February 17, 2011

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

Sunday Breakfast

Sunday breakfast is almost always pancakes. When my children were little, I made pancakes nearly every day. They loved them then and still do. Now I make pancakes with buttermilk. It took me a long time to figure out the virtues of buttermilk. It rounds out the flavor of pancakes and baked goods and adds a tenderness to the crumb. I worked with an older woman who had a quirky buttermilk habit. She was always espousing the health benefits of buttermilk. She drank it straight from the quart container. It cleansed her system, apparently, after her chain smoking and candy corn habit. I haven't been able to drink a straight glass of buttermilk but it is a good addition to baking.

Buttermilk Pancakes
about 15 to 18 pancakes depending on size
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (if you like a whole wheat pancake replace 1 cup of flour with whole wheat flour)
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 Tablespoons of vegetable oil or melted butter
2-1/4 cups of buttermilk (you may cut back to 2 cups of buttermilk - I like a thinner pancake)
oil for the pan

Preheat oven to 200F with oven rack in middle of oven and a wire cooling rack set on top of it.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Add the buttermilk, oil and lightly eggs to the flour mixture. Stir until the ingredients just come together. There may be lumps and don't overmix!

Heat a nonstick skillet (I use of square skillet) over medium heat and and oil your pan. Ladle 1/4 cup of batter into the pan cooking 3 at a time. Cook until large bubbles form about 2 minutes flip and cook until golden on other side for about 1-1/2 minutes longer. Spread the pancakes on the rack in the oven keeping warm. Repeat until done adding oil to pan as needed.

Quick Blueberry Sauce
In a heatproof bowl add 1 cup of frozen blueberries with 2 Tablespoons of sugar and cook in microwave until bubbly and slightly thickened. Spritz with lemon juice as desired.

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