Saturday, October 21, 2017

Incredibly Delicious Maple and Bacon Pancakes


Roy and I are spending our first weekend home after being gone for three and a half months meandering around the western United States. Being in that part of the country, we couldn't help feeling the cowboy influence. Lots of western genre movies have been filmed out that way and we enjoyed visiting Lone Pine and the Alabama Hills in California as well as the Old Tucson movie set in Arizona. Several John Wayne films were made in both places and local people still are in awe of the Duke. Somewhere along the way, Roy bought me The Official John Wayne Family Cookbook (published by Topix Media Lab, 2016). Turns out Wayne must have really liked pancakes - there are three recipes for them in the breakfast section. The one in this post is adapted from the Maple Pancake recipe in the cookbook. I have to confess that we ate these two times this week; they really are that good. There is just something irresistible about the salty sweetness of maple and bacon!


Ingredients and Directions:



Makes about Six Maple and Bacon Pancakes

6 slices thick-cut bacon
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons uncooked old fashioned oatmeal
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup maple syrup plus more to serve
2 tablespoons bacon grease


Preheat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cut bacon in half lengthwise, and then into 1/2 inch pieces. Cook in skillet over medium heat until brown and crispy. Stir frequently. When done, remove with slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain.

Reserve the bacon grease.

Put oats in blender or food processor and grind to a powder.

Add flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, buttermilk, eggs, maple syrup, and 1 tablespoon of the reserved bacon grease.

Blend well, stopping to scrape down the sides of the container once or twice. Then let sit for 10 minutes. Stir all but a handful of the bacon bits into the batter; save the reserved bits to garnish each serving.

Heat the skillet over medium-low and brush some of the reserved bacon grease on the pan. Pour 1/4 cup of batter into the skillet for each pancake. Cook until the pancake has bubble holes showing in the middle and the edges look dry. Then carefully flip over and let it cook for another minute.

Put cooked pancakes on a plate and keep warm in the oven until all the batter is used.

Put some of the bacon bits on top of each serving and pass the maple syrup!