Maple Bacon and Banana Pancake Stack
I wanted something ridiculous. I wanted something that was both high in stature and flavour. Salt playing with sweet. This is what I came up with: Banana and Chia Seed Pancakes, Bacon, poached in maple syrup then roasted in the oven until really caramelized. Served with rings of orange, nuts, freeze dried blueberries and lashings of maple syrup, we're on a fast track to heaven.
Ingredients (pancakes for two greedy people)
1/4 Cup Black Chia Seeds
2 Bananas, Mashed
1 Cup of Milk
2 Eggs
2 Tablespoons of Melted Butter
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
White Flour
12 Rashers of Streaky Bacon
Maple Syrup
2 Oranges, peeled and cut into rings
Salt
Roasted Almonds
Toasted Coconut Shavings
Mixed Seeds (pepitas, chia seeds, sunflowers seeds)
Freeze Dried Blueberries
Method
Preheat oven to 190 C.
Mix together the bananas, milk, eggs, chia seeds and butter until smooth. The reason I haven't listed a flour measurement is because of the variability of the bananas/chia seeds/size of the eggs. Gradually whisk in flour, one tablespoon at a time until it form a thick batter.
Meanwhile, pour half a cup of maple syrup into a frying pan on a medium-high heat. Poach the bacon in batches in the maple syrup for 4 minutes at a time, transferring to a roasting dish after each batch. The batch size will depend on the size of your frying pan. My sweet spot was four per batch.
Once done, put the bacon into the middle of the oven along with any extra maple syrup from the frying pan and roast for about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on it though - you don't want it to burn, and syrup LOVES to burn.
Start frying your pancakes in a little butter for each pancake. I go for about a small ladle for each pancake (around a third of a cup). Flip pancakes when they start to firm up around the edges and bubbles are coming through.
Once all your pancakes are done, pull the bacon out of the oven if you haven't already.
Stack the pancakes as above, orange, bacon, pancake until you run out, then sprinkled with the coconut, almonds, mixed seeds and freeze-dried blueberries, then drizzle with more maple syrup, if you're down.
Enjoy!
