These Fluffy Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes are the perfect healthy weekend breakfast! They’re refined sugar free, dairy free and use a combo of wheat flour and cornmeal as healthy swaps.
These blueberry cornmeal pancakes are a breeze to make! I’ve mentioned it a couple of times in my dessert posts, but baking really isn’t my favorite. After an “interesting” raspberry lemonade icebox pie I made back in 2009 (that was both tart and dense), I always strive for simple baking recipes that I can’t mess up.
I like making these cornmeal pancakes because the measurements and techniques are very straight forward. Also there’s leeway, so if the pancake batter is too thick, you can just add more milk to loosen it up.
It’s a recipe I created while messing around with the ingredients we already had in the house. That is to say, that if I can create this from scratch, anybody can!
I made a couple of healthy swaps in this pancake batter recipe so that it’s refined sugar free and dairy free.
Here are the healthy baking swaps:
- White flour→ White wheat flour
- White flour→ Cornmeal
- Whole milk→ Soy milk
- White sugar→Maple syrup
The tricky part about making pancakes with non-traditional flours and liquids is keeping them fluffy.
How to make FLUFFY cornmeal pancakes!
My big concern was that these cornmeal pancakes would be dense (like the previously mentioned icebox pie!), but I promise they’re not!
The secret is that I made a DIY dairy free buttermilk with a mixture of soy milk and lemon juice. The lemon juice breaks down the enzymes in the soy milk, giving it a nice tang and thickness. If you’re not sensitive to lactose like I am, you can definitely use 2% milk instead, to end up with a DIY low fat buttermilk.
I also love the cornmeal in the recipe! I probably have a bit of a bias since I love anything with cornmeal…corn muffins, cornbread, corn cakes; COUNT ME IN! The cornmeal in these blueberry pancakes adds a little something different though. It gives these pancakes a crisp and pretty crust as well.
Fun Fact: Even though they are in the dairy aisle, eggs aren’t actually classified as dairy. If you’re both dairy free and vegan, you can substitute the eggs in this recipe with apple sauce or flax eggs (roughly 1/4 cup).
Healthy Pancake Toppings
My favorite thing about making blueberry cornmeal pancakes (or any pancakes really) is that you can top it with whatever you like. For these, I like:
- Walnuts
- Fresh blueberries
- Coconut flakes
- Keep it simple and douse them in maple syrup : ).
- Tip: Look for pure maple syrup in the grocery store rather than “pancake syrup”. Most pancake syrup is mixed with high fructose corn syrup, extra sugar and unnecessary preservatives.
Pin this recipe on Pinterest, share it on Instagram and let me know what you think in the comments!
Fluffy Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes
Rate this Recipe:Ingredients
- 1/2 cup white wheat flour
- 1/4 cup cornmeal
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup milk of your choice I use soy milk
- 1/2 lemon, juice only
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 2 tbs maple syrup
- 1 tbs vanilla
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg optional
- 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- cooking spray I like olive oil spray
Instructions
- In a small bowl mix together soy milk (or other preferred milk) with the juice of 1/2 a lemon. Stir and let it sit for 2 minutes; this will create dairy free buttermilk. If you don't need it to be dairy free, just use 2% milk and lemon juice.
- In a large bowl whisk together white wheat flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Add egg, dairy free buttermilk, olive oil, maple syrup, vanilla and nutmeg. Whisk until it forms a batter. If you like thinner cornmeal pancakes, add extra milk (1 tbs at a time) until it's the consistency you want.
- Heat a skillet to medium high heat. Spray the pan with cooking spray. Fill a 1/4 cup measuring cup with batter and pour into the pan to form a pancake shape. Sprinkle on 5-6 blueberries. Cook 2-3 minutes before flipping and then cook 2-3 minutes on the other side. Serve with maple syrup and you favorite toppings like walnuts or coconut flakes. Enjoy!
Did you try this recipe? I’d love to see how it turned out! Snap a picture and tag @brightrootskitchen or use #brightrootskitchen on Insta.
No Comments