On lazy Sunday mornings, my kitchen becomes “the” spot for comfort food, especially when I’m making my Brown Sugar Pancakes (or Brown Sugah pancakes if you’re Southern!). These pancakes are crazy good, y’all. The brown sugar melts into the batter, giving the pancakes a caramel-like sweetness and, if adding brown sugar into pancake batter isn’t extra enough for you (it isn’t for me!) I’ve gone ahead and topped these brown sugar pancakes with a bacon maple butter – you read that right – Maple. Bacon. Butter! Seriously y’all! How you look at pancakes, will never be the same again!
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The Low Down on This Brown Sugar Pancake Recipe
Cuisine Inspiration: Southern American
Primary Cooking Method: Griddle or Stove
Key Flavor: Sweet, salty, and savory.
Skill Level: Beginner
- The Bacon: Bacon makes everything taste better! For this brown sugar pancake recipe, it brings its salty smokiness in the form of a sweet and buttery maple syrup. It’s the perfect combo of salty, sweet, and smoky.
- Perfect Pancakes: Let’s just say I know a thing or two about making pancakes! This pancake recipe is tried and true and always reliable.
- Brown Sugar Changes the Flavor: Swapping the regular sugar for the deeper and more complex flavors of brown sugar gives these pancakes a hint of caramel and molasses.
- Family Favorite: These pancakes are the perfect crowd-pleaser for your weekend mornings!
Ingredients to Make Brown Sugar Pancakes
- Flour: I typically stick with all-purpose flour for the pancakes because it keeps them light and soft, and its easy to grab.
- Baking Powder: Two teaspoons to give your pancakes that fluffy lift.
- Brown Sugar: You can use light or dark brown sugar, depending on how much molasses flavor you want in your pancakes. I like to use dark, myself!
- Eggs: Three large eggs to bind the batter.
- Sour Cream: Adds tangs and keeps your pancakes from being dry and crumbly.
- Milk: Half a cup to smooth out the mix.
- Vanilla: A tablespoon of vanilla extract to give it some oomph!
Ingredients for the Maple Bacon butter
- Butter: It’s the base of the topping. It offers a bit of fat and richness that carries the maple and bacon flavors.
- Pure Maple Syrup: For that authentic, woodsy sweetness that maple flavored corn syrup just can’t match. Don’t grab artificial here.
- Crisp Bacon: It’s the WOW addition adding salty, smoky flavor to help balance out the sweet.
How to Make Brown Sugar Pancakes
Step 1: Make the Pancake Batter
- Combine the flour, baking powder, and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk everything together until evenly dispersed.
- Combine the eggs, sour cream, milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract in another bowl.
- Whisk until smooth and mixed together.
- Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients.
- Whisk just until combined. The batter will be slightly lumpy yet still combined so don’t overmix. Leave the lumps as there’s no need for a smooth batter.
Step 2: Cook the Pancakes
- Pour about a quarter of a cup of batter in a circular pattern onto a heated griddle coated with extra butter. Cook until bubbles form and the bottom is golden brown and crisp.
- Flip over the pancake and cook until golden brown and crisp on the other side. Remove the pancakes, place them in a warm oven (about 225 degrees), and repeat the process until all the pancakes are done.
Step 3: Making the Bacon Maple Butter
- Combine the butter and maple syrup in a microwave-safe container.
- Melt in the microwave.
- Add the pancakes to your plate.
- Top with bacon bits and then pour the syrup mixture over the pancakes.
Tips for Making the Best Pancakes with Brown Sugar
- Don’t Flip Too Early. You want to see bubbles all over before you even think about sliding a spatula under the pancake!
- Preheat the Griddle or Pan. Make sure you give it a good heat before pouring the batter. This is the key to crisp edges and to prevent sticking.
- Cooking in Batches. The pancakes will likely need to be cooked in batches. A griddle is great because you can usually cook more pancakes at one time. No matter what type of pan you use, keep the pancakes warm in the oven after they’re cooked and while you finish cooking the rest so they stay hot.
- Warm Syrup. Be sure to serve the syrup while it’s warm for the best flavor.
- Salted Butter. Salted butter is key because it adds a salty flavor to the syrup making the perfect combination of salty and sweet.
Popular Substitutions & Additions
- Swap the Flour: For a gluten-free version, you can use gluten-free all-purpose flour in the same quantity.
- Dairy Variations: Replace the sour cream with Greek yogurt or even buttermilk for a slight tang and more fluffiness in your pancakes. If you’re dairy-free, almond or coconut yogurt are great alternatives.
- Vegan Adjustments: For a vegan take, use flax eggs (1 tablespoon flaxseed meal with 2.5 tablespoons water per egg, let sit for 5 minutes) instead of regular eggs, and a plant-based butter and yogurt.
- Mix-Ins and Toppings: Add a teaspoon of cinnamon or a blend such as pumpkin pie spice to give your pancakes a different flavor. Chopped nuts like pecans or walnuts are a nice texture difference too.
- Syrup Options: Maple syrup can be replaced with honey, agave syrup, or a diabetic-friendly syrup, depending on your sweetness preference or dietary needs.
What to Serve with your Brown Sugar Pancakes
- Good Ole Southern-Style Grits
- Crispy Hashbrowns
- Fruit Salad
How to Store & Reheat Brown Sugar Pancakes
For the best results, keep the pancakes and syrup separated if you know you will have leftovers. To store these brown sugar pancakes, cool them to room temperature and then stack them with wax paper in between each pancake. Add them to an airtight container or a zip-top bag and store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
When you’re ready to enjoy them again, reheat them in the microwave quickly or in a toaster or oven for a crisper texture. Reheat the syrup in the microwave for a few seconds or in a saucepan on the stove.
Can I freeze pancakes with brown sugar?
Pancakes are perfect for the freezer! They freeze well for up to 2 months. You can remove them from the freezer the night before to thaw them in the fridge or reheat them directly from the freezer. They will just need a bit more time in the oven to heat up. You can also freeze the maple syrup as well for a couple of months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Look for bubbles to form on the top of the pancake that pop and don’t fill back in. You can also keep an eye on the edges for when they begin to look dry. These are your signals the pancakes are ready to flip over.
This commonly happens when you have the heat too high. Medium heat is the perfect temperature for making pancakes. You will have much more control over the temperature using a griddle but whether you’re using a griddle or pan on the stove if your pancakes are browning too quickly, lower the temperature slightly.
The secret to pancakes with perfectly crisp edges is to cook them in a pan or griddle with plenty of butter. The fat in the butter basically fries the batter as it’s poured into the pan. Add more butter in between batches if it’s needed and make sure to cook over medium heat so the butter doesn’t burn.
These Brown Sugar Pancakes are such a great breakfast option on a lazy Sunday. It’s such an easy way to enjoy fancy pancakes that are out of this world and made in your own kitchen!
Favorite Pancake Recipes
- Hoe Cakes
- Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
- Easy Blueberry Pancakes Recipe
- Apple Pancakes
- Ginger Orange Pancakes
- French Toast Pancakes
*Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating and leave comments below!* Post a photo of how your version of the recipe came out on Instagram (using #grandbabycakes)!!
Brown Sugar Pancakes with Bacon Maple Butter
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Ingredients
For the Pancakes:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 6 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ¼ cups sour cream or greek yogurt
- ½ cup milk
- 6 tablespoons melted salted butter
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
For the Bacon Maple Butter:
- 6 tablespoons butter
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 3 slices of fried/baked crisp bacon cut into small bits
Instructions
For the Pancakes:
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, and brown sugar into a large bowl.
- In another bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream or greek yogurt, milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract until combined. Slowly whisk the wet mixture into the dry mixture just until combined. The resulting should be slightly lumpy yet still combined so don’t overmix. Leave the lumps there. No need for a smooth batter.
- Heat a griddle or non stick skillet over medium heat and melt extra butter.
- Pour about 1/4 of a cup of batter onto the griddle surface in a circular pattern and allow to sit until bubbles form and the bottom is golden brown and crisp.
- Flip over the pancake and cook until golden brown and crisp on the other side.
- Remove the pancake and place in a warm oven (about 225 degrees) and repeat the process until all pancakes are done.
For the Bacon Maple Butter:
- Add butter and maple syrup to a microwave safe container and melt together.
- Add some of the bacon bits to the syrup and leave the rest for garnish.
- Add pancakes to your plate and add bacon bits to the top pancake in your stack. Pour syrup mixture over pancakes and enjoy.
Notes
- Don’t Flip Too Early. Give the pancakes time to cook on the first side before flipping. This makes for easier flipping and more even cooking.
- Preheat the Griddle or Pan. Make sure you give it a good heat before pouring in the batter. This is the key to crisp edges and to prevent sticking.
- Cooking in Batches. The pancakes will likely need to be cooked in batches. A griddle is great because you can usually cook more pancakes at one time. No matter what type of pan you use, keep the pancakes warm in the oven after they’re cooked and while you finish cooking the rest. This ensures piping hot pancakes for serving.
- Warm Syrup. Be sure to serve the syrup while it’s warm for the best flavor.
- Salted Butter. Salted butter is key because it adds a salty flavor to the syrup making the perfect combination of salty and sweet.
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Hi, These look wonderful! (I’m a huge pancake lover!)
Do you think it would negatively affect the recipe if I didn’t use buttermilk, but maybe just whole milk instead? Thanks much!
(I’m just seeing that there’s no followup-comment notification button [always a fave feature 🙂 ]…but hopefully I will remember to come back to see your advice!)
Hi there, you can use regular milk instead but I would add a touch of lemon juice or vinegar to it to create homemade buttermilk to get the similar taste!
These are seriously the perfect breakfast! Awesome post, Jocelyn!
My family would go bananas over these! They look seriously amazing, girl! 🙂
Thanks so much Jocelyn! Now that’s a thought! Bananas!
What I wouldn’t do for a tall, fluffy stack of these scrumptious pancakes! They look so light and mouthwatering, Jocelyn. And that bacon maple butter topping? Have mercy!
Haha Thanks so much Georgia!
I just think bacon and syrup should always go together. They are the perfect match! These pancakes look fantastic! Pinned!
I agree Justine! I think they should have them next to each other in the grocery store aisles.
These pancakes look very delicious! I love a stack of pancakes for breakfast.
Same here girl! Same here! Thanks Jessica!
Perfection on a plate! Nothing beats a tall stack of fluffy pancakes + bacon 😉
Agreed Allie! Totally agreed!
Bacon butter? Oh heck yea.
Indeed Erin!
I’m with you on pancakes — those crispy edges are so delicious! I can’t believe I’ve never thought to add brown sugar to them because I love it so much…what a fabulous idea. And that bacon maple butter has to put these off the charts!
Yes isn’t the brown sugar addition such a simple one but it really does add a little something in my opinion! And bacon maple butter is now my new fave thing!