Breakfast for Dinner: Buttermilk Ricotta Pancakes with Maple Candied Bacon + Eggs.

Really, there are not many words for this dinner.

Other than completely awesome, easy (like embarrassingly easy) and simple.

I know that nothing about this recipe is a new concept or anything, but sometimes I feel like we all just need a little reminder about the beauty of simplicity. And in today’s case, I mean a little reminder about breakfast for dinner…which may just be the best kind of dinner. Anytime you can eat pancakes with butter and maple syrup you know that things are going to be good.

I have no idea what brought on this whole breakfast for dinner thing, but when I thought about it as I was hiking, I knew I had to make pancakes for dinner. Not breakfast, not lunch, but dinner.

The classic breakfast for dinner. Pancakes, bacon and eggs. Come on, it sounds so good, right?

I love the idea of breakfast for dinner, but I never get the chance to actually make breakfast for dinner because whenever I make breakfast, it normally all gets eaten by lunch.

But this time, I actually made breakfast at dinnertime and not one person complained, not one. They loved it – I loved it – it was just an all around cherished meal. Especially by my mom. I think this may just be her favorite dinner. Err, well, maybe crepes would be her favorite, yeah she might have liked crepes a little better, but this was so easy and I had everything on hand. Winner, winner, breakfast-dinner.

Alrighty, so I since I actually made these at night, I didn’t take pictures because I only shoot with natural light. This means, I made more the very next day. It really wasn’t a problem though, because I was happy for another round of pancakes. They never get old, plus I still have plenty of mouths around to push them into.

I knew I wanted to tell you guys about this breakfast/dinner the second I smelled the first hot pancake coming off the griddle (it’s the combo of buttermilk, ricotta and a lot of vanilla).

When I made these the first time, I actually made about sixty pancakes. Yeah, sixty. I spent probably forty-five minutes in front of the stove flipping pancakes at nine o’clock at night. That got a little old, but I had to feed ten people breakfast and eight of those ten people where hungry boys that had been outside snowboarding all day. So yeah, I knew I would need a lot of pancakes, practically a month’s worth of bacon and a decent amount of eggs (the boys did not get the spinach, sun-dried tomato and goat cheese eggs – obviously). We only had one pancake leftover and zero bacon (of course).

I do have to say, that I am never making that many pancakes again. I will be saving “breakfast for dinner” for smaller groups of six or less. That was just too much flipping for one night. Still, I think it was worth it because this was the best dinner. I do not think I can say that enough – best, best, best.

Oh, and since we enjoyed these with the Christmas tree all lit up nearby, I thought I’d throw a little festiviness into the photos. Made sense in my mind.

Here’s the deal, I may never make pancakes without whipped egg whites and ricotta again. I actually said this once last winter, but somehow I forget. I will make sure that does not happen again. These are the lightest, fluffiest pancakes around and the simple flavors just allow everything to shine in their own way. All they need is butter and real deal maple syrup (no sugary stuff!!). Simple as that. Trust me, you will be able to eat a stack of ten without even thinking twice.

As for the candied bacon, this was actually my first time making it. I sort of did my own thing by adding in some maple, but wow, that stuff is good. I am not even a bacon fanatic, like at all, but I could see snacking on that stuff all December long. For some reason it just feels like a December food to me. Actually, the whole breakfast for dinner concept feels like a December thing. Maybe it’s the busy days that call for cozy nights or the fact that December should just be extra sweet in general, but whatever the reason I think this is the meal for December. Yup, declaring it now.

The eggs I honestly added just for balance, but they actually ended up being delicious. I blame this on the sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese. Those two ingredients, especially together will always be delicious. Plus, the eggs give us the protein and the spinach + sun-dried tomatoes give us our veggies and fruit.

See there, that is a very balanced meal.

Now who is with me? Breakfast for dinner tonight??

Breakfast for Dinner: Buttermilk Ricotta Pancakes with Maple Candied Bacon + Eggs.

4.38 from 37 votes

6 Servings

by Tieghan Gerard

calories 775kcal

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Prep20 minutes mins

Cook30 minutes mins

Total50 minutes mins

An awesome and simple dinner!

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Ingredients 

1x2x3x

Maple Candied Bacon

• ▢ 1/2 pound thick cut bacon, use peppered bacon if possible
• ▢ 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• ▢ 1/4 cup brown sugar
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ▢ 1/2 salt + pepper

Buttermilk Ricotta Pancakes

• ▢ 2 eggs, whites separated from the yolks
• ▢ 3/4 cup buttermilk
• ▢ 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
• ▢ 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 cup white whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour, or all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ pinch of salt
• ▢ butter, for serving
• ▢ pure maple syrup, for serving

Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Goat Cheese Scrambled Eggs

• ▢ 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
• ▢ 8 ounces fresh spinach
• ▢ 1/4 cup oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
• ▢ 6 eggs, beaten
• ▢ 2 tablespoon heavy cream
• ▢ salt and pepper, to taste
• ▢ 4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled

Instructions 

Maple Candied Bacon

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
• Wrap a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and top with a wire rack.
• In a large, shallow bowl, add the maple syrup, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Mix well to combine. Add the bacon to the bowl and toss gently with your hands. Make sure that all of the slices are evenly coated in brown sugar. Place the bacon in a single layer onto the wire rack.
• Bake in the center of the oven for about 20-25 minutes. The bacon may look done, but I placed mine back in for about 10 minutes. It looks pretty dark, but I promise it's not burnt!
• Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes on the rack. Don't let them sit too long or else they will stick.

Buttermilk Ricotta Pancakes

• While the bacon is cooking, be working on the pancakes. Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Beat the egg whites with a handheld electric mixer or stand mixer until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine the ricotta, buttermilk, egg yolks, and vanilla in a separate, larger mixing bowl. Add the flour, baking soda, brown sugar, and salt to the ricotta and buttermilk milk mixture, stirring gently until just combined.
• Stir a small scoop of the egg whites into the pancake batter to lighten the batter, then fold in the remaining whites with a spatula.
• Heat a skillet on medium heat. Grease with butter or cooking spray. Pour 1/3 cup pancake batter on the center of the hot pan. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Using a spatula, gently flip the pancake over and cook the other side for a minute, or until golden. Repeat with the remaining batter.
• Keep the pancakes warm in a 250 degrees oven while you make the eggs.

Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Goat Cheese Scrambled Eggs

• In a bowl, using a fork, beat together the eggs, salt and pepper until blended.
• In a large fry pan over medium heat, melt the butter. When the butter foams, reduce the heat to low. Add the beaten eggs and cook, stirring several times, until curds just begin to form, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Add the spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, stir once or twice, and continue to cook just until the curds are soft, 2 to 3 minutes more. Stir in the goat cheese. Taste and adjust salt and pepper if needed.

To serve

• Spoon the eggs into small bowls. Divide the warm pancakes among plates. Drizzle with maple syrup and add a pat of softened butter. Top with candied bacon. DIG IN.

Nutrition

Serving: 3g | Calories: 775kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 288mg | Sodium: 638mg | Potassium: 586mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 4530IU | Vitamin C: 15.3mg | Calcium: 259mg | Iron: 3.4mg

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

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Umm, for sure. How can you resist Buttermilk Ricotta Pancakes with Maple Candied Bacon and eggs for dinner? You just can’t.

If you make these Buttermilk Ricotta Pancakes with Maple Candied Bacon, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!