This past weekend, Shaun and I had a major jonesing to deviate from our usual scrambled eggs breakfast. Instead of our usual weekend fare, we decided that pancakes were in order. After an exhausting week, there's really nothing quite like homemade pancakes on a Sunday morning. Though I have certainly tackled hot cakes of the boxed variety, I had yet to make my very own. I decided to add a little twist to the basic buttermilk, making them even more special with some fresh additions that made the pancakes go from 'eh' to 'mmmm'. Let's get down to the goods...
Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes
2 C all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 C buttermilk
1/4 C melted butter
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup blueberries (I used the frozen kind)
In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 
In a separate bowl, using a wooden spoon, mix the eggs and buttermilk together. 
Melt the butter and let cool for a few seconds. Add to the buttermilk and eggs (Note: beware when adding hot anything to eggs - it tends to make them scramble. Make sure it sits for at least a few seconds before combining). Add vanilla and lemon zest. Combine this with the flour mixture and mix just until combined. The batter will still be lumpy, but overmixing will cause tough, unfabulous pancakes. 
In a skillet or griddle, heat butter. Add batter and sprinkle the tops with blueberries (as many as you like). 
Cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until desired goldenness is reached. Serve with maple syrup and garnish with blueberries.
Oh, and since I still had buttermilk taking up space in my fridge from my Easter Pink Coconut Cupcakes, this was the perfect solution to using up almost the entire carton of leftovers. Though my cakes turned out a little more browned than I typically enjoy, the taste was perfection. Crispy on the outside, yet fluffy and cakelike on the inside, these pancakes are one for the permanent collection. Just a hint of lemon and vanilla gave these pancakes the extra oompffh they needed to really sing.
And if you just aren't into fruit in your pancakes (after all, I'm only a recent convert), something tells me that they'd be completely fabulous by replacing the lemon and blueberry with chocolate chips or even just a 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and some chopped pecans.
So there you have it. A basic yet decadent Sunday breakfast. But what I really want to know is, how do you like your pancakes?