Cheddar Ale Mancakes with Maple Bacon Syrup

No, that wasn’t a typo, I’m calling these bad boys MANCAKES (beats on chest Tarzan-style).  These are Big Boy cakes that pack some punch and are not for the faint of heart.

So we started off with these… some cheddar, some ale and some chives.  By themselves they were so good!  I hate beer but the addition of cheddar and chives took them to a whole new level that went from ‘cucka beer’ to Mmmmmmmmmmmm these would be awesome as a sammich or as a snack (both of which I had with the leftovers!)

BUT…. I had to go one level deep.  We’re talking sinful, back of the bar deep.  So tawdry and scandalous that after eating these, you really should ask for forgiveness… as you wipe the maple bacon syrup from your chin…

Oh yeah… that’s right, I went there.  We’re talking Candied Bacon Maple Syrup.  Now pick up your skirt boys, cause it’s gettin’ real here!

I feel like I should go to church and confess after eating this.  I feel dirty, sinful… and I loved every single bite of it!

So here’s the backend story of this.  First off, I am NOT a pancake, waffle or french toast person.  Never have been.  To me they are heavy and just, well, not me.  But Mr. Fantabulous LOVES them and I’m always making them for him.  Well one night he wanted fries (what’s pancakes have to do with fries??? – hold on, I’m getting there Impatient One). Anyway, he wanted fries.  I had some beer in the fridge that frankly was in my way and wanted it out of there (again, I hate beer) so I thought back to these fries we had in Scottsdale that are AMAZING beer battered fries.  So I got to making the batter however…  and a BIG however, it didn’t quite turn out so good.  They ended up being more beer tempura fried and that just gagged me with a spoon (LOL like how I so went Valley Girl on you circa 1980).  So there it sat, on my counter, this big bowl of batter.  And sat… and sat.

We finished dinner and when I went to toss the batter, something magical was happening.  BUBBLES!  It had got really fully and looked pretty good.  But again, I hate beer.  So I thought “Hmmm.. what goes with beer other than a garbage can (again I hate beer)???  CHEESE!  OHHHH CHIVES!!! OHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!  BAAAAAAAAAAAACONNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!”

And this, my dear TKW family is how geniusness evolves… bacon and beer is all you need to be a genius 🙂

So after modifying the batter, tossing in some stuff I ended up with really fluffy savory pancakes. I thought regular maple syrup would be too sweet so I needed a salt element thus BACON!

Once I made the syrup and put it on the pancakes, they went from a boyish pancake to big ol whompin’ MANCAKES!  *beats on chest again*

Now if you don’t mind I need to go cut down a tree, rebuild a carburetor or something else manly.

Okay seriously, I’m going to go ice my chest down cause beating on one’s chest = not good!  It’s gonna leave a bruise!

Cheddar Ale Mancakes with Maple Bacon Syrup

• Author: The Kitchen Whisperer

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Ingredients

Mancakes

• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup corn starch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (12oz) bottle favorite beer
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar
• 2 tablespoon chives

Maple Bacon Syrup

• 1 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 6 slices of bacon

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Instructions

1. Sprinkle 1/2 of the brown sugar over the bacon strips.
2. In a 12-inch skillet over medium heat cook the bacon, in batches if necessary, flipping occasionally, until very crisp, 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Drain the bacon on a paper-towel-lined plate. Reserve the bacon fat in a small bowl and save the rest for another use.
4. When the bacon is cool, chop into small pieces.
5. In a 2-quart saucepan, heat the syrup and bacon crumbs over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until hot, about 5 minutes.
6. Remove from the heat and let the syrup sit in the pan and infuse for at least 10 minutes and up to 1 hour.
7. Combine flour, baking soda, corn starch, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl.
8. Add the beer and egg mixing constantly. If the mixture seems too thick, adjust consistency by adding more beer.
9. Add in the cheese and chives.
10. Allow to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
11. Lightly spray a grill pan with cooking spray.
12. Set the heat to medium-low.
13. Pour in about a 1/3 cup of the batter to the pan (you can add more as it depends on the size of your pan). Just note that the batter will spread out some. As it cooks it will rise.
14. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until desired crispness. *NOTE: You’ll know when to flip it as air bubbles will form on the top of the pancake and the edges will firm up.
15. Drizzle with Maple Bacon Syrup.

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