Wild Blueberry Oat Pancakes

This recipe is brought to you by nature and foraged blueberries.

Combined with oat flour, apple sauce, and other simple ingredients, fluffy and fiber-full pancakes can be ready in the blink of an eye.

Inspiration

I recently had the pleasure of visiting my good friend (aka my soul/zodiac sister) in Portland, Oregon. We embarked on a two-hour-long adventure to find a magical meadow in the Mount Hood National Forest, and once we started heading back, we realized that the entire trail was lined with wild blueberry bushes in every direction. Oregon is definitely a state where wild berries grow like weeds, and it is unbelievable how generous and abundant nature can be!

We were deeply connecting with our wild woman nature and felt so inclined to forage for the blueberries, munching on them as a snack and collecting some to bring back home with us. I swear, picking and eating them right off the bush in the middle of the forest was one of the most satisfying feelings I’ve ever experienced. They were so sweet and ripe and made me incredibly grateful for our ancestors who had to forage as the main means of eating and nourishing themselves in the past.

Foraging Info

Foraging for native plants is such an awesome way to connect with nature. When doing so, make sure you can accurately identify the plant, so you don’t end up eating something that’s poisonous or indigestible. Luckily, blueberries are pretty easy to identify, but if you’re searching for something that’s less easily identifiable, such as mushrooms, confirm that it is edible before you consume it.

As of August 2021, you can forage up to 3 gallons of wild berries for personal use without the need for a permit through December 31st, 2021. This specifically applies to berries in the Mount Hood National Forest, so if you’re foraging anywhere else, make sure to do your research accordingly through the USDA. If you want to learn more about foraging for berries in the Mount Hood National Forest, click here. If you want to learn more about collection permits through the USDA in general, click here.

Try it out! Because, hey, it’s free organic food directly from the source.

How to make Wild Blueberry Oat Pancakes

These pancakes are:

Simple

Filling

Wholesome

& full of fiber

Combine all of the ingredients except for the blueberries

In a mixing bowl, whisk together all of the pancake ingredients, except for the blueberries. This includes the oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, apple sauce, salt, vanilla extract, plant milk, and lastly, the apple cider vinegar. Make sure to add the apple cider vinegar last, and immediately before you jump to the next step of folding in the blueberries.

For leavening purposes, it’s important to add the apple cider vinegar last. This is because once you mix the apple cider vinegar with baking soda, a chemical reaction will occur, producing tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide gas. These bubbles and the release of the gas are what give the pancakes a light, fluffy and airy texture. If you mix in the vinegar too early, you might exhaust all of the carbon dioxide bubbles and the pancakes will fall flat.

I have a soft spot for chemistry and love how it plays such a huge role in cooking. It’s basically just a bunch of molecules bouncin’ around and reacting, and that’s petty dang cool.

Fold in the blueberries

Once the apple cider vinegar has been mixed into the batter, gently fold in the blueberries until they are evenly distributed.

Of course, you surely do not have to use foraged wild berries! Use whatever you can get your hands on. Regular frozen blueberries will do the trick perfectly.

Fry the pancakes

When the batter is ready, heat up a nonstick pan with about a tablespoon of oil. I used coconut oil, but alternatively, you could use avocado oil, a non-stick spray, or vegan butter.

When the pan and oil are hot, add a scoop of the batter onto the pan. I used 1/4 of a cup per scoop and ended up with 8 medium-sized pancakes. Feel free to make them any size you’d like, but you may have to adjust the cooking time accordingly.

Add as many scoops as your pan will allow and cook each side for about 5 minutes. Once the 5 minutes is up, use a spatula to carefully flip the pancake and cook for the same amount of time on the other side, or until both sides are evenly cooked. Repeat until all the batter has been used up.

Serving

When you’ve finished frying all of your pancakes and you end up with a mighty fine-looking stack, it’s time to generously garnish them. Dump a scoop of almond or peanut butter, toss on some sliced banana slabs, sprinkle with fresh berries, and drizzle with maple syrup or agave nectar. Get creative and make them as decadent as you desire!

Storing and reheating

Although these pancakes are best eaten fresh, you can store these in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 3-5 days, or the freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat, heat up a skillet over low-medium heat, and cook until warm.

If you made this recipe, I’d be berry excited to hear about it!

Bad joke? I’ll be back next week for even more terrible jokes.

💙 M