A Quarter of a Century [Multi-Grain Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes]

Today, I've officially lived 25 years. Twenty-five years. A quarter of a century.

A lot of my life has already happened. School, jobs, moves...not only has it happened, but it's all happened so gosh-darn-fast!

Even though I'm not someone who likes to be disappointed or limited by expectations, I still kind of thought that I'd have more of my life together by twenty-five. Alas, the remainder of my major life events are still looming in the distance: A career, marriage, a family.

But, now that I'm "here", I'm totally fine with it. Keep on looming.

The last I heard, your twenties are supposed to be your selfish years. With five down, I've only got five more to do what I want to do and do it well. What do I want to do?

Go back to Europe. Take baking lessons. Run a marathon. Own a house. Find a job that feels like fun. See my friends more. Learn how to chop things really fast. Visit the west coast.  Eat two tons of macaroni & cheese. And go to bed exhausted and smiling every night.

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If you've been visiting my blog for a while, you'll remember that I made my own birthday cake last year. Coworkers and friends think I'm strange, but I'm sure that other food bloggers understand my want / need to make my own cake. It's an opportunity to try something new and extravagant just for myself; plus it's homemade, just the way I prefer my baked goods :)



I attempted the Momofuku Birthday Layer Cake (see here for a copy of the recipe); and unfortunately, it didn't quite work out. I couldn't locate a 6-inch cake ring or glucose. I refused to use the measly 2 ounces of cream cheese called for in the frosting recipe. And I forgot the "cake soak" in the first two mini-cakes I assembled. For the third cake, I tried to fix some of the issues by upping the powdered sugar in the frosting, adding Greek yogurt instead of using more butter/shortening in place of the cream cheese, AND I remembered the cake soak. I'll find out later tonight if all the time and effort was worth it. If nothing else, I discovered (and am in love with) *cake crumbs*.

Birthdays are weird when you don't have roommates. You wake up to just a normal day, alone. To make the day seem more special, I decided to make myself a birthday breakfast. With a container of buttermilk already in my fridge and pancakes on my mind (yesterday was National Pancake Day, my favorite food holiday ever), trying a new blueberry pancake recipe seemed like the perfect option.

I adapted the recipe from Annie's Eats by swapping out the yogurt for buttermilk, using oat flour and bran instead of rye, and decreasing the baking powder by 1 teaspoon. Oh, and I added sprinkles. Grains for heath & sprinkles for happiness <3



I let the batter sit for 5 minutes while the skillet heated up, and it nearly doubled in size from the baking powder! It deflated slightly and resulted in soft, slightly dense pancakes with a lovely added texture from the grains. What I didn't actually love was the lemon zest, which is fine since I typically don't have a lemon on-hand when I'm in a pancake making mood. What I didn't eat, I wrapped in wax paper and put in the freezer for quick breakfasts later this week. I'll definitely be making these again, with or without sprinkles :)

Multi-Grain Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

Adapted from Annie's Eats, Originally from Smitten Kitchen

Servings: 8-9 pancakes

3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oats, ground into a flour
2 tablespoons wheat bran
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
vanilla extract
Zest of 1/2 lemon
1 cup blueberries
Optional: 2 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles

• Mix together flours, bran, baking powder, sugar, salt, and sprinkles in a small bowl; set aside.

• In a separate bowl, combine eggs and milk. Add in vanilla, zest, and oil. Next pour in dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

• Preheat electric skillet or set a skillet over medium heat. Scoop about 1/3 cup batter onto skillet once heated and sprinkle on blueberries. Allow pancakes to cook until bubbles begin to form on the top surface, then carefully flip. Cook until golden brown; and repeat with remaining batter.

Tip: You can set completed pancakes on a baking sheet in an oven preheated to 200 degrees to keep them warm for serving.