Buttermilk gives these pancakes their lift and a faint tang plain milk can't match. A slow-cooked blueberry compote and a maple butter that's whisked rather than just melted turn a simple stack into something worth getting up for — make the batter once, let it rest, and the rest comes together in the time it takes to heat a pan.
Ingredients
- For the pancakes
- 300 g Plain flour
- 60 g Granulated sugar
- 5 g Fine sea salt
- 0.25 tsp (1.5g) Bicarbonate of soda
- 13 g Baking powder
- 240 ml Buttermilk
- 1 Eggs
- 1 Eggs, yolk only
- 120 g Whole milk
- 20 g Neutral oil
- 5 g Vanilla extract
- For the blueberry compote
- 300 g Blueberries
- 40 g Granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp (15g) Fresh lemon juice
- 0.5 Lemon zest, finely grated
- 30 ml Water
- 1 pinch Fine sea salt
- For the maple butter
- 60 g Butter, cold, diced
- 60 g Maple syrup
- 1 pinch Fine sea salt
Equipment
- Hand mixer
- Non-stick frying pan or flat-top griddle
Whisk the flour, sugar, salt, bicarbonate of soda, and baking powder together in a large bowl until evenly combined. Add the buttermilk, egg, egg yolk, milk, oil, and vanilla extract and mix with a hand mixer until just combined — a few lumps are fine.
Cover and rest at room temperature for 10–20 minutes.
Combine 2/3 of blueberries with the caster sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, water, and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer over a medium heat. Cook until the berries burst and release their juices — about 5–8 minutes.
Stir in the remaining blueberries and cook for a further 2 minutes so some berries stay whole. If it still looks loose, simmer for another minute or two until it coats the back of a spoon, then remove from the heat to cool slightly.
Warm the maple syrup in a small saucepan until hot but not simmering, then remove from the heat. Gradually whisk in the cold diced butter, a few pieces at a time, until fully emulsified and smooth.
Stir in a pinch of salt and keep warm until serving.
Heat a non-stick frying pan or flat-top griddle over a medium heat. Ladle the batter into the pan in rounds, leaving space between each — cook in batches if needed.
Cook until bubbles form across the surface and the edges look set, then flip and cook the second side until deeply golden and cooked through — about 2–3 minutes per side.
Stack the pancakes on warmed plates. Spoon over the blueberry compote and finish with the warm maple butter.
Notes & Substitutions
Blueberries: Frozen blueberries work just as well as fresh in the compote and don’t need defrosting — go straight from the freezer into the pan, allowing a minute or two longer for it to come up to a simmer.
Buttermilk: If you don’t have any, stir a tablespoon of lemon juice or white wine vinegar into the milk and leave for 10 minutes before using — it won’t have quite the same depth, but it gives the same tang and reaction with the bicarbonate of soda.
Maple butter: Keeps in the fridge for up to a week. It will firm up once chilled — rewarm gently in a small saucepan or in short bursts in the microwave before serving.
Make-ahead: The compote and maple butter can both be made up to three days ahead and refrigerated separately; warm gently before serving. The batter is best made fresh, since the baking powder loses potency once mixed and rested for too long.
You might also like
Buttermilk Pancakes
COOKED
PROPERLY
Ingredients
- 300 g Plain flour
- 60 g Granulated sugar
- 5 g Fine sea salt
- 0.25 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
- 13 g Baking powder
- 240 ml Buttermilk
- 1 Eggs
- 1 Eggs (yolk only)
- 120 g Whole milk
- 20 g Neutral oil
- 5 g Vanilla extract
- 300 g Blueberries
- 40 g Granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp Fresh lemon juice
- 0.5 Lemon zest (finely grated)
- 30 ml Water
- 1 pinch Fine sea salt
- 60 g Butter (cold, diced)
- 60 g Maple syrup
- 1 pinch Fine sea salt
Equipment
- Hand mixer
- Non-stick frying pan or flat-top griddle
Method
Make and rest the batter
300 g Plain flour · 60 g Granulated sugar · 5 g Fine sea salt · 0.25 tsp Bicarbonate of soda · 13 g Baking powder · 240 ml Buttermilk · 1 Eggs · 1 Eggs · 120 g Whole milk · 20 g Neutral oil · 5 g Vanilla extract
Whisk the flour, sugar, salt, bicarbonate of soda, and baking powder together in a large bowl until evenly combined. Add the buttermilk, egg, egg yolk, milk, oil, and vanilla extract and mix with a hand mixer until just combined — a few lumps are fine.
Cover and rest at room temperature for 10–20 minutes.
If the batter looks thick after resting, loosen it with a splash more milk. It thickens slightly as the flour hydrates, and a looser batter spreads more evenly in the pan.
Make the blueberry compote
300 g Blueberries · 40 g Granulated sugar · 1 tbsp Fresh lemon juice · 0.5 Lemon zest · 30 ml Water · 1 pinch Fine sea salt
Combine 2/3 of blueberries with the caster sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, water, and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer over a medium heat. Cook until the berries burst and release their juices — about 5–8 minutes.
Stir in the remaining blueberries and cook for a further 2 minutes so some berries stay whole. If it still looks loose, simmer for another minute or two until it coats the back of a spoon, then remove from the heat to cool slightly.
Frozen blueberries work just as well as fresh and don’t need defrosting first — they release their juice as they heat, so go straight from the freezer into the pan.
Make the maple butter
60 g Butter · 60 g Maple syrup · 1 pinch Fine sea salt
Warm the maple syrup in a small saucepan until hot but not simmering, then remove from the heat. Gradually whisk in the cold diced butter, a few pieces at a time, until fully emulsified and smooth.
Stir in a pinch of salt and keep warm until serving.
If the mixture looks split or greasy rather than smooth, take it off the heat and whisk in a teaspoon of cold water — this usually brings the emulsion back together.
Cook the pancakes
Heat a non-stick frying pan or flat-top griddle over a medium heat. Ladle the batter into the pan in rounds, leaving space between each — cook in batches if needed.
Cook until bubbles form across the surface and the edges look set, then flip and cook the second side until deeply golden and cooked through — about 2–3 minutes per side.
Keep the heat at medium rather than high. Too hot and the outside colours before the raising agents have finished working, leaving a doughy centre under a dark crust.
Serve
Stack the pancakes on warmed plates. Spoon over the blueberry compote and finish with the warm maple butter.
SCAN TO OPEN
Good food, cooked properly.
Proper recipes, intelligent planning, one shopping list.
cookedproperly.com
Free guide: How to Cook Properly
How to Cook Properly — the 11 principles that turn average into outstanding
Equipment worth having
Shape what comes next
Got a recipe you'd love to see, or an idea to make the site better? We read every suggestion.
Log in to suggest
