Buttermilk pancakes

This recipe for buttermilk pancakes uses the American way of serving them, topped with rashers of streaky bacon glazed with maple syrup. Of course, don’t have to use the bacon and maple syrup if you prefer using a different topping. Just follow the basic recipe for making buttermilk pancakes and serve with your own choice, such as freshly squeezed lemon juice or just the maple syrup. You could, for example, try my salted caramel pancakes topping, which uses this buttermilk pancakes recipe as the basis.

Ingredients

• 12 ounces / 350g self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of caster sugar
• 7 fluid ounces / 200ml buttermilk
• 14 fluid ounces / 400ml semi-skimmed milk
• 2 eggs
• 3 ounces / 85g unsalted butter, plus extra for frying
• 12 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
• 1¾ ounces / 50ml maple syrup

Method

Sift the flour into a bowl and add the bicarbonate of soda, salt, and sugar.

In a different bowl, mix the buttermilk, semi-skimmed milk, eggs and butter.

Pour the contents of the buttermilk bowl carefully into the bowl with the flour, stirring to combine. Be careful only to combine and not to beat.

In a large frying pan, melt some butter.

Use a ladle to pour some batter into the pan to make the size of pancake you want. If you are making small pancakes you may be able to fit in more than one at a time.

Cook each pancake for about a minute. The bottom should be golden brown and the top bubbling before you turn it over. Use something like a fish slice to flip the pancake over. Cook the flipped pancake for about another minute, then remove and keep warm in the oven while you repeat the process with the rest of the batter.

Topping

You can skip this next stage if you’re using a different kind of topping.

For the maple-glazed bacon topping:

Pre-heat a grill to medium-hot. Lay out the strips of bacon on a grill tray and brush the tops with the maple syrup. Grill the coated side of the bacon until it is crisp. Then, turn the bacon over, brush this side with the maple syrup, and again cook until crisp.

Serve the pancakes in stacks, topped with the glazed bacon and with more maple syrup drizzled over.

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