven.}
Whisk the lemon juice and milk together in a measuring cup. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients. (Alternatively, you can use 2 cups of buttermilk in place of the milk/lemon juice.)
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Add the egg and melted butter to the milk and whisk to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk gently just until combined (the batter will be lumpy, that’s fine).
Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet set over medium heat. Once the oil starts shimmering, use paper towels to wipe the pan so only a thin, even coating of oil covers the bottom and sides. Use a 1/4 cup measure to portion the batter into the pan. Top each pancake with about 1 tablespoon of blueberries. Cook on the first side until the edges are set and bubbles form on the surface, about 2 minutes. Use a spatula to flip the pancakes and cook for 1-2 minutes on the second side, or until golden brown and cooked through. {If not serving immediately, transfer the pancakes to the wire rack in the oven.} Repeat with remaining batter, adding the rest of the oil to the pan if necessary.
Makes about 16 pancakes
Enjoy your vacation!
These pancakes look perfect! I hope you have a blast on your vacation. I hate being cramped in an airplane seat too, thank god I’m a petite woman and not a huge man! Can’t imagine how squished some guys must feel on planes.
These are the most beautiful looking and I’m sure tasting pancakes I’ve ever seen. Delicious!
Jackie
Enjoy your vacation and nice pancakes…..
You can never go wrong with blueberry pancakes these look wonderful.
That’s a gorgeous stack! Have a great time on vacation!
Tracey,
your pancakes look delicious 🙂 have a great holiday!
These are my boys favorite pancake flavour! Yum!
They’re just beautiful. Hope you enjoy your vacation. Wasn’t Vegas part of it? I’ve been on that plane flight back west several times after visiting my parents in Vermont and it’s definitely no fun. Hope you survive okay.
OMG they look fantastic!!!!
Food Blog News
Event-Healthy Snacks
I hope you have a blast on your vacation! These pancakes look way yum!
Pancakes are big around our house on the weekend. For over a year now my seven year daughter makes them for the entire family from scratch. I just get to make the sauce but she does everything else herself.
I just bought and froze a TON of blueberries. I have been thinking of blueberry pancakes for quite some time now, too. These pancakes look amazing. And you should know that I just subscribed to CI, mainly from seeing all of the good stuff you’ve been cooking up over here. Have a fabulous vacaton!!
I’m not a pancake person, but the blueberries make me want these…with a little blueberry syrup on top. Yum.
Have a fantastic vacation. Do you plan your vacation activies around what food you are going to eat? LOL…I do this and drives my hubby crazy.
O my but those look fantastic. I haven’t made blue berry pancakes in ages. Now I want to make them for breakfast in the morning.
Tracey, have a great vacation! We hadn’t had a real vacation for way too long before our honeymoon, so I know how you feel. It was a good reminder to take vacations more often.
The pancakes look absolutely divine. I love blueberry pancakes. Did you know Dorie has an all-pancake book? I just saw it at the library last weekend and checked it out.
What a lovely stack of pancakes. They would certainly put a smile on my face at breakfast time. I hope you have a wonderful vacation.
Oh yum! I have a fear of making pancakes, but I’ll get over it someday. Have a fabulous vacation! The plane ride is worth it in the end.
Love fluffy pancakes, these sound delicious! Have a great vacation!
those look so yummy—if I didn’t have a wedding tomorrow I’d have to make a big batch! 🙂
have a GREAT trip!
Those look fantastic! (enough to make me wish I liked blueberries) I’ll have to make them sometime for the blueberry lovers around here.
Enjoy your vacation! I’m with you on cleaning before we leave. I do it too, and my husband always thinks I’m crazy. 🙂
These pancakes look great. There’s something about adding blueberries to pancakes that makes them absolutely irresistible!
I could eat a huge stack of these!
Love this time of year because blueberries are in season. Blueberry pancakes are our standard Saturday morning thing. I will have to give your version a try.
I am suddenly craving pancakes… These look absolutely amazing! Love the photos, too. Just perfect. Hope you have an amazing vacation.
I just made this recipe this morning and they were the best pancakes ever! I loved the lemon juice, it added a great flavor! They were a.big hit with my too! Thanks!
Just wanted to let you know these pancakes turned out amazing! I loved the lemon , it added a great hint of flavor. These were so good my boyfriend ate them with no street we ran of pancake syrup lol