Baked Blueberry Buttermilk Pancake Casserole – Thick and fluffy pancake casserole filled with fresh blueberries and topped with a brown sugar crumble. The easiest and tastiest “pancake” you’ll ever eat. VIDEO BELOW!
Meet your new favorite breakfast – a thick and fluffy buttermilk “pancake” topped with blueberries and a brown sugar crumble.
This is one of my most popular recipes, and for good reason. This recipe is easy, it feeds a crowd, it reheats well and it is ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! When I am hosting guests for breakfast or brunch I almost always make this Pancake Casserole. It comes out perfect every time, and it’s always met with rave reviews.
MORE BREAKFAST RECIPES: CINNAMON FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE – ALMOND CROISSANTS – BANANA BROWN SUGAR FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE – CHOCOLATE CHIP SCONES – EGG CASSEROLE
Pancake Casserole
This Pancake Casserole is essentially a big batch of buttermilk pancake batter flavored with vanilla and a touch of lemon zest. Rather than using the batter for individual pancakes (and standing at the stove and flipping, flipping, flipping…), the batter gets poured into a casserole dish, topped with blueberries and brown sugar crumble, and BAKED in the oven!
The casserole is fluffy and tender, the topping is crumbly and sweet, and the blueberries impart little pops of freshness. It’s kind of like a pancake-coffee cake hybrid (and it literally cannot get into my mouth fast enough).
Can You Make This Pancake Casserole Ahead?
You can’t prepare this casserole completely the night before (because we don’t want to combine the leaveners with the wet ingredients too far in advance), BUT, I have tips for prepping most of it in the night before. If you choose to use this method, you will only have a couple of “hands-on” minutes of prep in the morning.
- Prepare the crumb topping and refrigerate until ready to use (up to 1 day in advance). It will firm up quite a bit as the butter chills in the fridge. Let it sit at room temp for an hour (if you have time), or just use your fingers to break the crumb topping into chunks as you scatter it over the pancake batter.
- Combine all of the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda) in a large bowl and tightly cover (at room temp) overnight.
- In a large glass measuring cup or bowl, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, milk, lemon zest and vanilla (all of the wet ingredients except the melted butter). Tightly cover and refrigerate overnight.
- In the morning: Preheat the oven, whisk 4 tablespoons melted butter into the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, stir well, pour into a prepared casserole dish. Top with blueberries and the crumb topping and bake!
Can You Make Pancake Casserole with Pancake Mix?
I have tried swapping the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt and leaveners) in place of 2 ½ cups of pancake mix. It did work, but I found that the packaged pancake mix puffed up really high, which made the blueberries and crumb topping sink in. It tasted fine, but I definitely prefer this recipe made the way it is written.
Can You Make Blueberry Pancake Casserole With Frozen Blueberries?
YES! Swap the fresh blueberries for frozen blueberries (without thawing them). Note: You might need to increase the bake time by a couple minutes, and the blueberry color might bleed into the pancake batter a little more than it does with fresh blueberries. It will still taste fine.
Psst: If you absolutely LOVE blueberries (like my family does), you can top this Pancake Casserole with Blueberry Sauce.
TRY THESE: Lemon Blueberry Muffins – Lemon Coconut Cake – Blueberry Oatmeal Bread – Blueberry Pie Filling
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Blueberry Buttermilk Pancake Casserole
Ingredients
Crumb topping:
- ½ cup flour
- 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Casserole:
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups buttermilk
- ½ cup milk, I used skim milk
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- finely grated zest of 1 small lemon
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ⅔ cups blueberries
- maple syrup, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Thoroughly grease a 9x13 baking dish and set aside.
- Prepare crumb topping: In a medium bowl combine flour, sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Add melted butter and stir until fully incorporated. Cover and refrigerate while you prepare the batter.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- In a separate bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, milk, melted butter, lemon zest, and vanilla extract (the butter might clump from the chill of the cold ingredients- that's ok). Whisk wet ingredients until well combined. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and use a rubber spatula to stir until combined. The batter will be lumpy; do not over mix.
- Pour the batter into the greased baking dish. Sprinkle the blueberries over the top. Remove the crumb topping from the fridge and crumble over the top of the blueberries and batter. Bake for about 35-45 minutes, until puffed and light golden brown. Serve warm with maple syrup.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Shelley Beaty
What is the serving size that you have for the nutrition information? How many serves per recipe?
Allison
The nutrition information is for approximately 1/12th of the recipe. You might be able to get a couple more servings out of it depending on what else you’re serving with it. Enjoy!
Nicole
Do you think this could be made a day ahead and then reheated a little in the morning?
Allison
Yes, but I would recommend reheating individual servings in the microwave. If you put the whole casserole dish back into the oven it will take a really long time to heat all the way through and it could dry out. Enjoy!
Toni Darling
I tried mine with a pound cake mix! It looked the same and taste yummy!
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Susan
Can this be frozen and reheated ?
Allison
I have frozen and reheated individual servings, but not the whole entire casserole. Enjoy!
Jennifer
I have made this many times since we found this litt gem of a recipe!!! My family LOVES it! Making it for Christmas breakfast this year!!! Thanks for sharing this woderful recipe!!! Always perfect and yummy!!
Jane Malone
Can you substitute blueberries for another t such as bananas
Allison
You can definitely swap for another berry. Sliced bananas should work just note that they might turn brown while baking.
Erica
My kids had friends over last night (6 to 9 year olds) and I made these yesterday in my Cuisinart toaster/convection oven just as recipe instructs. Cooled completely and sliced. This morning I took the slices and spaced them slightly apart and put them back in the toaster oven on “leftover” to reheat. Served with milk and syrup and they were a huge hit. I thought they held their light and fluffy texture well.
Allison
Thanks for sharing your experience. I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. 🙂
Erica
I didn’t mean to lie above, but I did. I just remembered I didn’t make it just as instructed. I substituted Pyure powdered stevia for the sugar and Sulkrin gold for the brown sugar to cut down on the added sugar. They were still perfect!!
Jess
So I tired this but I think my texture was off, it was like a spongy kind of texture. I can’t figure out why that happen do you know???
Allison
Perhaps you under baked it? It should be fluffy.
Sharon
I just joined so I have yet to make anything but the blueberry baked pancake sure sounds and looks delicious.
Allison
Welcome, Sharon! I hope you enjoy our recipes.