These fluffy blueberry lemon pancakes literally melt in your mouth! Imagine perfectly pillowy clouds of pancake, dotted with sweet blueberries, with hints of bright lemon zest, perfectly balanced by tangy buttermilk. With a tender crumb, and delicate, buttery, soft texture, these pancakes are perfect for breakfast, brunch or dessert!
Why You’ll Love these Fluffy Blueberry Lemon Pancakes
In my humble opinion, this easy pancake recipe makes for the best fluffy blueberry lemon pancakes ever. And I’ve had my fair share of pancakes! Not only are they easy and quick to make, this recipe guarantees you end up with beautifully fluffy, soft pancakes every time.
Because they’re so thick, I find that one (maybe two) is enough for me! If you want a thinner, lighter pancake-fix, try my Balkan crêpes (palačinke) recipe. I surprise myself with how many of those I can eat! 😅
This recipe for fluffy blueberry lemon pancakes contains buttermilk. That’s because the buttermilk, baking soda and baking powder react to give you the most beautiful rise on these pancakes. This creates gorgeous air bubbles and a mousse-like batter that gives you that airy, soft crumb.
The honey imparts a delicate, floral sweetness that balances the tangy buttermilk beautifully.
Fresh, juicy blueberries are scattered on top so you get an even distribution of blueberries (frozen is fine too!)
They’re thick and fluffy, so they don’t get weighed down by the blueberries!
And straight out of the pan, while they’re still warm, you get a melt-in-your mouth texture…
with sweet bursts of blueberries…
pops of bright lemon zest…
…and a buttery, soft crumb that is utterly irresistible!
What’s the Secret to Fluffy Pancakes?
There are two main tips for fluffy pancakes.
First, you need some kind of acid reaction to create air bubbles in the batter. More specifically, you need an acid (buttermilk, vinegar, lemon, yoghurt), to react with a base (baking soda). When this happens, the batter slightly fizzes, and carbon dioxide gas bubbles are produced. And these gas bubbles help lift our pancake!
Note: My recipe calls for honey, which is slightly acidic. So this helps with the rise on the pancakes! It also calls for baking powder, which is a combination of baking soda and an acid. It needs liquid to react, which also helps our pancake rise. So don’t let the batter sit around, since that reaction happens straight away. (Unless you buy a double-acting baking powder, which reacts once with liquid, then again when it’s heated!)
The second tip for fluffy pancakes is do not overmix the batter! This is why I like to use a spatula to gently fold everything together. Once the wet and dry ingredients are just incorporated, stop. If you keep mixing, you knock out all those lovely air bubbles that give the pancakes that fluffy texture.
Overmixing also begins to develop the gluten in the flour, which gives you a less delicate, less soft, more of a bread-like texture. This is one of the main reasons pancakes end up dense and hard. The batter will and should be lumpy – do not be afraid of lumpy batter!
Ingredients for these Fluffy Blueberry Lemon Pancakes
For the dry ingredients, you’ll need plain flour, baking soda, baking powder, lemon zest, and a pinch of salt.
For the wet ingredients, you’ll need buttermilk, an egg, melted butter, honey and vanilla extract.
And of course, blueberries! I use fresh blueberries in this recipe but frozen blueberries work too.
Why honey instead of sugar in these pancakes?
I like to use honey for a few reasons. First, I think it just tastes better and has a delicate, floral aroma you don’t get with sugar. I also try avoid processed sugar in general, for health reasons. Honey also happens to be slightly acidic, so it reacts with the baking soda in the batter to make the pancakes extra fluffy.
Lastly, we have beautiful honeybees who provide us with lots of raw honey which is full of beneficial enzymes, so I use it whenever I can!
Do I use fresh or frozen blueberries for blueberry pancakes?
If they are in season, absolutely use fresh blueberries for these pancakes. And if they’re not in season, frozen blueberries are fine too! No need to defrost them before using. Otherwise, they will bleed and the juices will turn your pancakes purple. Most blueberry pancake recipes tell you this is undesirable. I don’t see that as a problem if you don’t!😋
How to Make Fluffy Blueberry Lemon Pancakes
There’s really only a handful of easy steps to making these fluffy blueberry lemon pancakes!
First, mix the dry ingredients together. This includes the lemon zest, which we rub into the flour with our fingers. This helps release the lemon oils from the zest which means more flavour!
Next, whisk all the wet ingredients together.
Then pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fold through gently until just combined. You’ll end up with a very thick, lumpy batter, which is perfect!
Lastly, ladle the batter onto a buttered pan, and scatter on some blueberries. When bubbles appear, flip, finish cooking, and enjoy warm!
Note: This is a very thick batter (as opposed to a thin, runny batter like in Balkan crêpes (palačinke))! You may need to dollop it onto your pan and give it a very gentle nudge into a circle shape. But don’t press or flatten the pancake! The thick batter helps achieve a fluffy, tall, pillowy pancake cloud🤤
Best Way to Serve Fluffy Blueberry Lemon Pancakes
Of course, follow your heart with this one. Any fresh berries will work nicely, as would maple syrup, butter, or honey!
But my absolute favourite way is with some generous dollops of crème fraîche, a pile of warm homemade blueberry sauce and extra lemon zest.
Tip! If you don’t have any blueberry sauce, just warm a handful of extra blueberries in the pan, and give them a light smushing in a bowl with some honey.
However you choose to top them, these fluffy, buttery pancakes are best enjoyed warm, as you enjoy a quiet moment alone, or sharing it with the people you love 🥰
I truly hope you enjoy this recipe! If you tried it and loved it, I would be so grateful if you left a 5-star review and a comment to let me know how it went! xxx
Fluffy Blueberry Lemon Pancakes (Buttermilk Recipe)
Description
These fluffy blueberry lemon pancakes literally melt in your mouth! Imagine perfectly pillowy clouds of pancake, dotted with sweet blueberries, with hints of bright lemon zest, perfectly balanced by tangy buttermilk. With a tender crumb, and delicate, buttery, soft texture, these pancakes are perfect for breakfast, brunch or dessert!
Ingredients
Makes 4 Thick Large Pancakes (or 8 Thick Mini Pancakes)
Dry Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
Fresh Ingredients
Method
-
Add the flour and lemon zest to a large bowl. Use your fingertips to rub the lemon zest into the flour. Then add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix.
Rubbing the lemon zest into the flour helps release the lemon oil which means more lemon fragrance and flavour! -
In a separate bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together.
-
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and gently fold through with a spatula until just combined. Do not overmix - it should be a lumpy, thick batter (see Note 4).
-
Melt some butter in a pan on low heat, and pour a ladle of the batter into the centre. You may need to use the spatula to help you dollop it on, and to very gently nudge it into a circular shape.
Because the batter is so thick, it may not spread out into a perfect circle like a traditional pancake. Gently push the batter into a circle shape from the centre to get an even thickness, but don't press or flatten the pancake! -
Scatter on a small handful of blueberries on top, and cook for 3 minutes on one side, or until bubbles start to appear. Carefully flip, and cook for a further 2 minutes on the other side until golden.
Honey burns faster than sugar, so keep an eye on your pancakes. It's normal if they are slightly darker than standard pancakes, it's just the honey caramelising! -
Serve warm, with crème fraîche, honey, maple syrup, fresh berries, or blueberry sauce. Enjoy!
Note
- 1. You can easily use gluten-free flour instead for gluten-free fluffy blueberry lemon pancakes! Because we are not trying to develop gluten in the batter, a straight 1:1 swap works just fine. The pancakes will actually be fluffier, softer, and more delicate. Just make sure your gluten-free flour contains a binder (most of them contain xantham gum), otherwise add one teapsoon of xantham gum to every cup of gluten-free flour used.
- 2. If you're like me, you often make pancakes on a whim, so I don't always have buttermilk lying around. If this happens to you, a quick DIY buttermilk hack is to add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar (something acidic) to 1 cup of milk (or 300ml for this recipe) and let it sit for about 10 minutes. It will start to curdle, and the acidity is what reacts with the baking soda to give us the rise for fluffy pancakes! Do not use plain milk without an acid, otherwise the pancakes won't really be fluffy.
- 3. Nothing beats fresh blueberries when they're in season! But if using frozen, no need to defrost them. Just use them straight from frozen. Otherwise, the juices will bleed and make your pancakes purple. Although the child in me thinks purple pancakes are very cool 😎
- 4. Overmixing is the enemy of a fluffy pancake! As soon as everything is combined, stop. The lumps and pockets of air bubbles gives us a tall, fluffy pancake. Plus, when you overmix, you begin to develop the gluten in the flour. This leads to more of a bread-like texture and a dense, hard pancake. Lumps are our friends!
