A fun take on the classic weekend pancake.

Pancakes are one of the things that make the weekends great. It’s wonderful to wake up on a Saturday morning and whip up a batch of buttermilk pancakes to share with your loved ones. However, a question started stirring in my brain, can you make pancakes even more fun? It turns out you could! I decided to combine my love for pancakes and my secret love of a bitesize fried morsel, hushpuppies. Thus the pancake puppy was born! 

I scaled down my typical pancake recipe, fried the dollops of thick batter and coated the fried balls in a maple glaze. The results are positively delicious not to mention easily shareable. Not like you would want to, one bite and you’ll want to eat the lot.

Pancake Puppies

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 TBSP light brown sugar

1 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp kosher salt

1 large egg

½  cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla extract 

Maple Glaze Coating (optional)

1 cup powdered sugar

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ cup real maple syrup

2 TBSP heavy cream

¼ tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp kosher salt

Combine the flour, brown sugar, cream of tartar, baking powder and salt. Whisk in the egg, buttermilk and vanilla until a thick batter forms.  Let the batter sit for at least 10 minutes while you prepare your oil for frying. 

In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat a quart of vegetable oil on the stove at high heat. You want the oil to be 350°F before frying the fritters. While the oil is coming up to temperature, set up a draining station by lining clean kitchen towels or paper towels on a baking sheet. 

Once your oil is hot enough, fry your puppies by scooping a tablespoon of batter into the hot oil. Fry the batter until the puppies puff and turn a deep golden brown on both sides. Remove pancake puppies with a slotted spoon and let drain the excess oil on your drainage station. Let cool slightly and enjoy the pancake puppies warm. You can dust the pancake puppies with powdered sugar, drizzle with maple syrup or make a delicious maple glaze coating. 

For the maple glaze coating, whisk together all the glaze ingredients until everything is fully incorporated. Set up a glazing station by placing a cooling rack on top of some clean kitchen towels or paper towels. Dip each puppy into the glaze and place them on the glazing station. Let the glaze drip down and harden slightly before enjoying.