Maple Bacon Pancakes

By: Shelly
Posted: Jun 28, 2023

Maple Bacon Pancakes are fluffy buttermilk pancakes sweetened with brown sugar and maple syrup with crispy bits of bacon inside and on top of the pancakes. A real breakfast treat!

We all love a good weekend breakfast, and a few eggs, a stack of pancakes, and a side of bacon is the holy grail. But what I decided to do was level up the usual stack of pancakes by adding crispy maple bacon right into the pancake batter. I am telling you, I wasn’t so sure when I had the idea if it would work, but they are INCREDIBLE!

A while back I made some Pancake Dippers, which are similar to these, but I wanted the pancake itself to be a little sweet…kind of like a McGriddle. The savory bacon mixed with the sweetness of the pancake and the maple syrup is SO good. And the bits of maple bacon inside the pancake is the EXACT right amount. I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to go back to my regular Buttermilk Pancakes again!

Maple Bacon Pancakes Ingredients

Hop over to Imperial Sugar for the list of ingredients and FULL RECIPE:

Bacon. I like to use Maple Bacon for this recipe to really amp up the maple flavor. But you can use whatever bacon you prefer.
Dry Ingredients: All Purpose Flour, Baking Powder, Kosher Salt
Dark brown sugar. You can use light brown sugar too if that’s what you have. Just make sure that your dark brown sugar isn’t lumpy!
Maple Syrup. You can use pure maple syrup or any brand you like, I’m not picky about the type you use!
Eggs. Use large eggs for this recipe.
Milk. You can use 2% or whole milk, whatever you have on hand.
Vanilla extract. A little vanilla is always good in pancakes.
Canola oil. You can use vegetable oil as well. Any light colored oil will do, I just prefer not to use butter in this recipe because the oil keeps them fluffy and light. You could use melted butter if you would like, but butter has water in it, which can make your pancakes a little heavier.

How To Make Maple Bacon Pancakes:

The steps are super easy to make these pancakes and you can make the bacon ahead to mix into the batter! The total cook time on these is quick, so you’ll have a stunning breakfast in no time!

chopped up bacon on a white cutting board

Cook the bacon until it’s crispy. I like to bake my bacon for ease and clean up. This recipe uses a whole pound of bacon which fits on my largest baking sheet. I bake it at 400°F for 15- ish minutes until it’s crisp. I find that my oven doesn’t cook evenly, so I watch it, and halfway through I will rotate the pan, or move around a few of the pieces so they all cook the same.

Like I said you should cook it crisp because you are adding it into the pancake batter which can naturally soften it up as it sits, so crispy is better!

pancake batter in a clear glass bowl with chopped bacon

Pancake batter with a rubber spatula stirring in diced bacon

The pancake batter comes together very quickly and you whisk maple syrup and dark brown sugar right into the pancake mix for sweetness and flavor. Whisk the wet ingredients separately in a medium bowl and then add them into the dry ingredients in a large bowl until there are no lumps and then stir the bacon right in. You can reserve a little bacon to the side to sprinkle on top when you serve these.

Cook the pancakes on a medium-low heat griddle and make sure the sides are set and the bubbles on top are popped before you flip. I’ve been impatient more than once which always ends up with messy pancakes!

TIP: To pour out the pancake batter onto the griddle or skillet use a measuring cup so you get the same size pancake every time. I have a pancake batter dispenser that I love, but since there are pieces of chopped bacon in the batter it gets clogged, so I don’t recommend using that for this recipe.

CLICK HERE for the full recipe!

A stack of pancakes with bacon and butter on top with maple syrup dripping down the sides.

When Making Pancakes For A Crowd

The one thing about pancakes is unless you have a large griddle, you can only make so many at a time. If I am making pancakes for the family I like to cook them all and place them on a large baking tray in the oven on “warm” so we can all sit down and enjoy breakfast together.