Bacon Pancakes with apples

October 10, 2011 at 6:12 am | Posted in Food | 5 Comments
Tags: bacon, bacon pancakes, breakfast, recipe tutorial

My husband took a few vacation days last week, and I decided to try making bacon pancakes.  They aren’t a new idea, there is a Rath Bacon ad from 1961 that suggests making “wonderful” bacon pancakes using their bacon and Aunt Jemima pancake mix.  The ad shows bacon strips on a griddle with someone pouring pancake batter out of a pitcher and over the bacon.  I don’t have a griddle, and the pitcher of batter doesn’t seem very practical since so much would stick to the sides, so I just used my non-stick skillet and regular mixing bowl. 

First, you need to fry the bacon.  Since my skillet isn’t huge, I cut the pack of bacon in half lengthwise.  After it was cooked I drained it on paper towels and set it to the side – in the ad it looks like you are supposed to fry the bacon and add the pancake batter without draining the grease – I like bacon but that much grease is just gross.

While the bacon is cooking in batches, slice a few apples and start any other sides, like grits.

Toss the apples with a few teaspoons of lemon juice and cinnamon sugar to taste – I think I used about 1/4 cup of sugar and a tiny dash of cinnamon for two apples.  Simmer over medium low heat stirring occasionally while the pancakes cook.

After all the bacon has been fried, pour the grease into a small bowl and wash your pan.

Mix up a batch of your favorite pancake batter.  I like Aunt Jemima’s mix, and Alton Brown’s recipe, but this time I used my Mom’s simple recipe, substituting water for the milk since the bacon would add plenty of flavor.

Mom’s pancakes: Mix together 2 1/2 cups flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 4 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt.  Make a well and add in 2 eggs, 2 cups of milk, and 2 tsp of oil or melted butter. Stir until just blended and cook on a griddle.  Serve warm with syrup.

Place your skillet over medium heat, and spoon a small amount of the reserved bacon grease into the center.   Ladle two bacon sized strips of batter into the pan, and set a strip of your cooked bacon on top of the batter.  Flip the pancakes when the batter is set, and serve warm with maple syrup and apples on the side.   (I tried making the pancakes by placing the bacon down first, and pouring the batter over the top like the ad showed, but I ran into a few problems:  the batter over the bacon took longer to cook so several fell apart when they were flipped; the bacon was not completely flat so the batter ran under all the gaps and the pancakes didn’t look nice; and the edges were overdone by the time the center was cooked.)

I had just enough bacon grease to cook all of my pancakes in, and only used about half of the package of bacon.  I really didn’t care for the massive strip of bacon in the middle of my pancake, but my husband loved them.  In the future I think it would be better to dice the bacon and sprinkle it over the batter in the skillet – it wouldn’t have the same novelty as the big strip, but it would be a lot easier to eat.

With the last little bit of batter I stuck some of the apple slices onto the pancake – it was amazing!

Bacon Pancakes with Apple Slices

• Servings: 4-6
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Bacon Pancakes with Apple Slices:

• 1/2 pound bacon
• 2 apples
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup sugar
• dash of cinnamon, to taste
• reserved bacon grease
• 1 batch pancake batter (see recipe below)

1. Fry one pound of bacon.  Since my skillet isn’t huge, I cut the pack of bacon in half lengthwise.  After it is cooked, drain on paper towels and set aside.  Reserve bacon grease to fry pancakes.
2. While the bacon is cooking in batches, start the apples and any other sides, like grits.  Toss the apples with lemon juice and cinnamon sugar to taste.  Simmer over medium low heat stirring occasionally while the pancakes cook.
3. After all the bacon has been fried, pour the grease into a small bowl and wash your pan.
4. Mix up a batch of your favorite pancake batter (My mom’s recipe is below.)
5. Place your skillet over medium heat, and spoon a small amount of the reserved bacon grease into the center.   Ladle two bacon sized strips of batter into the pan, and set a strip of your cooked bacon on top of the batter.  Flip the pancakes when the batter is set, and serve warm with maple syrup and apples on the side.

Mom’s pancakes:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups of milk
• 2 tsp of oil or melted butter.

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Make a well and mix in eggs, milk, and butter.  Stir until just blended and cook on a griddle.  Serve warm with syrup.

Recipe printed from: https://randomcreativity.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/bacon-pancakes-with-apples/