Blueberry and Peach Yogurt Buttermilk Pancakes

Hello, and happy weekend!  I hope everyone has some kind of fun weekend plans in store for themselves.  I know that I'm going to be spending some quality time with my ice cream machine this weekend.  I have big plans for it, and you guys should all start getting excited for them, trust me.  But, until that time comes, I have another recipe that should get everyone equally excited.  Blueberry and Peach Yogurt Buttermilk Pancakes.  I made these for breakfast last Saturday morning, and I think they are officially going onto my list of favorite weekend breakfast items.  

During the week, I usually have a very simple, uncomplicated breakfast that I can prepare really quickly before rushing off to the train every morning before work.  Breakfast usually consists of a small glass of orange juice (I have to have this at breakfast everyday; the same way some people need their morning cup of coffee to function, I need my orange juice) and an egg white omelette with turkey bacon.  It's quick to make and packs a good amount of protein.  If I want to switch up my breakfast routine a little, I'll have some oats mixed with egg whites, berries and honey (adding egg whites to oatmeal sounds kinda weird, but it actually makes the oats really creamy and delicious) along with my glass of orange juice.  On weekends, though, I usually like to make myself something a little more elaborate.  Waffles, French toast, and fancier omelettes are usually what I go for on weekends, with pancakes being at the top of the list for both me and my sister.  We're just pancake-obsessed.  There's few things that are better than a tall stack of warm pancakes, topped with butter, fresh fruit, and a nice helping of syrup, right? 

Last weekend, I had a craving to make some kind of pancake, but I wasn't sure how I wanted to approach my Saturday breakfast.  I knew they definitely had to be fruity, because, after all, it is still summer, even though its end is quickly approaching.  Given the fruity requirement, and the fact that I had only recently finished a major blueberry shopping binge (see my Instagram photos to see what I'm talking about), blueberries seemed like the only logical choice. Aside from that, however, I was a bit lost.  I know that buttermilk is always a favorite in terms of pancakes, but I didn't want to make just plain, blueberry buttermilk pancakes. There's nothing wrong with them, but eh.  I wanted something a bit more interesting. Greek yogurt is one of my favorite ingredients to add to pancakes (mostly because I tend to have it in my fridge more often than buttermilk.......), and since I actually happened to have both in my fridge, I decided that there could be no harm in simply combining two of my favorite tangy and creamy ingredients.  It was a good decision, especially because I added peach Greek yogurt, rather than plain.  I love when last minute substitutions like this work out.

When I saw that I had a little 6 ounce container of peach yogurt in my fridge, I knew I had to use it.  I also had plain yogurt, but the addition of peach yogurt seemed like the perfect idea.  Peaches and blueberries one of my favorite fruit pairings, and using a combination of peach yogurt with fresh blueberries seemed to be a great way to work both flavors into the pancakes.  The goal ended up being to create a pancake with a subtle peach flavor throughout, with sudden bursts of fresh blueberry flavor, and man, were these pancakes good.  There was a delicious, simple peach flavor in every bite, a lovely tanginess from the yogurt and buttermilk, both which, every now and then, were suddenly interrupted by an explosion of blueberry flavor.  Pancake perfection.    

I based this pancake recipe off a buttermilk yogurt pancake recipe I came across in Bon Appetit.  Making a few adjustments to it to add in the peach yogurt and blueberries resulted in a fantastic recipe that I'm sure I will make over and over again.  The first four pancakes I made from the recipe though, were so disastrous that it made me think this was a recipe that would definitely not get repeated though.  Changing up the amounts of the wet ingredients in the recipe made for an extremely runny batter, and I initially didn't think to just add a little more flour for some reason.  So like I was saying, the first four pancakes I poured onto my griddle spread all over the place, cooked unevenly, and were just awful looking.  I did taste one, though, and as far as flavor was concerned, they were awfully good.  I decided to attempt to save the remaining batter by adding a bit more flour to the pancake batter, and it completely fixed everything. The pancakes were light and incredibly fluffy, and the extra flour didn't do anything to negatively affect their texture.  To be completely sure that that you don't end up with flat, heavy pancakes, make sure you don't over-mix the pancake batter.  Leave a few lumps in the batter here and there, and you'll always get a batch of light and fluffy pancakes.  Enjoy!

Blueberry and Peach Yogurt Buttermilk Pancakes
adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornmeal
2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
6-oz peach Greek yogurt
1 large egg
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Whisk to blend, and set aside.  In another bowl, mix together the buttermilk, peach yogurt, egg, and butter with a whisk. 

Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture, and mix together with a wooden spoon until just combined. It's ok if there are still lumps, but make sure not to overmix!  Allow the pancake batter to rest for ten minutes.

While the batter is resting, heat a griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Once the batter has fully rested, spread a thin coat of butter over the surface of the griddle. Working in batches, drop 1/4 cup of pancake batter onto the griddle, spacing them apart. Cook the pancakes until they turn brown on the bottom and have bubbles forming on top, about three minutes or so.  

Flip the pancakes and cook for another few minutes, until the other side is golden brown. Transfer the cooked pancakes to a plate, and repeat with the remaining batter. Serve the pancakes warm with butter and maple syrup.  Enjoy!

Makes 10-12 pancakes