Tasty Tuesday - Maple Bacon Pancakes for "Mardi Gras"

Pancake Tuesday! Finally :-)

Alright - we have the trivia and some entertaining ideas down pat (see post here), so let's talk food!

My mouth has been watering over this recipe since I first saw it, and I can not wait to indulge in these pancakes tonight! Not that I had ever thought I would say such a thing.... but: we're having these Maple Bacon Pancakes:

From Sweetspot.ca's pancake slideshow!

Maple Bacon Pancakes from Sweetspot.ca

Ingredients:
2 cup of all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon sugar
2 egg, lightly beaten
2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tablespoon of butter
6 slices of bacon, sliced horizontally and then diced

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 150˚F so you can keep the pancakes warm while the others are cooking.
2. In a medium pan, cook the bacon, over medium heat, stirring frequently, until cooked.  About 10-12 minutes. Remove the bacon to a paper towel, to remove excess fat.
3. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.  Add the lightly beaten eggs and buttermilk in two batches, careful to not over mix.  Don’t over mix! This is the sure way to tough pancakes. You want some small to medium lumps in there.
4. Let the batter sit for 10 minutes to thicken a bit. Then heat up your griddle or cast iron skillet slowly and brush with 1 tablespoon of butter. Once the batter is done resting, lightly fold the bacon in the batter.  Take a 1/4 cup  of batter dropping it onto the griddle or cast iron skillet. Cook until bubbles form along the sides.  Flip. Then cook until browned.
5. Once they’re done, put them on a plate in the warm oven until you’re ready to serve.  Top with warm maple syrup and a dollop of butter.

Makes approximately 8-10 pancakes. 

NOTE - God forbid I leave well enough alone and not make some change to a recipe ;-). Nothing major this time though - I'll be adding cleaned, boiled, tin-foil-wrapped loonies and quarters in mine*.... Why? Well, because my Nana used to.... except she used wax paper to wrap the money, and included buttons, toy soldiers and doll shoes to predict our professions :-) Come on now... don't say you never ;-)

And, last but not least, if the notion of a bacon pancake doesn't appeal to you, there is a slew of recipes, including this one, in the slideshow Flipping For Pancakes, and a few more can be found on momstown or Canadian Parents.  Mouthwatering, all of them, huh?

How the kids can help: measure, pour & mix ingredients, crumble bacon (if you cook it first, then roll in the paper towel to crumble), wrap money, pour pancakes into pan. If you like whip cream on the side, get them to help you with that as well. Great opportunity to explore the concept of solid->liquids->gas: most folks test the heat of the pan by flicking water on it to see if it spits, right? Let your child try it! They'll love the sizzle of the water... and you can discuss why it happened. After you've explained the evaporation process and before you add the pancake batter, put an ice cube in the pan as well - see if your child can explain how/why the cube becomes water and then disappears.

Happy Eating!


*Choking hazard! Be careful! Use bigger coins, wrap to a square shape to increase size, help cut the pancakes and watch the kids super closely to make sure they do not put anything on their fork that they could swallow!


PS - the verdict - Yum, especially with whipped cream. Next time I think we'll use more bacon though :-)