This thick and fluffy pancake casserole is filled with blueberries and topped with a brown sugar crumble. This is a great way to make pancakes for a crowd, and it’s a great meal prep dish (it reheats beautifully).
This is one of my most popular recipes – and for good reason. This recipe is easy, delicious, and it’s always met with rave reviews. Think of it as a mashup between pancakes and coffee cake.
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Why you’ll love this recipe
Flavor: Buttermilk pancakes with a touch of vanilla, lemon, blueberries, and maple syrup.
Texture: Imagine a super thick and fluffy pancake filled with juicy blueberries and a crunchy crumb topping.
Ease: Although this recipe has several steps, it is super easy. No special equipment or techniques needed.
Feed a crowd: If you don’t feel like standing over the stove flipping individual pancakes for a crowd this is a great alternative. I often make this dish for holiday breakfast/brunch.
Great leftover: Reheat individual servings in the microwave, this casserole reheats beautifully.
Pancake casserole recipe overview
*Full recipe below in recipe card*
Crumb topping:
Combine flour, sugars, cinnamon, salt, and melted butter. Pop the topping into the fridge while you proceed with the pancake batter.
Pancake batter:
- Combine dry ingredients in one bowl.
- Combine wet ingredients in another bowl.
- Combine wet and dry.
- Be careful not to overmix (it will be lumpy).
Add the batter to a greased 9×13 pan. Top with blueberries and crumb topping.
Bake!
Make ahead options
Can this be made ahead?
I highly recommend serving this right after baking but you can do most of the prep in advance. Note: individual leftovers reheat well in the microwave but I do not bake and reheat the whole dish.
Use this method to prep ahead and you will only have a couple of “hands-on” minutes 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.
- 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.
- Pancake batter: 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 refrigerated crumb topping and bake!
Can you use 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 prefer this recipe made the way it is written.
Can you use 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 will 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.
Serving and storage
Serve warm topped with maple syrup. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
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Recipe
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
Pancake:
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour, see note
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups buttermilk
- ½ cup milk, I used skim milk
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1-2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ⅔ cups blueberries
- maple syrup, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Thoroughly grease a 9×13 baking dish and set aside.
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 pancake batter.
Pancake:
- 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 (check the center for doneness). Serve warm with maple syrup.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Jessica @ A Kitchen Addiction
This looks like the perfect addition to weekend brunch!
Tessa kirby
Oh my goodness my mouth is watering!!! This looks amazing!!
Suzanne
This looks soooooo yummy! Definitely pinning 🙂
E.S.
Do you think I could use frozen blueberries for this?
Celebrating Sweets
Hi! I’ve never tried it but I would guess that you could. The color from the blueberries will probably bleed a little bit, but it should taste fine. Enjoy!
Lauren
Can you make ahead of time and then bake the next morning?
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, Lauren. I have never tried that so I cant say. I do have a few french toast recipes which can all be made the night before and baked in the morning. Here are links to those, if you’re interested.
Cinnamon Vanilla French Toast: https://celebratingsweets.com/cinnamon-vanilla-baked-french-toast/
Brown Sugar Banana French Toast: https://celebratingsweets.com/brown-sugar-banana-french-toast-casserole/
Pumpkin French Toast: https://celebratingsweets.com/baked-pumpkin-french-toast-casserole/
KT Luna
Thank you for the recipe. I have made this twice now, and getting ready to make it again. Both times I made it the day before since I was bringing it to a friend so she could pop it in the oven in the morning for her family. The topping was put on right before it was baked. May need a little bit longer cook time since it’ll be coming out of the refrigerator. They loved it so much, I’m making it again today for their family Christmas.
Celebrating Sweets
I’m so happy to hear that! I really appreciate you letting me know that you made it the day before and it still came out good. Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Happy holidays!
Carman
I’m curious if you’ve ever made the batter the night before and then baked the next morning.
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, Carman. I have not tried that but I have a couple readers that have made it the night before and it worked just fine. Enjoy!
Emily
This sounds amazing! Looking for something to make Christmas morning and this may be it. Not sure my little grocery store in my dinky little town has fresh blueberries so will have to try it with frozen. Has anyone tried it with any other fruit? Or even chocolate chips? My boys are a fan of peanut butter chip and chocolate chip pancakes 🙂
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, Emily! I have not tried it with any other fruit yet. Chocolate chips sound amazing! I hope you enjoy it. Merry Christmas!
JoAnn
This is an awesome dish! I used huckleberries instead of blueberries, and it was enjoyed by all on Christmas morning. I partially baked it the night before and then finished baking it in the morning. This will be a great addition to our camping weekends this summer, thanks so much for the excellent recipe.
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, JoAnn. I’m happy to hear that you liked it. Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Happy New Year!
Cynthia
Delicious! Just cut the recipe in half, and it all worked out & turned out great. Thanks for the recipe! ?
Celebrating Sweets
Yay! So happy to hear that. Good to know that it can be cut in half. Thanks for sharing.
Tayla
How long did you bake it?
Celebrating Sweets
Approximately 45 minutes.