Blueberry Buckwheat pancakes

I really love blueberries. I can eat them by the tub. So anything that involves blueberries in the recipe is something I am a little apprehensive to try. It’s counter intuitive I know, but I think, fresh blueberries are so delicate and delicious that mixing it with other ingredients can many times ruin the freshness. But when I came across a recipe for blueberry buckwheat pancakes on Tea and Cookies I was inspired to go home and make a batch.

I followed the recipe mostly, except that I didn’t have lemon zest. And instead of 1/2 cup of all purpose flour, I used a combination of 1/4 white whole wheat and 1/4 all-purpose. I also didn’t measure exactly the blueberries. The tub I had looked like 2 cups so I dumped it all in hoping for the best.

My main goal was to make a healthy and delicious batch of pancakes that I can freeze. This way I could grab one for dessert or for breakfast on the go. I should mention here that I’m not a huge fan of pancake syrups. Their sweetness always overpowers the taste of the pancake itself; I actually wanted to taste the blueberries and the nuttiness of the buckwheat.

Final thoughts: It was just okay. Not completely worth losing my 2-cups of fresh blueberries. This is why:

• Firstly, I realized that the blueberries being the heavier object in the batter, sunk to the bottom. So my first 4 pancakes didn’t have enough blueberries while the last couple had so many that they stuck to the pan and oozed even before the batter was cooked. I ended up putting the last 3 in the oven so that the dough would be cooked somewhat without burning the blueberries.
• Secondly, using buckwheat also made the batter thick and heavy instead of fluffy. I also didn’t quite taste the nuttiness that I was expecting.
• Thirdly, the amount of salt called for in the recipe was too high. 1 tsp was just too much. The purpose of salt is to enhance the sweetness. In this case, they actually made the pancakes salty. I would definitely cut the measurement down to 1/4tsp. Or perhaps use double the sugar.
• Fourthly, the amount of butter (1/4 cup or 1/2 stick) was unnecessary. The recipe called for cutting-in cold butter in the dry flour mixture and then adding the wet ingredients and the blueberries. The chunks of butter just sat around till I put the batter on the pan. Then, they started melting in all different ways causing my pancakes to lose their perfect round shape. I also think it made them a little greasy without adding anything to the flavor.
• Finally, I also calculated the nutrient and caloric values per serving and came up with a number that is very close to the waffles and pancakes sold at Trader Joe’s and other whole foods stores. I would rather just buy the whole wheat plain pancakes/waffles and sprinkle the blueberries on top.

In conclusion: I am going to look around some more for a recipe that makes the buckwheat taste good. If you want to make these just for the health reason, it’s not worth the time.

Regardless of their lack of appeal, I froze what I made and will be consuming them over the next few weeks. I’m just sad that I wont have that tub of blueberries waiting for me when I go home today.