Maple Bacon Pancakes

You read that right.  Maple. Bacon. Pancakes.

I should preface this by saying I love breakfast food, LOVE it. I think pancakes are literally the best thing since sliced bread [or before sliced bread, I wonder which came first...no matter, pancakes are awesome] and I think I've already established that I literally believe that bacon makes the world a better place. So when I came upon a recipe that combined the two greatest American breakfast foods EVER into one, I realized that God really does love me, and that his was my consolation prize for STILL not having my prayers of a new job answered.

You first need to understand, that not all pancakes are created equal. I've long outgrown the "just add water" mix pancakes, discovered that Bisquick pancakes are too heavy, and realized that it was high time I found the perfect pancake recipe and perfected my pancake making technique in order to be satisfied. I mean how can I continue to subject my friends and family with unsolicited food snobbery, if I can't make a decent batch of pancakes?? So I scoured the world wide web, browsed scores of cookbooks, and traveled across land and sea on  an international food quest to find the perfect pancake recipe. OK, obviously, that's not true [but now that I mention it, an international food quest sounds like something I should do before I die] I simply went to one of my favorite food blogs, foodgawker [not the best website to visit when you're hungry] and came across this amazing yet simple recipe from the Cozy Kitchen blog. Not only do I love the recipe, but I immediately fell in love with the blog, because as a preface to the recipe, the author told a hilarious story of how she has dream that she has a pet pig, and in her dream, the pig glares at her with contempt as she makes these pancakes.  It very much reminded me of the first watched the movie Babe, and was eating sausage and damn near crying when Babe's mother was sent to the slaughter house. I mean, it was really really sad, but that sausage was really really good. Obviously, this is a woman after my own heart, and bacon lust, and pancake perfection. But as usual, I digress...

Ingredients

2 cup of all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 egg, lightly beaten
2 3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tbsp pure maple syrup (not that Aunt Jemima crap)
butter
6 slices of bacon, sliced horizontally and then diced

In a medium pan, cook the bacon, over medium heat, stirring frequently, until cooked. About 6-8minutes. Remove the bacon to a paper towel, to remove excess fat.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Add the lightly beaten eggs and buttermilk, and syrup in two batches, don’t over mix, or you will end up with tough pancakes. There will be some small to medium lumps in the batter. Let the batter sit for 10 minutes to thicken a bit.

While the batter is resting, heat up your griddle, cast iron skillet, or heavy frying pan, (Cast iron is best, but if you're like me and don't own one, use your heaviest skillet w/o a nonstick surface) and slowly melt enough butter to evenly coat the pan on medium heat. Once the batter is done resting, lightly fold the bacon in the batter. Pour batter into your skillet, cook until bubbles form along the sides. Flip, then cook until browned. Be sure to add more butter between each pancake.
*If your pan gets to hot, turn heat off briefly before adding butter, otherwise your butter will burn, your pancakes will suck, and your house will be filled with smoke*

I know traditionally, most people add a dollop of butter to their pancakes. But if you just cooked your pancakes in butter, you don't need to add more. Butter may be love, but there's a not so thin line between love and fat. Serve with pure maple syrup, and enjoy. Lord knows I did. For 3 days--that was a lot of pancake batter.

see all that butter? that's what love looks like

*note the crisp edges and browned center*

my first batch, I know these pictures a sucky, but I was hungry

My second batch. again, I was hungry, and wasn't about to switch plates for pretty pictures. Sorry y'all

Just in case you were wondering, they were bacony, and buttery, and fluffy, and GLORIOUS!
best pancakes EVER!