This recipe for Maple bacon Pancakes and content below is a sponsored conversation on behalf of Smithfield. All opinions are my own.

Not a breakfast person? You haven’t had our Maple Bacon Pancakes recipe, have you? With bacon in the batter and sprinkled on top plus maple syrup throughout, THIS is the sweet-salty combo to start your day!

The first time I tried the maple bacon combo was in doughnut form. Hot fried doughnuts, drizzled with maple icing, and sprinkled with bacon. There’s a reason there was a line out the door of the shop. If I didn’t have kids and a job, I’d just put a tent out and sleep there… just to be the first in line every day for a hot maple bacon doughnut.

Alas, I have responsibilities. Therefore, I decided to find a more do-able every-day recipe using my new found favorite sweet-salty combo.

Enter Maple Bacon Pancakes. For the life of me, every time I say the name I want to say makle bapon. Maybe I need more coffee? But, I stray.

This is the perfect recipe for rushed school mornings. I make a double-batch on the weekend and freeze ’em. With a 30 second zap in the microwave they’re good as new. Bonus? There’s no begging the kids to eat their breakfast with this Maple Bacon Pancakes recipe!

By starting the day with a protein-packed breakfast, my whole family is more likely to be efficient and effective. Sure, it’s easy to let life get in the way of a proper breakfast. Fortunately, with Smithfield products we have a breakfast that is simple and convenient, yet hearty and wholesome.

Smithfield is partnering with No Kid Hungry, an organization committed to combat childhood hunger, to donate one million meals* to children in communities across America. By ensuring that all kids get a school breakfast, No Kid Hungry found that students who eat school breakfast achieved 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year (Source: No Kid Hungry).

Here’s to the most important meal of the day!

Maple Bacon Pancakes

Let’s start with the bacon. Want to know the secret to slicing bacon easily every time? Freeze it first! Doing so makes it easy to run the knife through, creating thin slivers that crisp up beautifully. We used Smithfield Hometown Original Bacon in this recipe; it’s known for being smoked and cured to perfection!

In a heated skillet add the slivered bacon and cook until crispy. Drain and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt. Combine the dark brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, maple syrup, milk and butter in another bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Add in half of the bacon and stir.

Heat a large griddle over medium low. Spray with cooking spray and pour the batter by the 1/3- cup-full onto the griddle. Once the batter begins to bubble on the edges, flip. Cook until browned, then remove to a serving plate. Repeat with remaining batter.

To serve, sprinkle a little bit of reserved bacon between each pancake and drizzle with real maple syrup. Then call me. ‘Cuz I’m coming over for pancakes!

Maple Bacon Pancakes

Yield: 4 servings

Not a breakfast person? You haven't had our Maple Bacon Pancakes recipe, have you? With bacon in the batter and sprinkled on top plus maple syrup throughout, THIS is the sweet-salty combo to start your day!

Ingredients

1 lb. Smithfield Hometown Original Bacon, frozen
2 cups all purpose flour
2 Tb. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3 Tb. dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1 Tb. vanilla
1 1/4 c. milk
1/2 c. maple syrup (plus more for serving)
5 Tb. butter, melted

Instructions

Let's start with the bacon. Want to know the secret to slicing bacon easily every time? Freeze it first! Doing so makes it easy to run the knife through, creating thin slivers that crisp up beautifully. We used Smithfield Hometown Original Bacon in this recipe; it's known for being smoked and cured to perfection!
In a heated skillet add the slivered bacon and cook until crispy. Drain and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt. Combine the dark brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, syrup, milk and butter in another bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Add in half of the bacon and stir.
Heat a large griddle over medium low. Spray with cooking spray and pour the batter by the 1/3- cup-full onto the griddle. Once the batter begins to bubble on the edges, flip. Cook until browned, then remove to a serving plate. Repeat with remaining batter.
To serve, sprinkle a little bit of reserved bacon between each pancake and drizzle with real maple syrup.