blueberry cream cheese pancakes
I am no stranger to the chain restaurant. I tried, and failed, to work at Red Robin just for access to their steak fries. I was, for a moment, a Hooter Girl hostess. I remember running food for one of the other girls (A HUGE HOSTESS NO-NO IN A TIP-BASED RESTAURANT) and almost getting smacked in the face with a pair of double G’s. I still send Postmates to Applebee’s for riblets. And I am not the biggest fan of desserts, EXCEPT for the sour cream blueberry pie at Marie Callender’s. And I haaaaate sour cream. But I do love its slightly sweeter twin sister, cream cheese.
These pancakes remind me sooooo much of that pie behind that glass. Little bombs of cream cheese melt into the batter as it oozes across your griddle. The little bit of vinegar makes the pancakes puff, and it’s a trick you should keep to yourself. Everyone will think only you can make pancakes this fluffy.
ingredients
½ (4-ounce) brick cream cheese (not the tub of spread), cold
2 cups all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 ⅓ cups buttermilk
2 eggs
1 stick (4 ounces) butter, melted and slightly cooled (½ cup)
¼teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1 cup juicy blueberries, plus more for serving
1 ½ sheets (3 squares) graham crackers, crushed into crumbs
Butter and pancake syrup (Aunt Jemima preferred! But pure maple if you insist), for serving
steps
Cut the cream cheese into ¼-inch cubes (see Note) and put it in the freezer while you start the batter.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, ¼ cup of the butter, and vinegar. Stir the wet ingredients into the flour mixture. Let the batter sit around for 5 minutes, then stir in the cream cheese cubes.
Heat a griddle or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, brush the griddle with some of the remaining melted butter, and use a ⅓-cup measure to ladle the batter onto the griddle. Dot each pancake with 1 tablespoon of the blueberries (note: be generous with the blueberries i.e. 6+ per pancake) and cook until tiny bubbles push up through the pancakes and the edges are lacy and brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip and cook until the underside is cooked and lacy, another 1 to 2 minutes. Continue cooking the pancakes, brushing the griddle with more melted butter between batches.
Stack 2 or 3 pancakes on each plate, dot with butter, drizzle with syrup, and sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs and blueberries.
