Last week my neighbors gave me a huge jug of Vermont maple syrup as a thank you for making them some pastries and I’ve been dying to use it.
Mainly for pancakes. (I have been envisioning drizzling it all over a short stack for days).
This morning when I woke up, I decided it was time.
We had BLTs for dinner last night so I had a bunch of leftover bacon fat. And consequently the pancakes were cooked in a large pool of bacon fat. It was probably one of the best decisions I’ve made this week.
The bacon fat makes the edges slightly crunchy, and imparts a delicious salty flavor. So, so good. I sprinkled a few chunks of milk chocolate on top of each pancake before it got the final flip. Then we dolloped some homemade lightly whipped cream on top of each pancake tower before dousing it in a drizzle of that pure maple syrup.
What was truly beautiful was the way the maple syrup cut through the whipped cream in little ribbons before dripping over onto the plate. Heaven.
In Red Cliff, a teeny tiny town not too far from Vail, they had the Man of the Cliff competition this past weekend.
It consists of various outdoorsy events such as wood chopping, keg throwing, and archery. All for a good cause. Everyone wears their best flannel and it’s a lot of fun. I can’t help but think these bacon-fried pancakes satisfy the inner-lumberjack in us all.
The original recipe calls for buttermilk, but having none, I used apple cider vinegar and whole milk.
In the mood for other breakfast classics? Try this recipe for Belgian Waffles “Suzette”.
How to make this high-altitude recipe:
Perfect Pancakes
Adapted from Martha’s Entertaining by Martha Stewart
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2¾ cup whole milk
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
- Bacon fat or butter, for cooking
- In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
- Add the eggs, vanilla, apple cider vinegar, milk, and melted butter.
- Whisk until just combined; there will still be some lumps and that's okay.
- Heat your griddle or skillet and add 1-2 tablespoons of fat. When it's ready, a drop of water will sizzle and disappear.
- Ladle ¼ cup portions of batter onto the griddle and cook until slightly dry around the edges and bubbles appear.
- Flip pancakes and cook until golden on the bottom and set.
- Makes 16-18 pancakes.
Note: This recipe was adapted for high altitude baking. To make at sea level, increase the baking powder to 2 teaspoons and baking soda to 1 teaspoon.
