Copycat McDonald's Sausage McGriddle Recipe

Recipe developer Patterson Watkins is our resident copycat recipe queen. As she tells us, "I like the challenge and the excuse to make indulgent foods" and she enjoys the chance to duplicate (or dare we say upgrade) many of her fast food favorites. She's already brought us such diverse dishes as Burger King-inspired chicken fries, White Castle-style sliders, and even a dupe of Jollibee's famous fried chicken gravy, and now she's taking on one of McDonald's best breakfast items: the Sausage McGriddle. As Watkins says of the sandwich, it's the maple that makes it such a wonderful thing. She calls the hint of sweetness "subtle, not aggressive," something she says "adds an almost flirty flavor to the traditional lineup of a buttery, eggy, cheesy, and meaty mix."

To nail down the maple flavor, though, Watkins had to perform some kitchen wizardry since she found that maple syrup alone didn't quite cut it. Instead, she discovered that boiling down the syrup, then flash-freezing it, created maple candy crystals that added just the right touch to the McGriddles. You'll want to make more, though, since maple flakes are also pretty amazing on ice cream or sprinkled over cake frosting ... that is if you can manage to stop yourself from gobbling them all up before you get that far.

These copycat McGriddles may require several steps, but don't need many ingredients. The pancakes are made from boxed mix, eggs, and milk, while you'll also need sausage meat, butter, and sliced cheese. The maple flakes are made from nothing but maple syrup transformed by kitchen magic. (In other words, heat, cold, and time.)

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Divide the raw breakfast sausage into 8 even portions. Press the portions into even patties and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Transfer the sausage to the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until brown and cooked through. Remove from the oven and set aside.

While the sausage is baking, line a small baking sheet with parchment, and place in the freezer to chill.

Place maple syrup in a small saucepan and bring to a bubbly simmer over medium to medium-low heat.

Cook the syrup for about 15 minutes (no need to stir) or until the temperature reaches 300 F.

Drizzle the reduced syrup over the chilled baking sheet, return to the freezer, and chill until hard and crystalized, about 10 minutes.

While the maple syrup hardens, make the pancake batter. Place pancake mix, 2 eggs, and 1 cup milk in a large bowl, whisking until smooth. Set aside.

Remove the sheet pan from the freezer and chop or crush the maple into small pieces.

Heat a small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Place a 3-inch metal mold or cookie cutter in the center of the skillet, add a butter cube, and melt.

Once the butter has melted, pour 2 tablespoons of pancake batter into the mold.

Sprinkle the batter with approximately 1 teaspoon of the crushed crystalized maple syrup.

Pour 1 tablespoon of batter over the crystalized maple syrup and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the pancake is golden brown on the bottom and little bubbles have started to form on the top.

Remove the mold and flip the pancake, cooking for 1 minute more or until cooked through and golden brown on the other side. Remove from the skillet and repeat with the remaining batter and crystalized maple syrup.

Once all the pancakes are made, make the egg mixture by placing 6 eggs and ½ cup milk in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine.

Wipe the skillet clean with paper towels and return to medium heat.

Add 2 butter cubes to the skillet.

Once melted, add ⅓ cup of the egg mixture, and swirl to evenly coat the bottom of the skillet.

Cook for 2 minutes or until the egg mixture has firmed.

Using a rubber spatula, fold the egg into square parcels approximately the size of the pancakes, remove, and set aside. Repeat with the remaining egg mixture.

To assemble a sandwich, place a slice of American cheese on one of the pancakes.

Top the cheese with one of the egg squares.

Top the egg with a cooked sausage patty and cap with another pancake. Repeat with the remaining ingredients and serve.

Mickey D's breakfast menu actually offers a choice of three McGriddles: In addition to the sausage-egg-cheese combo replicated here, there's a bacon-egg-cheese one, and to make it, all you'll need to do is to swap out the sausage patty for a few strips of cooked bacon. (You could even go off-menu with substitutes such as Canadian bacon, pork roll, or chorizo.) The other option offered at the Golden Arches is just a plain sausage McGriddle sans egg and cheese, so again, you can leave off either or both of these ingredients.

Another option you have when making this dish at home is to upgrade it with a different type of cheese like sharp cheddar or spicy pepper jack. You could also lighten up your breakfast sandwich by opting for low-fat cheese and using scrambled egg whites. To make your McGriddle even healthier, replace the sausage patty with a selection of sauteed vegetables such as mushrooms, onions, peppers, or spinach.

To ensure that your pancakes come out perfectly symmetrical just like they do at McDonald's, you're going to need ring molds of some sort. If you think you'll be using them a lot, you can purchase these items from Amazon, but if you're in a hurry, you can also DIY them by using well-washed tuna or cat food cans with no sharp edges, circular cookie cutters, or non-rusty mason jar lids. (All of these options also work for making copycat egg McMuffins.)

If you're more about flavor than appearance, you can pass on the perfectly shaped pancakes and embrace the anarchy of free-poured batter. In this case, though, there's one extra step you'll need to take. Before you flip your pancakes, drizzle a little more batter over the top to cover the maple crystals so they won't come in direct contact with the hot pan. The reason why you need to do this is because any unprotected maple bits may melt or burn.