Iowa Blueberry "Corn" Pancakes #BreadBakers

It's time for our Bread Bakers challenge and this month's theme is corn!  Our host, Food Lust People Love, let us know the theme was open to yeast breads or quick breads, any pan or shape, and both sweet and savory options.  It did need to contain corn as a major element.  Either actual corn (fresh, frozen or freeze-dried; any color), or cornmeal or polenta would work. Or a combination!  My particular challenge is that my girls and I are corn sensitive, which kind of sucks.  My youngest especially loves corn, but too much and we pay the consequences.  So my recipe will offer a corn free alternative that gives almost indistinguishable results.  This was a recipe  I grew up with.  I remember having these all the time as a kid and I just love the mealy texture of these pancakes.  Depending on the coarseness of your grind, they can have a little crunch to them if you like.  Way back then we made them with corn meal, but nowadays I use millet meal.  It's a brilliant substitute for corn meal, making fantastic polenta and corn bread that anyone will think is the real thing.  I made corn muffins one Thanksgiving and my brother said he would not have known it was not corn if I hadn't said anything.  It just had a slightly more delicate flavor according to him.

The first time my kids tried these, they weren't sure about this new texture in a pancake, but they quickly decided they were very good!  Now the blueberries are optional, but both corn and millet go beautifully with blueberries.  The millet can be ground in a food processor or coffee grinder.  Millet is usually easy enough to find in the bulk section of many grocery stores, millet flour in the gluten free section, but millet meal, you pretty much have to make yourself.  I used to use a coffee grinder, now I use my Mockmill set fairly coarse.  I love these with real maple syrup, but I can also attest that ginger syrup is phenomenal on them as well. 

Iowa Blueberry "Corn" Pancakes

makes 20-24 4-inch pancakes

1½ cups all purpose flour

2 tbsp sugar

Fresh ground millet meal

1 tsp soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup millet meal (ground to a polenta or grits consistency, original corn recipe calls for ½ cup corn meal and polenta or grits works well) 

2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk (I use homemade kefir, nice and thick for thicker cakes)
2 tbsp melted butter, bacon fat, or oil

1½ cups blueberries (optional)

Stir together the flour, sugar, soda, salt and millet or corn grits.

Beat together the buttermilk or kefir, with the egg and melted butter in a glass measure.  Pour over dry ingredients.  Whisk until just blended.  Ladle a scant ¼ cup batter onto preheated griddle on medium (~355ºF).  Quickly place a few blueberries on top of each pancake.  (A little kitchen helper is a great advantage here!)

Turn when bubbles appear and edges are brown.

Cook about 1 minute longer.  Serve with butter and real maple syrup, some extra berries, or honey.

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Be sure to check out our corny collaboration!

• Bacon Country Bread with Corn from Karen's Kitchen Stories 
• Corn Bread from Sneha's Recipe 
• Grits Sandwich Bread from Pastry Chef Online 
• Honey Skillet Cornbread from Making Miracles 
• Hot Water Cornbread from Palatable Pastime 
• Iowa "Corn" Pancakes from A Messy Kitchen 
• Polenta Rosemary Garlic Sourdough Bread from Spiceroots 
• Polenta-Crusted, Kernel-Dotted Sourdough from Culinary Adventures with Camilla 
• Sourdough Cornmeal Dinner Rolls from Zesty South Indian Kitchen 
• Southwestern Chicken Skillet with Cornbread Topping from A Day in the Life on the Farm 
• Studded Golden Cornbread from What Smells So Good? 
• Sweet Peach Cornbread from Food Lust People Love 
• Yeast Corn Breakfast Bread from Ambrosia