Two Good Bluberry Pancakes with Maple Butter

Blueberry pancakes are just the yummiest thing. That's all there is to it.

When I started working on a recipe for them, I kept coming up with great pancakes, but frankly they were way too involved for a busy morning. I have children to get out the door by 7:00 - much as I love to cook, I am just not going to be whipping egg whites to fold into anything at that time of day; I don't care how good they are.

What I need (and what I often do) is a simple recipe that's easy to remember, just like the roll dough I like to use for lots of things (see blog entry for 123 Rolls). I played with this until it was all '2s', except for the melted butter, and even that has a 2 in it. So here it is - fast, easy and luscious homemade blueberry pancakes.

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda, scant
• 2 tsp baking powder, scant
• pinch of salt
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 stick melted butter
• extra butter for brushing the griddle
• 2 cups blueberries - frozen are just fine

Syrup

• 1 cup maple syrup - try the real thing - it's amazing
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1/2 cup blueberries

1. Preheat a griddle or large non-stick skillet to medium high. I use an electric griddle set to 350F.
2. In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt until well combined. 
3. In a liquid measuring cup melt 1/2 stick butter in microwave. Add 1 cup buttermilk, and crack the egg into the butter/buttermilk mixture. Whisk to combine.
4. Add buttermilk mixture to flour and whisk well. You don't want to overmix it or your pancakes won't be light and fluffy. But the thing about lumpy batter is a bunch of baloney. Do you want a mouthful of uncooked flour when you eat your pancake? Then you don't want big lumps. Get rid of them.*
5. Using a pastry brush, brush a scant layer of butter over the surface of the griddle. Using a small ladle (I use an ice cream scoop) so that the pancakes are all the same size, pour equal amounts of batter onto the hot surface. Give the pancakes about two minutes, then scatter a handful of blueberries over the top. Cook for another couple of minutes on this first side, or until you can see the edges of the pancake beginning to crisp, and the bubbles on top have formed and begun to pop.
6. Flip - ONCE! Don't go acting like you work at Waffle House. Flip it once, then don't touch it. Give it two minutes and pop it on a warm platter. You can cook the entire batch and put them in a very slow (125F) oven until ready to serve.
7. While the pancakes are cooking, warm the syrup and butter until melted in a small saucepan.Immediately before serving, toss in the remaining blueberries so they just warm through.
   
8. To serve - simply stack as many pancakes as you like, and drizzle the top with a ladlefull of the maple butter.
   

*As your batter rests, the flour will absorb more of the liquid. That's a good thing - the pancakes will be more tender. The BEST way - although I often don't do this - is to barely mix together your batter, then let it rest in the fridge for about a half an hour or so. Many of your lumps will take care of themselves, and the pancakes will be tender and fluffy inside.