Bacon and Corn Griddle Cakes….MY WAY!

What to make when you’ve lost your wisdom teeth and cringe at the thought of eating something crunchy…..I’m not sure if you’ve had the same dilema but that’s what has been on my brain recently since getting my wisdom teeth pulled on Friday. I was lucky and didn’t have any swelling or major jaw pain like I hear others struggle with. However, I still have 4 big holes in my mouth that do nothing but collect food when I eat. Talk about frustrating. Mashed potatoes, jello, pudding, ice cream, soup…all wonderful food, but I’m sick of them! I saw this recipe on Pinterest this week and figured I would give them a try for my poor mouth.

Don’t these look fantastic?! That’s what I thought too…a big Hurray for me since I’m not the biggest fan of pancakes. I love the idea of doing something savory sweet for breakfast and this has all of those elements. Pancakes are something I just have to be in the mood for, but these looked ideal at any time of the day, breakfast or dinner. Don’t drool to quickly though…that is just the picture posted from Recipe Girl who has her own story about making these griddle cakes. Mine look a little more noivce…just like me! You’ll see my picture at the end and be super disappointed, but consider it a generous dose of reality for when you make yours. Good luck making them look this awesomely perfect.

I decided to try these for dinner tonight and wasn’t disappointed. I made a few modifications to the recipe because I forgot to grab montery jack cheese from the store and the store didn’t have chives, AND I’m not the biggest fan of corn ( I know…the list of things I’m not a fan of are growing by the posts) but also though that would be a no go for my mouth condition. Here is the recipe and next to it is what I subbed some of the ingredients for:

8 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/3 cup finely chopped sweet onion
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons chopped ~~fresh chives~~ green onion
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2/3 cup milk
1 large egg, beaten
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
~~1 cup frozen, canned or fresh corn~~
1/2 cup shredded ~~Monterey Jack cheese~~ smoked mozzarella cheese
warm maple syrup, for serving

I have become a huge fan of smoked mozzarella but it’s such a strong flavor that it’s something to be used with consideration. I’ve used it on a few home made and naan pizzas I’ve done recently but it just isn’t quite right. But then again, I stink at making home made pizza memorable so you may not want to take my advice. I love the cheese so much that I’m willing to find recipes that it can be used in! I would LOVE to hear how others are using it and what flavors go well with it so if you know a few, send them my way. I found my round of smoked mozzarella at Fresh and Easy and I’m starting to see it at other grocery stores too. If you ever come across it, just throw it in your cart to try and see what you dream up for how to used it in your normal recipes. It’s just yummy by itself so you won’t regret buying it. For the record, It goes really well in this recipe.

So, the first thing you do is take your bacon and start browning it in the pan…while it’s doing it’s thing, cut up your sweet onion and toss it in the pan. The recipe directions (see below) says to wait till the onion starts to brown, but I say throw it in whenever you want. I didn’t run into any problems with the onions being over done doing it this way. I ran it on medium heat which gave it time brown and me time to start mixing the dry ingredients without getting too ahead of myself.

Your dry ingredients include all purpose flour (I wonder what bread flour would do to this recipe….hmm. I will try and post the outcome. I’m thinking less dense cakes at the end), baking powder, salt, cayenne pepper and green onions. Easy.

Your next step is to mix in your wet ingredients and cheese. The wet ingredients include milk, one egg (beaten a bit), vegetable oil (mine I dumped in my milk which is why it looks a little funny), and of course your cheese. I mixed all the wet ingredients in then threw a handful of cheese in. I actually think I could have done more then the 1/2 cup suggested so don’t be afraid to add more if you’re a cheese lover. After that you’ll take your onion and bacon mixture and add it to the batter.

I made the mistake of not leaving some of the bacon and onion pieces out because I thought, the more the merrier for what was going in the batter….which was right, but there is something about having that extra bacon mixture for the top….SOOO…I caved and cut up a couple strips of bacon and some more onion to make some more. I did that while I began making the cakes which gave me enough time to finish up the bacon. I actually got lucky and timed it perfectly. The 8 slices was a good amount for the batter but secretly, I say you can’t have enough bacon! Make up the whole package for goodness sake! You can just use the leftovers in eggs or a grill cheese sandwich.

Back to the recipe….I used a 1/4 cup and my mini spatula to get the size I wanted. I ended up adding some more milk to thinn out the batter. I probably should have added a little more, but I didn’t want them to loose the cake-essence of them…the recipe suggests it too, but add milk to get your batter the consistency you’re wanting. The picture to the right is of my first one…looks okay to me!

That’s basically it. I thought it was a very easy little recipe to throw together and I’m already thinking of the other varieties I could do with this basic flour, egg, salt, baking powder batter. I think this will quite possibly be one of the new recipes on my mental recipe box when thinking about meals for the week.

And to leave you in no more suspense, here is my final product…

Give these a try and tell me what you think. Next time I may be adventurous and add the corn…but we’ll see. Happy cooking friends!

RECIPE AND DIRECTIONS FROM RECIPE GIRL

bacon and corn griddle cakes

Yield: Eight 4-inch griddle cakes

Prep Time: 25 min

Cook Time: 25 min

These unique pancakes are stuffed with bacon, corn and cheese. A good dose of warm maple syrup makes them a delicious choice for breakfast.

Ingredients:

8 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/3 cup finely chopped sweet onion
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2/3 cup milk
1 large egg, beaten
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
1 cup frozen, canned or fresh corn
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
warm maple syrup, for serving

Directions:

1. In a medium skillet, cook the bacon pieces until they begin to brown. Add the onion and continue to cook until the bacon is crisp and the onion is softened. Scoop out a heaping tablespoon of the bacon mixture for topping the griddle cakes upon serving- and set it aside.

2. While the bacon is cooking, combine the flour, chives, baking powder, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Stir in the milk, egg and oil, just until moistened. Stir in the bacon mixture, corn and cheese. The mixture will be thick. If you’d like the griddle cakes to be slightly thinner than those pictured, add a little more milk to thin out the batter.

3. Heat and grease a griddle or large skillet. Pour a heaping 1/4-cup of the batter onto the griddle and cook until it is golden brown- 3 to 4 minutes per side. Repeat with the remaining batter.

4. Serve stacks of griddle cakes topped with a sprinkle of the reserved bacon/onion and a good dose of warm maple syrup.