Bacon-Jalapeño and Corn Griddle Cakes

POW! Oh man, these are good! I've been anxious to get back in the kitchen and do a little cooking since Tinsley was born and this morning I did just that. I saw a recipe for bacon griddle cakes on Pinterest before Christmas and I've had my eye on them ever since.

Now that I'm a mommy to a newborn, I really have to plan ahead. I made sure to have all the ingredients on hand the other day so that Sunday morning, in between feedings, I could whip these up for Hunter Hann, myself and our company. Mmmmm, we all approved! {Speaking of approved, check out my "Husband Approved" tab on the side of my blog. There are some pretty good recipes there!}

Bacon-Jalapeño and Corn Griddle Cakes

These griddle cakes are dense and so full of wonderful flavor. There is a whole cup of corn in the recipe so you feel slightly good about eating them, or at least I did. I also swapped the regular flour out and used only whole wheat flour. So you are basically burning calories while you're eating these, right? Ok, maybe not, but if these are bad then I don't wanna be good!

Bacon-Jalapeño and Corn Griddle Cakes

      adapted from recipegirl
      makes 9 griddle cakes

8 slices bacon, cooked and chopped, divided
1/3 C chopped red onion, sautéed
1 C whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp ground chipotle pepper
2/3 C skim milk
1 egg, beaten
1 T canola oil
1 C canned corn, drained {you can also use fresh or frozen corn}
1/2 large jalapeño, seeded and finely diced
1/2 C sharp cheddar cheese, finely shredded
Warm maple syrup for topping

In a small skillet, sauté onions until softened. Chop 6 strips of bacon to add to the batter and save 2 strips to top the cakes with.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder, cayenne and chipotle. Add milk, egg and oil and stir just until combined; do not over mix. Mixture will be very thick. Add more milk if you like thinner cakes.

Add in the onion, corn, jalapeño, cheese and 6 of the chopped strips of bacon to the batter. Stir just to combine.

Heat and grease griddle or cast iron skillet. Pour 1/4 C of the batter on prepared griddle.

Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.

Stack 'em high.

Pour on the warm syrup.

Then sit back and enjoy the creation that is "the most important meal of the day!" 

These griddle cakes are not sweet at all so the syrup is fantastic with them. The sweetness of the syrup really brings out the smokey flavor of the bacon and chipotle. If you like a sweeter cake, feel free to add a little sweetener or sugar, mixed right into the dry ingredients. Another fantastic idea would be to add a little brown sugar to the top of the bacon while it's cooking. This dish would also make an awesome "breakfast for dinner" meal! Give these a try. Hopefully they won't bust your New Years resolution too badly.