Healthy Blueberry Pancakes are bursting with fresh blueberries and are crazy light and fluffy! Made with simple ingredients these are perfect to start your morning right!
We also love this ultra easy healthy blueberry breakfast cake and these healthy blueberry muffins for breakfast all year round.
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My whole wheat buttermilk pancakes are a staple in our house. Kids are old enough now to make them themselves and they do, more often than me.
Most kids love pancakes and these healthy blueberry pancakes are a spin off on my classic version and are bursting with blueberries.
Kids love them even more cause they find it fun to plop unlimited amount of blueberries on top of the batter.
More than that, they love the fact they can make them any time as long as there is milk in the fridge and blueberries in the fridge or freezer. And there usually is!
So ingredients are super simple like whole wheat flour, eggs, and fresh or frozen berries. A drizzle of real maple syrup over butter melting on top of warm pancakes completes the wholesome breakfast!
If you have more leftover blueberries, I recommend to make these healthy lemon blueberry muffins or healthy blueberry banana muffins.
Why You’ll Love These Pancakes
Besides the fact that they melt in your mouth, are fluffy and super flavorful, these healthy blueberry pancakes are also:
- Healthy. Although you’d never know it. Still as delicious, light, and fluffy as any classic pancake recipe!
- Flexible. Pick your flour, make a buttermilk substitute, swap the berries, and serve with your favorite toppings.
- Freezer friendly. Make a double batch and freeze some. Weekday mornings are a breeze when you can pop a pancake in the toaster.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Everything listed is accessible and easily found at your local grocery store. I’m also including substitutions just in case!
- Milk: Use any milk like almond milk, dairy milk, oat milk, etc., to add moisture and help to make the pancakes nice and soft. You can also use buttermilk or leftover whey from yogurt in Instant Pot, in which case, skip the vinegar or lemon juice.
- White vinegar or lemon juice: Together with the milk, the acidity helps to turn any milk into a buttermilk substitute which acts similar to the real deal. It’s how we get our pancakes ultra fluffy! Apple cider vinegar works too.
- Eggs: Binding ingredient that helps to keep our formed pancakes from falling apart. Use an egg replacer like a chia egg or flax egg, if you prefer.
- Oil: The fat that helps keep pancakes moist, light, and not too dry. Use any mild flavor oil and keep some for frying.
- Maple syrup or honey: Both a natural sweetener that provides loads of nutritional value.
- Baking soda & baking powder: Leavening agents that will get an extra boost of activity with the acidity from the “buttermilk” giving these healthy blueberry pancakes a thick, fluffy texture.
- Salt: Just a bit brings out the flavors even more.
- Flour: I use whole wheat flour or spelt flour for a more wholesome, nutrient dense pancake. You can substitute a 1:1 ratio of all purpose flour instead.
- Blueberries: Fresh blueberries, washed, and pick out any debris or little stems. You can use frozen too but do not thaw them first.
How to Make Homemade Blueberry Pancakes
Here’s how to make a batch of these wildly popular healthy blueberry pancakes.
Let’s call this DIY buttermilk!
Add milk and vinegar, or lemon juice, into a medium bowl. Stir together and then leave it alone for 10 minutes.
You should start to see it “curdle” and become sour milk, otherwise known as a buttermilk substitute.
Pour buttermilk into a large bowl and add eggs, oil, maple syrup, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk until well combined.
Add the flour and use a spatula to gently mix the flour into the rest of the batter. It should be smooth with no lumps.
Use a 1/3 measuring cup to scoop the batter and place it on the preheated griddle or skillet. Spread out the batter a bit and add the desired number of blueberries on top.
Cook for 3-4 minutes on the first side until bubbles appear on top. Flip it over and gently press with a spatula to cook for 1 more minute.
Serve with melted butter, warm maple syrup, sour cream, yogurt, or your favorite spreads or sauces!
Can I Use Frozen Blueberries?
Yes, just don’t thaw them first, otherwise, they’ll be runny and mushy.
How to Store Leftover Pancakes
If you happen to have any healthy blueberry pancakes that last longer than a day, unlike me and my family, you can keep them covered in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Otherwise, just keep them on the counter on a plate and cover them with a paper towel. I promise, someone will grab them for a snack throughout the day!
Can I Freeze Pancakes?
Definitely! Once completely cooled, store them in an airtight container or freezer-friendly bag for up to 3 months. Separate them with parchment paper so that they don’t freeze all stuck together. Take one or two out when you want them and just pop them in the toaster or microwave to heat up.
You can also thaw a whole batch on the counter overnight.
Serving Suggestions
Enjoy a stack of these healthy blueberry pancakes with your favorite toppings or pair them with other yummy sweet or savory breakfast items.
- Healthy lemon glaze or a dollop of strawberry yogurt
- Warm almond butter or peanut butter for easy pouring
- A drizzle of maple syrup or liquid honey
- Enjoy with a side of healthy fruit salad and sip on a healthy iced coffee.
More Expert Tips and FAQs
- Know when to flip. Pockets of air will form on the surface, and you may notice the edges start to crisp up. Once those bubbles start to appear it’s time to flip.
- Reduce the heat. As you continue to use up all the batter and make the rest of the batch, the heat will need to be turned down to not burn the pancakes made later in the batch.
Yes. You can use equal amount of whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour. You might be able to use equal amount of all-purpose flour or all-purpose gluten free flour too. For almond flour, make almond flour pancakes and add blueberries. Coconut flour will not work.
Diced strawberries, raspberries, mango chunks, sliced bananas, or chocolate chips!
Place finished pancakes on a baking sheet and keep them warm on low in the oven, or the warm function if you have them. To keep them soft, cover them with aluminum foil.
Yes. Use 1 3/4 cups regular buttermilk instead of milk. And don’t forget to skip the vinegar then.
More Healthy Breakfast Recipes
- Healthy banana pancakes
- Ukrainian syrniki
- Healthy lemon blueberry bread
- Almond flour blueberry muffins
- Healthy pumpkin pancakes
- Oat flour pancakes
- Lemon blueberry muffins
Healthy Blueberry Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups any milk
- 1/4 cup white vinegar or lemon juice
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour or spelt flour
- 1 1/2 cups blueberries fresh or frozen (unthawed)
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add milk and vinegar or lemon juice. Stir and let stand for 10 minutes. It should curdle somewhat and become "buttermilk" or also known as 'sour milk'.
- In a large bowl, add "buttermilk", eggs, oil, maple syrup, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk very well until combined. Add flour and mix gently with spatula until combined and no lumps.
- Preheat ceramic non-stick griddle or large skillet on medium-high heat. Important for it to be hot, so oil sizzles when added. Swirl and spread a bit of oil to coat the surface. Using 1/3 cup measuring cup, spread batter in a circle shape and top with desired amount of blueberries. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until bubbles appear on top.
- Flip, press on pancake gently with spatula and cook for another minute or so. You will have to reduce heat as skillet heats up during cooking. Watch carefully. Repeat until run out of batter.
- Serve hot with butter, maple syrup, yogurt, sour cream etc.
Notes
- Store: We never have pancakes past day 1 when we keep them in a dish covered with towel on a counter.
- Freeze: Place in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw on the counter overnight or pop in toaster from frozen.
- Buttermilk: You can also use 1 3/4 cups regular buttermilk or leftover whey from Instant Pot yogurt production instead of milk. Skip vinegar then.
- Other flour: You might be able to use equal amount of all-purpose flour.
- Milk and vinegar: I have tried this recipe with dairy milk and almond milk, also with apple cider vinegar. All work.
* thawed
We raise our own Blueberries, and these Blueberry pancakes are most delicious! A great addition to the Breakfast choices, Lilibet
Sounds like it was an amazing breakfast! Yeah for fresh blueberries. 🙂
My son saw the pictures and asked if I could make these with some fresh blueberries a family member had just dropped off to us (Fresh picked!). They turned out wonderful, light and fluffy and smelled heavenly.
Yeah for fresh blueberries and pancakes! Glad they were enjoyed!