Sausage-Stuffed Pancakes

Apparently, this is a TikTok thing.  I saw one video of it and decided it was worth trying.

Be aware, this does take a little time because you have to cook the sausage first, then let it cool enough to handle.  Normally, I would have that going on the side while I was working on the pancakes.  You can also cook the sausage the night before and refrigerate it until you're ready to add it to the batter.  There's also nothing wrong with using microwave patties.  It's whatever kind you like.

Because of the meat, two or three pancakes is plenty for a serving.  It took us two days to go through all of these, so I'm calling it around 6 servings.  There will also probably be some extra batter after you run out of sausage.  I think I got 4 plain pancakes out of the rest.  They don't count as vegetarian because sausage was dunked in the batter.  If you're going to serve a vegetarian, make those first, then start with the fun stuff.

The batter is just my regular buttermilk pancake recipe, cut in half for the amount of sausage I was estimating I would get.

1 C flour
1 Tb sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
*1 C buttermilk
2 Tb milk
1 egg, beaten
2 Tb butter, melted
1 lb bulk breakfast sausage or 16 1oz patties
Vegetable oil for the pan

1.  Portion out the sausage into 16 golf ball sized portions one ounce each.  Flatten each almost impossibly thin, because meat seizes up as it cooks.  Pan fry on a skillet over medium heat, probably in batches, until done and slightly crisp on both sides.  Remove to a paper towel lined plate.  This can be done ahead and refrigerated.

2.  In a bowl or pitcher, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Separately, combine buttermilk, regular milk, egg, and melted butter.  (If using powdered buttermilk, add the powder with the dry ingredients and the water with the wet.)  Stir the wet mixture into the dry until just combined. Let sit 5 minutes, while you preheat the griddle.

3.  Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat.  Add a few drops of vegetable oil to the pan to grease it.

4.  Drop a few of the cooked sausages into the batter and turn to coat.  Allow some of the excess to drip off, but keep the patty coated.  Immediately transfer to the skillet.  Cook as you would a normal pancake, until lightly set and starting to get golden on the bottom.  Flip and cook another couple of minutes on the other side.  Keep warm while you work your way through the patties, re-oiling skillet between batches.

5.  If there's still batter left at the end, cook like normal pancakes.  They'll just have a touch of sausage flavoring.  Serve warm with maple syrup.

Makes about 16

Difficulty rating  :)