Bacon Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Hello and welcome! 

This recipe is a simple classic cooked by look, feel, smell, and consistency. It's a different sort of cooking than I usually post, but it is relatively easy to do and very effective. It was inspired by my love for my little brother and made as breakfast for him when I returned home from school. This recipe is an easy way to make pancakes that much more special for the holidays, or simply an expression of care at any other time of year. 

Thanks Dad for teaching me to cook pancakes and meats with true knowledge of food, rather than merely by following a recipe. 

Thanks Kirby for being in the mood for bacon chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast so that I could cook this for you ;)

The Recipe: 

**Amounts depend on how much you want to make. The most important thing is to have an equal ratio of dry to wet ingredients, which you will know by the consistency.**

• Favorite pancake mix (yes, I know, not from scratch, but my brother prefers buttermilk pancakes and cannot stand watching me put lemon in pancake batter). 
• Milk
• Egg (usually just 1, but if you're making a large batch you may need 2-3)
• Canola Oil
• 2 cups of equal sizes (we usually use the free plastic cups from restaurants/7 eleven)
• Bacon (I used 1 strip for the whole recipe. You really only need a few small pieces per pancake)
• Mini chocolate chips (I used less than a tsp per pancake)
• Syrup (as desired)

The Process: 

1. Set the broiler to high. 
2. Broil bacon. It should sit on the outside of the pan, further from the flame so you can control how cooked it is. (My brother prefers his meat relatively rare, so this was very important! If you like your meat more well done and crispy, put it slightly closer to the flame.)
3. Watch it closely after about 5 minutes. It should be time to flip it over. 
4. Once the bacon is brown on the edges and at least slightly browning in the middle, remove broiler pan and allow to cool. You may want to wrap the bacon in a paper towel as it cools, to absorb excess fat and avoid having to turn the fan on. 
5. Heat a small amount of oil in a pan on the stove (about 2 tbsp in my case). 
6. In one of the two cups, fill about halfway with pancake mix (about 2/3 cup in my case).
7. In the other cup, crack the egg. 
8. In the cup with the egg, add a splash of oil (about 1.5 tbsp in my case).
9. In the cup with the egg and oil, add milk until the wet ingredients look about equal to the dry ingredients (about 1/2 cup in my case). 
10. Using a fork, whisk the wet ingredients. 
11. Add dry cup to wet cup. 
12. Whisk vigorously with a fork over the sink, making sure to reach all the way to the bottom (the consistency should be fluid, but thick enough to pour slowly. Think pudding. It is better to be thicker than thinner in this case. It's very easy to help a thick batter spread out, and you will end up with very decadent pancakes, but a very thin batter will be difficult to handle and will potentially splatter when poured.
13. If your batter is too thick: add milk. 
14. If your batter is too thin: add pancake mix.
15. When the oil in the pan spreads to cover the whole of the pan, pour a small amount of batter onto the pan. 
16. Cook the batter on low-medium heat so that it is easy to control. 
17. When the pancake starts to bubble on the edges and potentially in the middle as well (see photo) it is ready to be flipped.                                      
18. Before flipping, top with bacon bits and chocolate chips. Allow a few extra seconds on lower heat for the bacon and chocolate to set. 
19. Flip the pancake and allow to cook to desired completion. (My brother prefers small amounts of batter in the middle of his pancake, so we usually accomplish this by making thick pancakes and cooking one side completely and the other side short.)
20. Serve hot and repeat with remaining batter. 
21. Enjoy! 

The Calories:

**Approximations based on my batter amounts**

Bacon: 50 calories

Chocolate: 99 calories

Pancake Mix: 64 calories

Milk: 61 calories

Egg: 78 calories

Canola Oil: 350 calories

_________________________

TOTAL: 702 calories

Not bad! Not great, sure, but not bad at all. This batter made 6 pancakes, making each pancake 117 calories. 

What went right: 

          The bacon was cooked perfectly, the pancakes came out wonderfully, and most importantly, my brother was happy :) 

What went wrong: 

           The batter consistency was a bit thicker than I prefer, but it made the pancakes perfect for my brother and easier for me to cook because there was a lot of wiggle room on timing. 

What I would do next time: 

           It would be fun to make bacon chocolate chips to use next time so I don't need to make bacon while trying to make pancake mix, but overall I think the recipe is great the way it is. Don't mess with what works!

           That said, this recipe would also make a great breakfast cupcake if poured into cupcake molds and baked, which would eliminate the extra frying oil.

Would I make this in college: 

           Potentially. It would involve keeping a large amount of bacon in the fridge for just one person. If I were cooking breakfast with friends or had the intention of making bacon-based meals for a couple days, I would be more likely to make this as well. It is certainly simple enough to do so. 

Overall, a delicious breakfast and enjoyable experiment!