Stop right there. These are the easiest, fluffiest, tangiest, most tender blueberry buttermilk pancakes. You need them in your life—stat.

The words “blueberry buttermilk pancakes” conjure up the most beautiful scene, don’t they? That slanty morning light. Hot coffee brewing. That smell and sizzle when butter hits the hot griddle. Yes, buttermilk pancakes are the definition of cozy mornings. And this recipe is pretty perfect, if we do say so ourselves. The crumb is light and fluffy, perfectly tender. These lightly sweet, punctuated by the tangy blueberries. Topped with pure maple syrup, the flavor simply pops.

Don’t want to buy buttermilk? Sour Cream Pancakes and Greek Yogurt Pancakes are just as fluffy! Or grab Blueberry Pancakes.

Why these are the perfect blueberry buttermilk pancakes

One thing I love about being recipe developers is that we get to make recipes that work for us. So this blueberry buttermilk pancakes recipe is optimized to what we feel like is perfect. Here are some of the things we love about this recipe:

Relatively short ingredient list. Compared to other blueberry buttermilk pancake recipes, it has a short ingredient list: 8 ingredients plus salt.
No melting butter required. I kind of hate melting butter to go in pancake batter (an odd pet peeve, I know). I just want to mix up everything as fast as possible: not have to bother with my microwave or stovetop. This recipe uses neutral oil, which is so much easier: just pour it in and go!
Quick time investment for big return. Because of these enhancements, it’s very simple and quick to mix up these pancakes: and the flavor is so, so good that you’ll be glad you did.

Now this blueberry buttermilk pancakes recipe is a classic pancake recipe. We went with all purpose flour and buttermilk for maximum fluffiness and a touch of maple syrup for sweetness. Many of our pancakes recipes here on A Couple Cooks have a healthy spin: we like to use oats in our pancakes so that they’re more filling and nutrient dense. If you’re looking for something a little more nutrient dense, we’d recommend heading to these recipes instead:

Banana Oatmeal Pancakes — add blueberries!
Lemon Poppy Seed Oatmeal Pancakes — blueberries would be tasty here too!
Gingerbread Oatmeal Pancakes

What does buttermilk do in pancakes?

Buttermilk isn’t exactly a pantry ingredient. What makes buttermilk so great in pancakes? It adds a tangy flavor, but even better: it also helps to make the pancakes light and fluffy. We’d recommend getting a carton of buttermilk for this recipe: we had one on hand from making our Buttermilk Biscuits.

What’s a buttermilk substitute?

Now, if you don’t have any buttermilk onhand: can you still make these pancakes? Yes. You can make a buttermilk substitute that’s not exactly the same, but it’s still pretty close!

What’s a buttermilk substitute? The most popular buttermilk substitute out there is using milk plus an acid: either lemon juice or white vinegar. This mimics the tang and acidity of the buttermilk. Here’s how to do it:

Combine 1 scant cup milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar.
Allow to stand for 5 minutes before using.

What’s the best way to add blueberries to pancakes?

This might sound like a silly question. But if you’re like me, you didn’t grow up eating blueberry pancakes, and you didn’t eat them in college. So you don’t know the answer to this very important question:

Question: Should I add blueberries to the pancake batter, or after the pancakes are on the griddle?

Answer: After the pancakes are on the griddle! The best way to get the most even blueberry distribution is to place the blueberries right on top of the pancakes while they’re on the griddle. Placing them in the batter itself makes for lumpy pancakes and uneven distribution. You’ll find that when you add the blueberries to pancakes on the griddle, the “top” side of the pancake won’t really show the blueberries. And that’s ok! You can see them when you slice through the middle.

Got a waffle iron? Also try our Best Blueberry Waffles.

How to step up these pancakes

When we made these blueberry buttermilk pancakes, we’d just come into a beautiful bounty of blueberries: 5 pounds that we picked in Michigan! And miraculously, they only cost $5. If you have a lot of blueberries, please make our Quick Blueberry Sauce to serve with these pancakes. My, oh my is it tasty! It takes the blueberry-ness to a whole new level. It’s an absolute must if you have blueberries to spare.

Another variation? Try Lemon Blueberry Pancakes: the citrus spin is the perfect pairing! To modify this recipe, just add 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 2 teaspoons lemon zest to the batter. Then serve with Easy Blueberry Compote!

Need a vegan option?

We’ve got you covered! Buttermilk is not required for this recipe. If you eat vegan or plant-based, head over to our Vegan Blueberry Pancakes or Go-To Vegan Pancakes (and add berries).

Want to freeze blueberries?

Got a lot of berries and want to freeze them? Not sure if you can use frozen berries in a baking recipe? Head to our resource: How to Freeze Blueberries.

This blueberry buttermilk pancakes recipe is…

Vegetarian, naturally sweet, and refined sugar free.. For gluten free, go to our Gluten Free Pancakes and add blueberries. For vegan, go to our Vegan Blueberry Pancakes recipe.