For the best comfort breakfast, you can't go wrong with pancakes. They’re popular with kids and adults, easy to make, and versatile as all hell. You can make many unexpected things from pancake batter, and—concerning the “regular” preparation—nearly any additional ingredient tastes great, like chocolate chips, bananas, blueberries, or even savory vegetables. But what if you can't decide? The logical next step is to explore the harmony of sweet and savory. For an easy, absolutely scrumptious twist on the average pancake, make feta and honey pancakes. You deserve it.
Salty, tangy feta cheese and sweet, floral honey are a classic duo. I first saw this idea pop up on my Instagram feed (apologies, I don’t recall the account and the post was swallowed by The Void), and the toasted brick of cheese tucked into pancake batter was so tempting, I was on board with the idea immediately.
The add-ins are what make these pancakes shine, so you can use any pancake recipe you like—boxed mix, scratch prepared, or gluten-free. My only suggestion is to reduce the liquid amount slightly, so you'll have a thick batter.
Thin pancake batter will dribble out and leave the cheese hunks bulging out. This isn’t the end of the world, but I prefer having a thick pancake that the cheese can nestle into. I used boxed pancake mix and subtracted a ¼-cup of water from their suggested one cup of water. Prepare your batter and have it ready by the pancake skillet.
This salty sheep’s milk cheese might come pre-crumbled in a container in the refrigerated section of the grocery store, and you can absolutely use that if you have it, but for this purpose I opted for Greek feta which comes as a block marinated in a salty brine. Slice the feta into ¼-inch planks. The rectangles might break, just puzzle them close together in the pan.
Add a small dab of butter to the skillet over medium-low heat and put a slice of feta (or a spoonful of crumbles if that’s what you’re using) in the melted butter puddle. It’ll sizzle a bit because of the brine, but after a few seconds it’ll calm down. Once the butter turns a medium brown you’ll see the bottom edge of the feta is browning too. Scoop the prepared pancake batter over the feta. I use about a ¼-cup of batter per pancake.
Cook the pancake as usual, allowing the first side to do most of the cooking and flipping once the bubbles on the edge dry out. Use a thin spatula to scrape under the pancake. The feta develops a crispy skin where it meets the pan and it’s utterly delicious, so you don’t want to leave it on the pan. Scoop confidently, but also be aware that you’ll want to scrape under that layer to keep it attached to the pancake. Cool the pancakes on a wire rack while you finish the rest of the batch. Serve warm with a generous drizzle of honey.
The crispy, golden layer of burnished feta cheese is similar to what happens to feta fried eggs. The cheese in contact with the hot pan creates a fantastic frico crust, but just underneath is simply creamy, salty, and briny warm feta. Honey is the perfect companion to the feta’s powerful flavor profile, but a classic maple syrup application will be just as magical.
