Lavender Blueberry Pancakes

There aren't many things as comforting as pancakes in the morning. Here we make one of our favorite comfort foods even more comforting with the addition of dried lavender [happy sigh]. Lately I've been adding dried lavender to muffins, scones, and now, pancakes. Once you get your hands on some dried lavender, add only enough to fit your taste buds. Some of us like the fragrant herbal flavor much more than others.

Served up with Greek yogurt and golden raspberries.

You can opt to leave the blueberries out, or swap them for bananas or even chocolate chips. Whatever you fancy. Once you're comfortable with the basic recipe you can adjust the sugar, milk, and spices without fail. Just don't forget the lavender and pure maple syrup!


Lavender Blueberry Pancakes
Makes 10-12 pancakes

1 c. flour
1 T. sugar
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1 T. flax seed, ground
pinch of salt
1 t. cinnamon
3/4 - 1T. dried lavender (adjust to your tastes)
1 c. buttermilk
1 t. vanilla
1 egg
1 c. fresh blueberries


Heat a skillet over medium heat.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, flaxseed, salt, cinnamon, and lavender in a bowl. Whisk in buttermilk, vanilla, and egg just until combined. Batter should be lumpy. Fold in blueberries.

Grease skillet with butter or cooking spray. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into circles on your pan. Cook until bubbles form and pop in your pancake and sides stiffen. Flip and cook other side. Serve hot with maple syrup. Happy day.

Mixed Berry Mini Pies

It's been awhile, I know, but I've got mixed berry pie! These pies happen to be adorable (coming in at 5 inches a piece), sweet but tart, and a perfect way to use up the summer's best berries. I've been on a mini dessert kick for a few months. It's a bit more work to make four separate pies but the works pays off in the end when you can claim a pie all to yourself.

Notes on the recipe:

I use a total of five cups of fresh berries in this recipe: blackberries, raspberries and blueberries. Feel free to adjust those amounts and even swap in some strawberries if you like, but keep it to five cups.  

Lemon juice and zest can easily be added in if you prefer a citrus-y flavor to your berry pies. I like the flavor of the berries all their own, with just a bit of added sugar. 

Mixed Berry Bars

What better way to enjoy summer berries than to sandwich them between a sweet, buttery crust? These mixed berry bars (raspberry, blueberry, blackberry) are sweet but tart, and delicious chilled.

Unfortunately, the busy first few weeks of school have kept me away from the blogging world and this recipe is coming to you in the early days of autumn. But if you're like me, you have bags of berries that you picked all summer in your freezer, just waiting for an opportunity to be showcased. Frozen berries from the supermarket will also work or you can simply daydream about making berry bars until next summer.

My boyfriend loves mixed berry pie, so when he hosted a bbq in late August, we couldn't think of a better dessert. With little time to perfect a pie crust and filling, however, I decided that bars would be quick to make and easy to enjoy (no plate or fork needed!). I searched and searched the baking blog world and found several recipes for berry bars before settling on smitten kitchen's blueberry crumb bar recipe. Many bakers whip up similar desserts with a granola crust in an attempt to make a breakfast-worthy bar. I was searching for that berry pie taste and had faith that Deb's buttery crust would be a success.