Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich

After a week of quick mornings and instant smoothies, nothing says “weekend” like a real breakfast. I love eggs, so they tend to be central to my morning experiments, but this sandwich goes far beyond your standard egg and cheese muffin. Easy to make with coffee (or a mimosa) in your hand, everything is cooked in the same pan and can be assembled slowly as people decide the smell is worth getting out of bed for.

Ingredients

1 serving

1-2 eggs

½ cup prepared pancake mix

*Saucy Note: The Salish Lodge in Snoqualmie puts on a legendary breakfast, and their instant pancake mix is the best ever. I grew up eating it, and I strongly recommend you buy a bag if you’ve never tried it. Check it out here. All you do is add water and stir-what more can you want?

2-3 slices Canadian bacon, regular bacon, sliced ham, or sausage

1 slice cheese Saucy Confession: I love American cheese, and I think it is the perfect melty choice, but cheddar or pepper jack also works great.

Optional: Maple syrup

Instructions

Mix pancake batter with a fork in a measuring cup with a spout. I like to add a little more water than the instructions call for because I like thinner pancakes-adjust your mixture as necessary if you like them a certain way.

Warm a plate in the oven on the lowest setting.

Heat nonstick skillet over medium heat. After a couple minutes, check pan temp by flicking a few drops of water in the pan. If it sizzles slightly, the pan is ready-turn the heat down if it is too aggressive. Pour 1 or 2 pancakes that are about 5 inches in diameter. I prefer open-faced sandwiches, so I only use one pancake.

 

Flip the pancakes when they are bubbling on the top and the edges touching the pan start to look firm, about 2 minutes. Cook for another minute or two, until center looks set and both sides of pancake are golden brown (use spatula to check.) Transfer pancake to plate in oven (turn oven off if you’re only making one.)

Fry slices of your preferred breakfast meat in the skillet over medium high heat, using a little butter if desired. When the meat is browned and crispy, put in oven with pancake-don’t stack them together yet though, or the pancake can get soggy.

Melt ½ tbsp. butter in skillet over medium heat. Fry (see note at end) or scramble egg. If scrambling egg, add cheese about halfway through. If frying egg, place cheese on egg after you flip it. Remove plate from oven, and arrange eggs, meat, and pancake in a stack. Drizzle with syrup if desired.

Saucy Note: Frying eggs is not difficult, but it does take a little finesse. Crack the egg into a small bowl or ramekin, making sure to not break the yolk. Melt butter in the skillet, then gently slide the egg into the pan. For over easy (runny yolk, barely set white) flip when the edges are just barely set and cook on other side until cheese is just melted. For over medium (firm egg white, thick but runny yolk) flip when white is halfway set, then turn off pan and allow cheese to melt while egg finishes cooking. For over hard (firm yolk and white) you can break the egg yolk for quicker cooking. Flip when the whites are halfway set, then melt the cheese while the egg finishes cooking.