Sunday Brunch: Yeasted Blueberry Pancakes

For some reason, yeasted pancakes don't seem to be quite as popular as yeasted waffles. This might have to do with the fact that pancakes are not supposed to be quite as "light" as waffles and that you can usually lighten the batter by beating the egg whites separately, if you simply want to get a puffier pancake.
I wanted a yeasted pancake recipe just to add to my collection, so I turned to this recipe from Bob's Red Mill, which is known for its various whole grain products, mostly sold at natural food stores. I added fresh blueberries and topped them off with some more of the blueberry syrup that I made earlier this week, leftover from dumpling making.
The pancakes themselves were delicious, light and fluffy. The baking soda stirred in at the end really raised them up. I would consider cutting the butter back to 1 tbsp in the future, but given that this recipe makes 6 generous servings (with blueberries), the overall fat content isn't really too high to be concerned by.
I will make a note about adding blueberries to pancakes. Once the pancakes have cooked on one side, put the berries in by hand and lightly dot each of them with batter. This will not only secure the berries in the pancakes, but the less time they spend on the griddle, the smaller the odds of them popping and discoloring the pancakes are. Some moisture will come out of the berries no matter what you do, so the pancakes will take longer to cook than berry-less ones .

Yeasted Blueberry Pancakes
(adapted from this recipe)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/4 cups milk (low fat/skim is fine), warm
1/4 cup water, warm
2 large eggs
2 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
Blueberries

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup of the flour, yeast and sugar. Stir in warm (110F) milk and water, mixing vigorously until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 1 hour.
In a small bowl, beat together the eggs, melted butter, vanilla. Stir in the rest of the flour and the salt. Pour into yeast mixture and stir until smooth. Add in baking soda and stir well. Batter will be quite thick.
Heat a griddle or large skillet until very hot; a drop of water will sizzle and dance on the surface.
Drop dollops onto hot griddle and cook until golden brown, adding berries (as noted above) halfway through cooking and covering each berry with a very small amount of batter before turning.
Serve immediately.

Makes 6 generous servings.