Recipe: Fluffy American Pancakes with Bacon

American pancake recipe – inspired by my trip to San Francisco.

I flipping love pancakes.

I love making them, flipping them and eating them. Pancakes are not just for Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday. They are for when you feel like them. And I feel like them a lot.

I never used to like pancakes. It wasn’t until I went to San Francisco in 2003 that I fell in love with these discs of delight. Up until then, I’d only ever had ‘Irish pancakes’ – lemony, limp, lifeless.

In San Francisco I had fabulous, fluffy, filling pancakes. My first taste of American pancakes was in a restaurant called Lori’s Diner on Sutter Street. The pancakes were bigger than my head and dripping with American bacon and maple syrup. If you are in San Francisco I highly recommend going to Lori’s Diner for a proper American pancake breakfast. You will not be disappointed.

So my fluffy American pancake recipe is a replica of the pancakes I ate in San Francisco. The toppings are bacon and maple syrup but obviously you can top them with whatever you wish.

The bacon is pork belly bacon. American bacon is streaky with fat because it comes from the belly of the pig. Don’t worry, if you don’t want to use pork belly you can just use whatever bacon or rashers you like. If you opt for the pork belly, get the butcher to slice it into rashers or slice it yourself. To get crisp, American-style bacon, you need to cook it in the oven not under the grill or in a pan.

So this maple and bacon topped fluffy American pancake recipe is a tribute to the pancakes I ate San Francisco. Oh, and they are very easy to make and practically foolproof.

American pancake recipe

American pancake recipe – ingredients

120 grams plain flour

120 grams wheat flour

2 tablespoons of sugar (I like to use golden castor sugar)

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 egg white (use the left over egg yolk to make my Pastiera Napoletana Italian Cake)

240 millilitres of buttermilk

1 tablespoon of oil

Optional

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of ginger

American pancake recipe – method

You will need to big mixing bowls for this.

Sieve all the dry ingredients (including the cinnamon and ginger if using) into one of the bowls.

Sieving will really help make these pancakes light and fluffy but you don’t have to sieve if you don’t want to.

Whisk the egg and egg white until they are really fluffy.

Whisk into the egg mixture the buttermilk and oil.

Lightly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Don’t over mix, a few lumps are fine.

If you are going to serve all the pancakes at once, turn on the over and put the serving plates in the oven. This is so you can keep the pancakes warm whilst making the batch.

Put a knob of butter and a splash of vegetable oil in a non-stick pan and place over a medium heat.

If you don’t have a pan, don’t worry! I used a non-stick pot (the red one in the photo) as it was the perfect size for making pancakes. Just make sure you use enough butter and oil to stop the pancakes sticking. Keep an eye on them when cooking.

I poured a quarter cup (60 millilitre) of the batter into the pan at a time. This makes the pancakes nice and thick.

When the pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around edges, get flipping. For me this took about three minutes.

Cook on the second side until the bottom of the pancake is golden – about another 1 to 2 minutes.

When one is cooked place it on the warmed plate in the oven.

Add a bit more butter and oil into the pan and cook another pancake. As the pan is getting hotter the next one may cook slightly quicker.

Using a 1/4 cup (60 millilitre) measure you’ll get five pancakes out of this amount of batter.

American pancake recipe topping ideas

Pork belly – place the pork belly strips on a baking tray and cook for about 20 minutes in the oven at 200°C / 180°C for fan assisted ovens / 400°F / gas mark 6.

Bacon

Canadian Pure Maple Syrup Grade A

Butter (Irish, salted, of course)

Fresh fruit

Fresh lemon juice

Icing-sugar

Warm spiced apple pieces

Fresh cream and berries

Dulce de leche

So what did you think of my American pancake recipe? Did you try it out? Did you like it? What improvements would you make? Share a photo of your own attempt at this recipe or leave any feedback and comments below. I love hearing from you.

If you liked this post you may also like my Mississippi mud cake recipe – another American classic.

And check out my list of the best five-star Dublin hotel afternoon tea experiences.

If you like easy recipes, check out my scones recipe made with honey and figs.