Sunday morning breakfast wouldn’t be complete without a hearty stack of pancakes. Fluffy pancakes are such a hit, especially in families with small children. Not only are they a crowd-pleasing warm meal, but also an equally easy one to create with even tiny helpers.

In celebration of National Blueberry Pancake Day on January 28, we contacted local chef and breakfast food expert Juan Carrizales of the Morning Collective. Carrizales believes that the best way to make a pancake is to avoid over mixing the batter, leave some flour chunks and always use a cast iron pan with a little butter. Although his favorite pancake is a sweet potato pancake with candied pecans, he still loves a good blueberry cake and has offered his tips on how to make the perfect cake the first time.

“Don’t over mix it, just mix it a little so you still see some flour chunks. If you over mix it the batter tends to get flat (as opposed to fluffy). Then I use a cast iron skillet with some melted butter. Once it starts steaming a little—you see a little smoke coming off—throw on about ¼ cup of batter at a time,” suggests Carrizales. “If I were told to make a blueberry pancake I’d probably do a blueberry infused cream cheese icing with a blueberry muffin crumble.”

The Perfect Blueberry Stack at Home

Courtesy of Juan Carrizales
Makes about 10 pancakes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• Pinch of salt
• Blueberries

Directions:

1. Lightly mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Then add desired amount of blueberries.
2. Heat cast iron pan on medium heat with a little butter until the pan begins to steam.
3. Pour about ¼ cup of batter on at a time.
4. Brown on both sides and serve.

Spice up your stack with some of these other kid-friendly toppings and mix-ins:

• Chocolate chips or chunks
• Bananas (mixed into batter or caramelize them instead of syrup)
• Strawberries, raspberries, or even pineapple (mixed into batter or cooked down in saucepan with syrup and butter)
• Granola
• Sprinkles
• Whipped cream
• Chocolate sandwich cookie chunks (Oreos)
• Steel cut oats
• Corn (mix into batter for a fun take on corn fritters)