Corn, Blueberry and Bacon Pancakes

I tore this recipe out of the Chicago Tribune (10 years ago, as my husband pointed out!); I'm sad that I went for 10 years without these tasty treats but happy that I hung on to the recipe all these years. I made a few changes from the original. I would add that if the corn is not super super fresh and sweet, blanch it for about a minute before using.

1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels, divided
1 cup buttermilk
4 eggs, separated
2 T melted butter or bacon drippings
1 t salt
2 t baking powder
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 3/4 cups flour
2 T sugar
8 slices bacon, chopped small and cooked to a crisp

Puree 1/2 cup of corn along with the milk, melted butter and egg yolks in a blender until very smooth. In a large bowl, whisk flour, corn meal, baking powder and salt. Add the liquid ingredients from the blender to the dry ingredients and stir just to moisten. Fold in half the bacon bits and remaining 1cup of corn.

Meanwhile, whip the egg whites and sugar until stiff but not dry; gently fold the whites into the batter. Heat a griddle and spray with a bit of cooking spray then spoon out the desired amount of batter and sprinkle with blueberries. Cook as you would any pancakes (I inevitably goof up the first one). Serve with lots of butter, maple syrup and bits of the remaining bacon sprinkled on top. Crazy good!