Whiskey Kitchen: Bacon Bourbon Banana Pancakes

My previous boss once said, “Mike, you can’t be drinking bourbon before noon!” To which I slurrily said, “Shcrew you man! You sound jutht like my mother.” I don’t work for that negative nelly anymore.

That story’s not entirely true, but we’ll pretend it is because we’re cooking up some drunken banana pancakes for breakfast today. We may or may not get drunk while making them. Who knows? I won’t judge if you don't.

What’s great about this recipe is that it’s actually super simple. The pancakes themselves are only three ingredients, so if you need some quick breakfast, just skip the topping and make the pancakes. It takes so little time to make, you can (and should) make them before work or on a lazy Sunday.

When cooking with liquor, it’s important to use liquors with flavors that will accentuate the flavors of the dish. I used a splash of whiskey made in my hometown of South Bend, IN, Indiana Whiskey's Breakfast of Degenerates.

It's a super sweet whiskey that is a great balance with the salty bite of the bacon bits. Another great option would be the Belle Meade Cognac Bourbon. It adds some depth of a caramel taste that goes well with the bananas.

Approx. cook time: 5 minutes prep, 10 minutes cooking

Ingredients:

For the pancakes:

2 ripe bananas

3 eggs

¼ cup all purpose flour (you can supplement whatever flour you prefer for dietary needs)

Yields 4 medium sized pancakes

For the topping:

2 ripe bananas

2 Slices of bacon

¼ cup chopped pecans

1 tbsp. oil (I use canola, but use whatever you want)

1 oz. bourbon (dealer’s choice)

2 tbsp. brown sugar

Cooking the Pancakes:

1. Use a fork to mash up your bananas in a large mixing bowl. Grind that shit down. Then whisk in your eggs and flour. Boom! Batter is done.
2. Heat a skillet (or electric griddle if you have one) to medium heat.
3. Then spray the skillet with nonstick spray and ladle out a small amount of the batter.
4. Once the topside of the pancake starts forming small bubbles, flip that shit over and cook the other side. Keep an eye on them, because I got distracted talking to my girlfriend and burned the second batch (not pictured).
5. Repeat steps 3 & 4 until you’re out of batter.

Preparing the Topping

1. Cook your bacon however you like. I prefer to bake it at 400℉ for 18 minutes on a lined baking sheet for easy cleanup.
2. Slice your bananas into thick coins.
3. Add the sliced bananas, pecans, oil, and bourbon in a skillet and heat over medium heat. Stir it occasionally for one to two minutes,
4. Optional: take a swig of bourbon
5. Stir in the brown sugar, then reduce heat to simmer and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.
6. Crumble your cooked bacon and toss in with the bananas and pecans

Then assemble your breakfast by garnishing your pancakes with the topping and a ton of maple syrup. And that’s it! Super easy right?

(I advise making a little extra bacon because why not?)

Try this recipe and let us know how it turned out in the comments!

Cheers!