If you happen to be in the Hudson Valley and it’s blueberry season, you owe it to yourself to either stop at the Friday Milan farmers’ market or search out Mead Orchards. The Accidental Locavore doesn’t know what makes their blueberries so much better than any others, but they are!
We had houseguests and I wanted an easy breakfast dish for vegetarians. This was on the Kitchn site recently. It says it serves 8-10 — maybe not (see below).
For the blueberry casserole:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1/2 cup milk
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- Finely grated zest from 1 medium lemon
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Cooking spray or butter for greasing the pan
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
For the streusel:
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
Make the casserole: Whisk 2 cups of the flour, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. Add the eggs, buttermilk, milk, melted butter, lemon juice, and zest. Stir until just barely combined. Do not overmix — the batter will be lumpy. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight. You can also skip the overnight rest and bake the casserole immediately.
Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 350°. Grease a 9×13″ baking dish with butter or cooking spray.
Whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a small bowl. Fold the mixture into the buttermilk mixture until just combined. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with the blueberries; set aside.
Make the streusel: Whisk together the flour, sugars, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl. Add the butter and use a fork or your fingers to work the ingredients together until well-combined and crumbly. Sprinkle it evenly over the casserole.
Bake until golden-brown, the casserole starts to pull away from the sides of the dish, and the top springs back gently when touched, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for about 5 minutes before serving. Serve and enjoy!
My verdict:
A big hit! While the recipe says it serves 8-10, five of us polished off all but two servings (which were eagerly reheated the next morning). You can easily put the dough and the streusel together the night before and refrigerate until you’re ready to bake. Having great blueberries was a help, but since you’re cooking them, even okay blueberries would work. Other summer fruit or berries, even apples in the fall, would probably all work well.
Remembering that the original recipe had “pancake” in the title, I thought a little maple syrup might be called for. It was totally unnecessary but really good!
