Pretzel Stout Pancakes with Toffee Sauce are a sweet and salty breakfast treat with a strong stout flavor, sure to make any beer lover have a happy morning.
It’s finally cold in Boston. Like really cold. Fleece leggings cold. Up until this point, we’ve had been having a wonderfully mild Boston winter. I’ve only had to wear my full-length down winter coat a couple times, which says a lot since I’m basically always freezing. But this week? This week I got out the fleece leggings and wore them under my pants. Totally dorky and weird? Probably. Ask me if I care.
To be honest, and with the knowledge that this isn’t a very popular opinion, I really want a blizzard. Or at least a decent snowstorm. It should preferably be on a day when I have no other plans and the following day, it should all melt away so we don’t have to deal with pesky mounds of gross brown snow. But aside from those few little caveats, I want a blizzard.
I want to snuggle up on my couch with a fire roaring in the fireplace. I want to pile on the blankets and sip steaming cups of coffee all day, followed by wintry cocktails in the evening. I want to have an excuse to read a book for 6 hours straight or binge watch shows on Netflix (we just started watching Scandal, but haven’t had time for a good binge). Maybe I’ll even bake a batch of cookies or make a cake. And then eat the entire thing. Guilt free because blizzards cancel out anything you do during them when it’s not possible to leave the house.
We haven’t had a good blizzard since we bought our house and I think it’s time. My apologies if you’re not in agreement with me, but we’re allowed one blizzard a year, right? I live in New England, for Pete’s sake. Also? My husband so far actually enjoys snow blowing the driveway, which means I legit don’t have to leave my warm house. But if I do, at least I have my fleece leggings.
Really though, if we do have a blizzard anytime soon, I highly recommend you make these stout pancakes. Being stuck in your house is the only excuse you need to add beer to breakfast, right? I was initially just making regular old pancakes, but then decided I wanted to add a bit of saltiness and thought pretzels were the way to go. And then I started thinking about the fact that nothing goes better with pretzels than beer and how they could potentially be a match made in pancake heaven. These Pretzel Stout Pancakes were born… with toffee sauce drizzled over the top because a little extra sweetness was needed to cut the salty maltiness. Bring on the snow and bring on breakfast.
These are as easy as any standard pancakes, just with crushed pretzels thrown in and beer instead of milk or buttermilk! They had a FULL stout flavor, so if you want something a bit more subtle, I’d recommend using half stout and half buttermilk.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix in the crushed pretzels.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the stout, melted butter, egg, and vanilla. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until they’re just combined, taking care not to over mix.
Heat your griddle or frying pan over medium heat and pout about ¼ cup of batter onto it. Cook pancakes for 1-2 minutes on each side, until they’re nicely browned and cooked through. Repeat and keep cooked pancakes warm until ready to eat.
You could definitely drizzle maple syrup over the top of these stout pancakes… But I couldn’t stop thinking about how good a toffee sauce would be on top. So, I whipped one up and if you have a little extra time (it’s a blizzard, you can’t leave the house, remember??), I think you should, too.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine butter and brown sugar and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat, stir in heavy cream and stout and simmer for about four minutes. Make sure to sir occasionally until the toffee sauce starts to thicken. Then, remove from the heat and stir in the salt and vanilla.
You can add additional toffee pieces for extra flavor… Or you can just sprinkle them over the top of the pancakes.
After you drizzle on the toffee sauce, of course. And crush some more pretzels over the top. And add some extra toffee pieces, too.
Like I already mentioned, the stout in these pancakes is no joke. You know when you order a dish that’s “beer-infused” and you can barely tell beer even came close to the food? This is not that. You take one bite of these and say “holy stout!” At first I thought it might be a little too intense…. But my husband convinced me that it was perfect and that they wouldn’t be stout pancakes without that awesome flavor. What’s the point of a beer-infused food that doesn’t taste like beer?
I loved the saltiness of the pretzels and the consistency they contributed to the pancakes, though the stout was definitely the star of the show.
I have leftovers of that toffee sauce in my fridge and right now I am reallyyyy tempted to get up off the couch and sneak into the kitchen with a spoon. I believe toffee is one of the most underrated candies. Let’s work together to change that.
Consider this my first contribution. Of many.
Beer obviously isn’t underrated, but I kind of think the awesome food you can make when you cook and bake with it is. I want to help change that, too.
I’m actually not a fan of pretzels at all, UNLESS they’re being used in recipes. Serve me a bowl of pretzels and I’ll be bored out of my mind… Put them in cookies or use them as bread crumbs and I’m so on board.
You obviously don’t need to wait for a blizzard to make these pretzel stout pancakes. I mean, if you live in a place like California, you would be waiting for quite a while. And that would be sad. So…. this weekend will work just fine instead.
Do you like a good snow storm or are you dreading the rest of this winter?
📖 Recipe
Pretzel Stout Pancakes with Toffee Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup crushed pretzels plus more for topping
- 1 ¼ cups stout
- 3 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Toffee Sauce
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoon stout
- Pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup toffee pieces optional
Instructions
Pretzel Stout Pancakes
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Mix in crushed pretzels.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together stout, melted butter, egg, and vanilla (if you want less of a stout flavor, use ½ buttermilk and ½ stout here).
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring until they’re just combined, but taking care not to over mix.
- Heat a griddle or frying pan over medium heat and pour about ¼ cup batter onto it. Cook pancakes for about 1-2 minutes on each side, until they’re nicely browned and cooked through. Repeat with all batter.
- Serve stacks of pancakes with toffee sauce poured over them. Sprinkle additional crushed pretzels and toffee pieces on top if desired.
Toffee Sauce
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine butter and brown sugar and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat, stir in heavy cream and stout and simmer mixture for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally until it begins to thicken.
- Remove from heat and stir in salt and vanilla.
- Add in toffee pieces for additional flavor (toffee pieces can also be used to top pancakes
Culinary Flavors says
This is such a fun idea! They look so indulging!
Pam says
What a decadent and delicious way to start the day!
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice says
These pancakes sound mouthwatering! Such a creative idea to use crushed pretzels. And that toffee sauce looks so good! Yum!
Lauren at Keep It Sweet says
My current plan is to hibernate until spring... and eat lots of these pancakes. Supposedly stout beer is good for milk production so I should probably eat these every day;-)
Emily aka The Three Bite Rule says
I'm ready for a good snow storm. I'm hoping during maternity leave that there are lots of good storms! I too have a husband who loves to snowblow the driveway. I like the decreased pressure to be productive on a snow day versus a random loungy-Saturday morning.
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
Oh man, that sauce!! These look seriously unreal!
Jersey Girl Cooks says
Yum! These could be dessert or breakfast. I like an occasional snow storm but last year there were way too many snow days. My kids are waiting for the first one this year.
Tandy | Lavender and Lime says
that is a hearty breakfast, perfect for a blizzard!
Odetta says
Beer and pretzels are such a good combination and I'd love it for breakfast. In a blizzard!!!
Joanne says
I can't say I really WANT a blizzard, but maybe if it's really under the perfect conditions...I could be okay with it. And definitely if it means getting to eat these pancakes for three days straight because we're snowed in.
Judy Miller says
Although it's bright and sunny now, we here in Buffalo are at this very moment clearing out from our second major event of the season..........everything is closed!
I need those pancakes, or at least the stout.....RIGHT NOW!!!!!❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️
Bianca @ Confessions of a Chocoholic says
Fleece leggings and pretzel stout pancakes sound so good right now! I used to be bored with pretzels too, then I started dipping them in Nutella...
Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl says
Goodness, this looks like one heck of a breakfast.. or breakfast for dinner! That toffee sauce is beautiful, I'd drink it with a spoon! 😉
Carol at Wild Goose Tea says
Okay I just want to be up front here. I am not a blizzard fan unless it's something I get at Dairy Queen. BUT since you live on the East coast and I live on the West coast, I think I am safe. Laughing here. However I am a major fan of pancakes. So if cold weather inspires you to come up with this kind of a recipe, I guess I better show some respect for cold weather!
Susan says
These look delicious covered in toffee sauce, Sues! I feel exactly the same during this arctic blast - a good time to have fun in the kitchen. The snow I wanted for Christmas never arrived but I do love a good hunker-down snowstorm once or twice a winter.
Monica says
These pancakes are so unusual! I'm kinda mesmerized by them. : ) You stay warm...it is freezing here as well and we are keeping warm by filling up our tummies often.
Beth says
It's pretty cold here in Toronto, too. This would be a great way to warm up.
And I agree that toffee is completely underrated!
Jenny (VintageSugarcube) says
I have never, ever seen a more sexier pancake. Hands down serious.
Happy NY!