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!
Laura
The video doesn’t show baking soda, but it’s in the recipe? I’m guessing the recipe is correct and the video is not?
Celebrating Sweets
The recipe is correct. The baking powder and soda get added together in the video, I just forgot to add the text on the video for both. Enjoy!
Rose
The only change I made was to use frozen blueberries. I also cut the recipe in half and found that using 3 1/2 tablespoons of sugar was not too much. My husband and I loved it. I will be definitely making this again. Thanks for posting.
Celebrating Sweets
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to comment. Happy New Year!
Kim
Has anyone made this in advance and reheated it?
Patty
Can I make these in a muffin pan?
Celebrating Sweets
Great question! I have never tried it, but I would assume so. Just make sure you grease the muffin pan really well. I’m not sure on cook time, I’d say start checking around 12 minutes, then every few minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let me know how it goes. Enjoy!
Kattia
Could I make this with buttermilk pancake mix, then add blueberries and the topping? Just to make it a little easier and faster?
Celebrating Sweets
I’ve tried it with pancake mix. It worked (technically), but the blueberries and the crumb topping all sunk into the batter while baking. It tasted ok, but looked nothing like my photos. I think the pancake mix might have extra leavening to make it puff up more.
lisa
Allison, your recipes looks delicious, my first time getting one of them, I am going to try and make your Baked Blueberry Buttermilk Pancake Casserole. Thank You for these wonderful looking Recipes.
Lisa
Celebrating Sweets
Great! Enjoy!
Nicki
Can I make this the night before? Would you keep it in the fridge and then reheat it?
Celebrating Sweets
Yes. I have reheated leftovers that way, but I have never done it with the whole casserole. Should be fine, though. Just make sure you don’t over-bake it the first time, since you’ll be heating it again. Enjoy!
Linda Hamilton
I was wondering if this could be made in a crock pot? I would like to bring it to work to share with others.
I will be making it at home soon also. It sounds Yummy
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, Linda. I don’t think that will work. The only alternative I can think of is to bake it completely in the oven, then layer slices in a warm (not hot) crock pot. I would only recommend this method for a short period of time, and I would also recommend placing a towel under the crock pot lid to catch any condensation or steam that could make the casserole wet. I haven’t tried it that way, but that would be my best guess. Enjoy!
Michelle
Can I use whole wheat flour instead if all purpose?
Thanks so much, looks delicious!
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, Michelle. I have tried swapping half of the all purpose flour for whole wheat and it did work. It was just a touch dry compared to the original, but totally fine once we put syrup on it. I have not tried swapping the full amount for whole wheat, but I would expect that it would be much more dense, not fluffy like the original. If you’re used to that you might not mind. I can’t say for sure, since I haven’t tried it. Enjoy!
Tami
If I wanted to use other fruit would it be 1:1 for the blueberries… I was thinking strawberries would be good?
Celebrating Sweets
Yes, that should work. I would recommend chopping them and maybe even tossing them with a little sugar if they’re tart. Enjoy!