SAVORY BACON-CHEDDAR PANCAKES WITH CORN AND JALAPEñO

Savory Bacon-Cheddar Pancakes With Corn and Jalapeño image

Savory corn pancakes stuffed with bacon, cheddar, and jalapeño. [Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt] Who ever said American pancakes have to be sweet? What's stopping us from savory-ing them up? These start with a basic American-style pancake recipe, but they come stuffed with crisp bacon, sautéed corn, jalapeño peppers, scallions, and-the kicker-pockets of gooey melted cheddar cheese. Careful pancake construction leads to the best flavor and appearance. Why This Recipe Works * Cooking the bacon and corn with jalapeÃ±os and scallions before adding them to the batter enhances their flavor and adds texture to the pancakes. * Saving some of the corn/bacon mixture and pressing it into the pancakes as they cook gives the outer surface of the pancakes a nice appearance and texture after flipping. * Cutting the cheese into cubes creates big pockets of melted cheese that ooze out as you eat. * A mixture of cornmeal and flour gives the pancakes deep corn flavor.

Provided by @MakeItYours

Number Of Ingredients 15

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Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 ounces bacon, cut into fine dice
1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (from about 2 ears of corn)
1 to 2 red or green jalapeño peppers, stemmed, seeded, and minced
8 scallions, thinly sliced (divided)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup (about 5 ounces) fine yellow cornmeal
1 cup (about 5 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons honey, plus more for serving
2 eggs
10 ounces (about 1 1/4 cup) cultured buttermilk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for oiling pan or griddle
4 ounces cheddar cheese, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

Steps:

1 Heat butter, bacon, and 1 tablespoon water in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until water evaporates and bacon begins to crisp and brown, about 5 minutes. Add corn, increase heat to high, and cook, stirring, until tender and cooked through, about 2 minutes. Add jalapeño peppers and half of scallions and cook, stirring, until aromatic, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to a plate to cool slightly.
Combine cornmeal, flour, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, baking powder, baking soda, honey, eggs, buttermilk, 2 tablespoons oil, half of corn/bacon mixture, and half of remaining scallions in a large bowl and stir and fold until no dry streaks of flour remain but batter is still lumpy. Fold in cheese cubes.
Heat griddle or large non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Add a small amount of oil to the griddle and spread with a paper towel. Ladle 1/4 to 1/2 cup of batter onto the griddle, spreading it into an even circle. Repeat to fit as many pancakes as you can. Spread a 1 tablespoon-sized portion of the bacon/corn mixture on top of each pancake.
Cook undisturbed until edges of pancakes begin to set and bubbles start to break the top surface, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Carefully flip the pancakes with a thin, flexible spatula and cook on second side until golden brown and completely set, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer to a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet in a warm oven while you cook the remaining pancakes. Serve, garnished with remaining scallions and drizzled with honey.