In a blender, combine the yogurt, almond milk, room temperature egg, sugar, vanilla extract, and almond essence. Blend for 30 seconds to 1 minute until smooth and well combined. The room temperature egg is important here—it blends more evenly into the batter than a cold egg, creating a more uniform texture throughout your pancakes.

While the wet mixture blends, measure the oats into a separate bowl and pulse or roughly chop them slightly to break down their size—this helps create fluffier pancakes with better structure. Add the baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon to the oats and whisk together until evenly distributed. This prevents clumping when you add the wet ingredients.

Pour the wet ingredient mixture from Step 1 into the dry ingredient mixture from Step 2, folding gently with a spatula until just combined—don't overmix, as this keeps the pancakes tender. Fold in the blueberries and chocolate chips until evenly distributed. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes; this allows the oats to fully hydrate and absorb the liquid, which creates a thicker, more cohesive batter that holds together better on the griddle.

Heat a nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat and lightly butter it with Kerrygold butter—a quality butter gives these simple pancakes extra flavor. Once the pan is hot, pour 1/4 cup batter for each pancake, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Cook for 2 to 4 minutes until the edges look set and you see small bubbles forming on the surface, which signals the bottom is golden.

Flip the pancakes carefully and cook the second side for another 1 to 2 minutes until golden brown. I find that these yogurt pancakes cook slightly faster than traditional pancakes, so watch them closely to avoid overcooking. Transfer finished pancakes to a plate and repeat with the remaining batter from Step 3, re-buttering the pan lightly between batches as needed.