Ingredients

For the pancakes
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • Kosher salt
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 2½ cup whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4 cups French bread, cut into ¼-inch cubes (smaller than dice! Don’t cheat yourself here)
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter or cooking spray
For the syrup
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 1½ teaspoons light brown sugar, tightly packed
  • 1 tablespoon bourbon
  • ¼ cup Grade A maple syrup
  • Kosher salt

Prepare

1. Combine the dry ingredients. In a large bowl mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Push all the ingredients to the sides of the bowl creating a well in the center.

2. Combine the wet ingredients. In a medium bowl whisk the egg, milk, and vanilla extract together.

3. Mix and rest the batter. Pour wet ingredients in the center of the well you created in the dry ingredients. Gently whisk the batter together until most of the lumps are gone. Batter will be thinner than normal pancake batter. Stir in bread cubes and raisins. Allow the batter to rest 10 minutes.

4. Make the syrup. In a medium sauce pot on medium heat add the butter and flour. Stir while melting and if the butter begins to brown, quickly lower the temperature. (This is a golden roux, no need to get it dark. 🙂  Cook on low for about 4 minutes to remove the flour flavor. Add the heavy cream, brown sugar and stir to dissolve. Raise the heat to a low simmer and cook until thickened to the consistency of glue, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the bourbon, maple syrup, and a pinch of salt. Taste and if needed add another tiny pinch of salt. Keep warm on low and serve warm.

5. Cook pancakes. In a large non-stick pan or griddle on medium heat add 1 tablespoon of the butter and as it melts spread it on the entire cooking surface. Using a 1/3 cup measure scoop out batter and pour into the pan, pressing a bit to allow the batter to form a circle. Repeat until the pan or griddle is filled, but make sure batter does not spread and touch other pancakes. Watch for bubbles to form on the top of the pancakes, about 2 minutes. Then, using a spatula take a peek beneath each pancake and if the pancake is golden, flip it and cook them just a minute or two longer. Serve warm. (This may have to be done in batches, so to keep the cooked pancakes warm while preparing the rest, place them on a baking sheet in the oven at 100-150ºF)