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!
Teri Jo
Great breakfast recipe for summer company!
Anna
Can you make this the night before?
Celebrating Sweets
Yes, just reheat it in a low oven.
Barb
This was very good, although a little too sweet for me. I will adjust the sugar next time. I cut the recipe in half and baked in 9” sq. Pan for 30 min. No buttermilk, so I used coconut milk. This was a test to see if expected company would like it. I’m sure they will. ?
Celebrating Sweets
Great! Glad you liked it!
Savannah
I made this for a birthday breakfast gathering this morning, exactly as the recipe calls, and it was AMAZING. It received rave reviews from everyone and was gone by the end of breakfast. So, so good. Sweet but not overly sweet and the crumble topping is drool worthy.
Celebrating Sweets
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that. Thanks for taking the time to let me know that you enjoyed it.
Linda White
Recipe was perfect, used leftover homemade cranberry sauce in place of the blueberries and it was delicious!!!
Celebrating Sweets
That sounds great! Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for stopping by.
Julie Rivero
Can you pre-make the batter the night before and keep in in the fridge until ready to bake or would it be best to bake it the night before and reheat it?
Celebrating Sweets
I would not recommend making the batter the night before, I’m not sure how the baking powder and soda will react. You can make the crumb topping the night before, and you can combine the dry ingredients (keep at room temp). Then in the morning just whisk up the wet ingredients, add the dry, and you’re ready to bake it. If you’d prefer to bake the night before you can, but I think it is best (and fluffiest!) straight out of the oven.
Alise
Can you half this recipe?
Celebrating Sweets
Yes! I have made a half recipe in a 9×9 baking pan.
MrsJmc
Hi! Looks awesome. Can you use frozen blueberries and if yes, do I thaw them? Thank you!
Celebrating Sweets
Hi! Yes, I have made it with frozen blueberries. I did not thaw them, and I reduced the amount of blueberries to about 1 1/4 cups (I was worried about the extra moisture). It cooked up fine, but the color from the blueberries did bleed into the pancake a bit. Enjoy!
Mary
Can this be made in baked ahead and Frozen? I do that with blueberry muffins so thinking it would be fine but wonder if anybody had haf the experience of doing that
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, Mary. I have not tried it. Although I think it is best when freshly baked (it’s extra light and fluffy), I would imagine that you could bake and freeze it. Enjoy!
Brittany Eisenmann
Can I make this the night before and bake in the morning??
Celebrating Sweets
You can assemble the dry ingredients the night before, then just add the wet ingredients in the morning. If you completely assemble the batter the night before the leavening could have a reaction while sitting in the fridge overnight. Enjoy!