Cornbread Pancakes with Bacon and Krusteaz

You could serve up some cornbread at the next tailgating party, or you can serve up something fun like these cornbread pancakes (aka hoecakes) with bacon. Perfect with game day chili or pulled pork. Sponsored by Krusteaz.

Living in San Diego, we have lots of fabulous ways to spend our weekends. We’ve got wonderful weather most of the time, we’ve got the beach, trails to hike, mountains to ski, and several theme parks for thrills – just to name a few popular choices.

Of course my crew is usually doing homework, going to volleyball games and just generally doing the usual errands as any other family in the US.

When we had a local football team, (don’t get me started on THAT conversation) we used to spend our Sundays cheering on the Chargers. Now that Spanos spent millions of dollars to move the team to LA instead of investing in a new stadium (oh, there I go again…), we cheer on some of our OTHER favorite football teams.

Why you should try this recipe

Now I don’t claim to be a Southerner. I may have grown up in Texas, but we are Texans first then possibly, a Southerner. Arizona was all about Mexican food and Desert culture. California is well, California.

Hoecakes are a thin flat cornmeal based pancake. According to a folklore, hoecakes got their name from the slave practice of cooking them on field hoes. Also, dating way back to 1600 England, hoe was a another term for griddle, and it was common to make cakes in the griddle.

Cornmeal grew in popularity in the South because it was a crude substitution for wheat flour. And thus, hoecakes, cornbread and the South’s love for all things corn was born. The first cornbreads were cooked as pancakes in the pan and not baked into the thick chunks we now know and love.

So if you are serving cornbread at your next tailgating party, then I have a fun new way of serving it up. Yes, making cornbread pancakes, not from scratch, but by using a mix. Specifically, Krusteaz’s cornbread mixes. These aren’t the fluffy pancakes you are serving for breakfast, but a different way of serving up everyone’s favorite cornbread.

Traditionally baked cornbread is fluffy and almost cake-like. And if you are die hard fan of this version, more power to you. I like to the golden crispy edges of cornbread, which makes me really love these hoecakes.

The great thing about these cornbread pancakes is that you can make them anywhere, even in a grill in the middle of your stadium’s parking lot! All you need is fire and a cast iron skillet.

And if you are making hoecakes to go with your chili or pulled pork, then they are already portion sized and ready for dunking. I told you, I’m all about the crispy bits of cornbread! And my hoecakes have something extra hidden inside for even more flavor: BACON!

Ingredients you need

• 1-11.25 oz box of Krusteaz Fire Roasted Cornbread: You can use any variety of cornbread mix for this recipe.
• Water, mayonnaise, melted butter: These are the ingredients needed and listed on the the back of the box. I reduced the amount of water listed for these pancakes.
• Cooked bacon: Because what goes better with cornbread pancakes than bacon? You can use regular bacon or turkey bacon.
• Extra virgin olive oil: You will need some oil for the pan. I use extra virgin olive oil but you can also use any vegetable oil or butter.

Step-by-step directions

1. In a bowl, mix together cornbread mix, contents of cheese packet, bacon, mayonnaise and butter until combined. Slowly add water and mix in. You do not want a watery batter.

Let cornbread mix sit for 5-10 minutes until cornmeal mix absorbs water and batter thickens.

2. Heat your cast iron skillet over medium heat. Dampen paper towel with a little oil and rub down skillet. Once hot, scoop ¼ cup of batter onto skillet. The hoecake will puff up slightly while it cooks.

3. When top edges of hoecake is no longer wet or glossy, approximately 5 minutes carefully flip pancake over. Cook for another 3 minutes and transfer to serving plate. Cook remaining batter this same way until done.

Recipe tips and FAQs

For this particular recipe, I used their Fire Roasted Cornbread Mix, but you can use this technique for any of their mixes. For this version, you add mayonnaise, butter and water to cornmeal mix. The only modification I made from their instructions was to reduce the amount of water by 1 Tablespoon.

By reducing the water, I had a nice thick batter, not a watery one. You don’t want the batter to spread when you scoop it into your hot skillet. A watery batter will produce a flimsy cornbread pancake, and it will fall apart. So whichever Krusteaz cornbread mix you use, reduce the water by 1 Tablespoon to make these hoecakes.

The other key to making hoecakes from a boxed mix is to be patient. First of all, you need to the let the batter rest a few minutes, so the cornmeal mix absorbs the water completely. As it sits, the batter gets less watery and thickens up.

You also want your pan to be hot, but not too hot. I found medium heat to be the sweet spot for my cast iron pan. If you are using cast iron, remember it gets real hot and it retains the heat longer than stainless pans. If you are using too much heat, your hoecakes will burn on the outside, stay raw in the center, and fall apart on the flip.

Cooking on medium allows your cornbread pancake to cook slowly, allow the center to cook completely. As it cooks, it puffs up a bit. You know it is time to flip when the top edges of your hoecake is not glossy/wet. These pancakes will not bubble like the breakfast flour pancakes.

So, again, be patient. On medium heat it takes about 5 minutes for ¼ cup scoop of batter to cook and ready to flip. But your patience will be rewarded!

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Yield: 10 pancakes

Cornbread Pancakes (Hoecakes) with Bacon

Print

You could serve up some cornbread at the next tailgating party, or you can serve up something fun like these cornbread pancakes with bacon! Perfect with game day chili or pulled pork.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Additional Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1-11.25 oz box of Krusteaz Fire Roasted Cornbread
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ⅓ cup butter, melted
• 4 strips cooked bacon, crumbled (¼ cup)
• 1-2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

1. In a bowl, mix together cornbread mix, contents of cheese packet, bacon, mayonnaise and butter until combined.
2. Slowly add water and mix in. You do not want a watery batter.
3. Let cornbread mix sit for 5-10 minutes until cornmeal mix absorbs water and batter thickens.
4. Heat your cast iron skillet over medium heat. Dampen paper towel with a little oil and rub down skillet.
5. Once hot, scoop ¼ cup of batter onto skillet. The hoecake will puff up slightly while it cooks.
6. When top edges of hoecake is no longer wet or glossy, approximately 5 minutes carefully flip pancake over.
7. Cook for another 3 minutes and transfer to serving plate.
8. Cook remaining batter this same way until done.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

10

Serving Size:

1 hoecake
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 284Total Fat: 16.5gSaturated Fat: 5.9gCholesterol: 26mgSodium: 521mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: <1gSugar: 4gProtein: 4.1g

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Disclosure: I did receive product and a gift card from Krusteaz to develop a recipe. The story I have written is all true, and the opinions are truly mine. If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t blog about it.