A breakfast classic gets a welcome makeover with this family favorite recipe for Sweet Corn Pancakes with Bacon.
Pancakes are a popular meal around our home, whether they’re sweet, savory or some variation in between. And that “in between” is exactly where these Sweet Corn Pancakes with Bacon fall.
I’m marrying the sweet with the salty in this latest stack-o-flapjacks, and it all begins with the one and only, bacon!
We’re talking crispy lardons of thick-cut bacon, plus sweet corn and scallions all sautéed in said bacon fat. So the bacon flavor is bigger than ever. Cooking the pancake mix-ins for a few minutes before stirring them into the batter base amplifies the flavors and ensures the corn kernels are perfectly tender. And speaking of corn…
Yes! You can use either fresh or frozen corn in this recipe, making these sweet corn pancakes a viable breakfast or dinner option year-round.
To magnify the corn flavor and add a bit of textural intrigue to this recipe, I’ve included a touch of cornmeal. It makes the resulting pancakes a bit more dense, but the flavor and contrast in consistency with the fluffy standard pancake batter can’t be beat.
Add the batter to a hot griddle (perhaps slicked with a bit of reserved bacon grease? #justdoit) and wait for bubbles to form until you flip these bad boys one time then slide ’em onto a serving plate. And here’s where the big decision comes in: Do you stay the savory route and top them with a dollop of cool sour cream? Or do you satisfy those sweet and salty cravings with a drizzle of warm maple syrup? Weigh in below!
For more pancake perfection, don’t miss recipes for Cheesy Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes, Light and Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes and Banana Sour Cream Pancakes.
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Ingredients
- 4 strips uncooked thick-cut bacon
- 1/3 cup sliced scallions, plus more for topping
- 1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen (thawed) sweet corn
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- Maple syrup, for serving
Instructions
- Dice the bacon into 1/4-inch pieces then add it to a large skillet set over medium-low heat. Cook the bacon until all the fat has rendered off. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon from the pan into a small bowl and set it aside. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat, reserving any extra drippings to cook the pancakes (optional).
- Add the scallions to the pan and cook, stirring, until sautéed, about 3 minutes. Add the scallions to the bowl with the bacon and stir to combine.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a separate medium bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk, egg and melted butter. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. (The mixture should be lumpy.) Stir in the bacon-scallion mixture and the corn.
- Heat a large griddle or skillet then grease it with the reserved bacon fat or butter. Drop 1/4-cup portions of the batter onto the heated griddle. Once bubbles form across the tops of the pancakes, flip them once and continue cooking an additional 1 to 2 minutes or until cooked through.
- Serve the pancakes warm with maple syrup.
- ★ Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below!
Nutrition
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yum how do you do all this.
delicious!
Halved the recipe but kept 1 egg.
Also milk instead if buttermilk.
They worked a treat! :D
I’m so thrilled you enjoyed the recipe, Steph!
Hi there. I am all for healthy eating and I love this recipe. I don’t have cornmeal so what could zi substitute it with? Would almond meal work.
Hi Tracie! I haven’t tried this recipe without the cornmeal so I’m not sure what a 1:1 ratio substitute would be but I have heard of people using ground up oats. I haven’t personally tried that so I’m not sure!
These sound utterly delicious and I can’t wait to make them, but are they freezable?
There’s only hubby and myself and as seniors, we just eat as much as we used to.
I’d cut the recipe in half, but 1/2 an egg is hard to find!
So I’d make the whole recipe and freeze what we don’t eat, for another meal, breakfast or dinner.
Thanks
Hi Barb! Absolutely. Just let the pancakes cool completely then wrap them securely in plastic wrap and store them in an airtight bag in the freezer. To reheat, microwave the pancakes on 30-seconds increments until they’re warmed through :)
I have always loved corn pancakes. When I was a child my mother made corn fritters for dinner on meatless Friday night dinners. This is my lower calorie and fat dinner. I make my regular pancake recipe and take orders for banana nut, blueberry or corn as drop-ins. Bacon could only make them better!
Amazing! I hope you enjoy the addition of bacon, Patricia!
Made these for dinner the night before last and they were AMAZING! Only changes I made were I used all flour (didn’t have cornmeal) and instead of adding melted butter to the batter I used bacon grease, why not? Can’t wait for the encore performance!
Bacon grease in the batter = brilliant! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe, Claudia!
These look perfect for ‘breakfast for dinner’ nights. I can’t wait to try them and we will definitely put maple syrup on them, as we live in Ontario, Canada and our friends make maple syrup for us!
Amazing! I hope you enjoy the recipe, Lesley!
I made these this morning for breakfast as it’s Shrove Tuesday. I didn’t want to do sweet pancakes for breakfast and prefer savoury. These were super delicious. I added an egg to the stack at the end which was a tasty addition to the pancakes. Great recipe, thank you!
I’m so thrilled you enjoyed the recipe, Rachel!
Excellent! We started out Thanksgiving Day with a stack of these delicious fluffy pancakes. We loved it, this is a do again!
Awesome! I’m so thrilled you enjoyed the recipe!
In our house corn is a food group, can’t wait to make these!!!
Please add the name of the recipe to your shots used on Pintrest, it’s how I know which recipe I want. Thanks!!!
I hope you enjoy the pancakes, Judy!
Great recipe! Me and my husband do not get the American hype for sweet-sour combination, but these were really good and fluffy! We ate it with sour cream. Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Monika! And thank you for leaving a rating!
I made these pancakes for dinner and everyone loved them. They’re light, fluffy and packed with flavor!
Woohoo! Happy to read that!
Great cook
Thank you!
Does the bacon make or break these savory pancakes? I’m a vegetarian and thinking about omitting the bacon.
You can definitely omit it! Just sauté the scallions and corn in olive oil or any other preferred oil :)
Use eggplant bacon instead I will make and post results later
Looking forward to hearing your results, Anne!
Can I make this the night before, do you think?
Hi Devon! I wouldn’t recommend making the batter that far in advance, as the leavening agents won’t retain as much ability to cause the pancakes to puff (and hence, be fluffy instead of dense!).
You had me at “crispy lardons of thick-cut bacon,” This looks like an interesting and unique recipe. Going on my ‘to try’ board
Ha! I hope you enjoy the pancakes, Ben!