Blueberry Whole Wheat Pancakes

Khalil shares a crowd-pleaser of a breakfast treat.

by Khalil Hymore

As children, Ashley and I spent most of our summers, far from California, in upstate New York with our mom's family. One of our favorite summer activities was blueberry picking. We would often head out early in the morning before the sun got too hot and by mid-day have several large buckets full of the sweet, tart jewels. They were so coveted, in fact, that once, when a bucket had overturned into the trunk of our grandfather's car, he did not hesitate to crawl into the trunk and hunt down every last berry. Talk about waste not, want not!

For the remainder of the summer we ate blueberries with everything. My grandmother would fill large resealable bags with blueberries and store them in her freezer for pies, muffins, and, my favorite, pancakes. The rest we would use in salads or as ice cream topping, or simply eat out of hand.

Makes 12 to 14 pancakes

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/4 cups melted unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups blueberries
• confectioners' sugar
• maple syrup, warmed

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla extract and stir into the dry ingredients. Carefully fold in the blueberries.

Heat a griddle or large frying pan over medium heat and lightly grease with oil or butter. Spoon 1/4-cupfuls of pancake batter onto the hot griddle and cook until the pancakes begin to bubble and are slightly dry around the edges, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook until golden, another 1 to 2 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter.

Dust pancakes with confectioners' sugar and serve with warm maple syrup.