Tuesday, April 2, 2013

How to Blueberry Pancakes

Breakfast items are one of the most popular food wishes around here, and while this isn’t technically a recipe, it is a critical technique to learn if you want to enjoy blueberry pancakes at their most delicious. 

Not only does this simple method ensure even distribution, but instead of dry, barely warm fruit, your blueberries will be hot, sweet, and bursting with juice. As far as the batter goes, you are on your own, but if you get stuck, try this old fashioned pancake recipe we posted a few years ago. It gets great reviews!

This video was actually inspired by a recent visit to a diner where I heard someone nearby order blueberry pancakes. That sounds pretty good, I thought to myself, momentarily regretting my corned beef hash decision. Well, good thing I stuck with the hash, as what came out was not blueberry pancakes, but pancakes with a handful of fresh blueberries tossed over the top.

Sorry, but those aren’t blueberry pancakes. No, the blueberries must be cooked inside the batter…but, just not too inside. By “throwing down” you’ll guarantee perfect cake/fruit integration every time. Of course this will work with other berries or cut up fruit, so feel free to try with anything you can grip. I hope you give this great technique a try soon. Enjoy!

23 comments:

Pandora's Ghost said...

Your video has made this hater of pancakes want to try this recipe! Great job.

Kay said...

Is it just me, or is your batter a lot thicker than in the video recipe you linked in the blog post? did you just let the batter sit longer, is it a different recipe? Kind of like the idea of blueberries swimming in the pancake...

cookinmom said...

Next up...blueberry syrup!! :0)

amandacp said...

loved the pancake texture, which recipe did you use on this video, specifically?

Chef John said...

Sorry, didn't use a recipe! Just whipped it up for the shoot! Just a basic flour, egg, milk, etc. batter similar to one linked.

Steven said...

Does this technique work well with chocolate chips too?

Kevin McHugh said...

I'm not sure if this is sacrilege, but would this method also work with chocolate chips? I live in a country where it is very hard to find fresh blueberries.

Chef John said...

i would think the chocolate would melt and be a mess!

Sick Vans Blog said...

Surp? Serp? Sirp?

Say it with me. Two syllables, pronounced: SIR-up.

S/V Blondie-Dog said...

Greetings Chef...

I gotta' believe that since you happened to be in a diner amongst the likes of truckers and bikers, that you did indeed do the right thing and order the corned-beef hash and not the dainty blueberry pancakes.

And had you perhaps ordered the blueberry pancakes, I'm hoping that you would have had the presence of mind to order a boat-load of sausage links on the side.

For otherwise one of them bike dudes might have been tempted to confiscate your man-hood card.

I'm 'jest sayin'... but thanks anyways! :)

Unknown said...

Frozen blueberries work even better.

Unknown said...

lmao thats the most perfect pancake ever. mine always suck.

Unknown said...

To those asking about if this can be done with chocolate chips, yes it most certainly can. I use this method every time I make chocolate chip pancakes and it works wonderfully. The only difference in technique I would suggest is using your finger/fork/spoon to push the chocolate chips slightly further into the pancake so that it is covered by the batter and therefore will not get too messy and/or burn.

Winnie Tan said...

Hmmmmmmmmm paaaancakes.
Okay! Really want to give this ago. Summer's just ended here down under though.
Frozen blues are fine?

Winnie Tan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Trolley*Molly*Dolly said...

My boyfriend loved it so much he ate 4 big fluffy stacks of them~~

Sonia said...

Hey chef,

Will frozen blue-berries work?

I don't have fresh berries in hand...

Please answer my question..pleeeease

Thanks.. you'r awesome :D

Billy said...

Why not just lay the blueberries in the pan, with a little spacing, and then pour the batter around the berries? I would think this would achieve centered-ness, top to bottom, for the berries. Your method leaves a lot of plain batter on one side.

As for chocolate, put a little batter down, sprinkle in your chips, then pour more batter over them. That should prevent melting AND overmixing.

Sialia said...

Turns out the technique also works really well with leftover Halloween candy such as M&Ms (plain or peanut). It keeps the colors from running into the batter. Use a nice, thick batter so the pancakes puff up just a little thicker than the height of the candies & poke them down a bit before flipping so they are mostly covered up and don't touch the pan. Happy morning after, and thank you for the technique!

CharlesWagner said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

Chef John, I see that your batter is thicker than the one you posted 4 years ago. Which recipe did you use? The Pancake turned out fluffy in the video. Could you post the recipe?

Unknown said...

So where's the batter recipe?

doraima29 said...

One tip if you are including sliced fruit, berries into your pancakes is to dust some flour in your fruit. Then gently toss them to make sure surface is lightly covered with flour. Once you put fruit on your pancakes, it won't sink and bleed on your pancakes. Who wants purple pancakes? with their green eggs and ham.