The best way to celebrate on a weekend morning is to make these Cinnamon Roll Pancakes! These fluffy, perfect pancakes are swirled with a cinnamon- sugar mixture and topped with a cream cheese drizzle. They’re awesome!!!
Watch the short video showing you how to make these Cinnamon Roll Pancakes, then scroll to the bottom of this post and print out the recipe so you can make them at home.
National Pancake Day
If you’ve ever thought you needed a reason to eat pancakes, today is the day: National Pancake Day!
Eat a short stack for breakfast, enjoy them for lunch, or make a dinner out a manhole-sized pancake… guilt free… because you’re merely celebrating their existence.
How do you like your pancakes? Buttermilk? Sweet Potato?
Whole Grain? Fruit topped? Whipped Cream?
What are the best pancakes?
I don’t usually care for any of that fancy stuff, but I can tell with absolute certainty that over-cooked, crusty pancakes have no place in my world. I like my pancakes fluffy.
And sometimes I like slices of banana cooked inside. A good dose of real maple syrup is what I prefer to drizzle on top.
But recently I started dreaming about mixing cinnamon rolls and pancakes together… and this is what I came up with- my new favorite pancake: Cinnamon Roll Pancakes. Here are some tips for how to be successful with these!
How do you make Cinnamon Roll Pancakes?
When you make cinnamon roll pancakes, it’s not much more difficult than making regular pancakes, but it’s a little more messy because of the cinnamon swirl. Follow the tips below, and you’ll have some great pancakes. NOTE: these take a little practice to get just right!
Tips explained:
- use a nonstick skillet or griddle: these are sticky, so if you can do anything to help prevent extreme stickiness then do it!
- use a thin metal spatula for flipping: because they’re a bit precarious, a thin spatula will work best.
- use an ice cream scoop for the batter: this just makes it easier to measure so they’re all similarly sized.
- allow pancake to cook and form bubbles before adding swirl: you don’t want the swirl to have time to melt into the batter, so adding it at the last minute will help it stay intact.
- the cinnamon swirl must be thick: thin swirl will run all over the place.
- don’t get the swirl too close to the edge of the pancake- see photo above!
- flip the pancake smoothly and quickly: so the swirl will stay in place!
- wipe pan between pancakes: or the sugar in the pan may burn.
I have a wonderfully fluffy pancake batter that I like to use (recipe below) so I swirl a bit of cinnamon roll filling into the pancake.
And they cook up just like a pancake- fluffy, but with craters of crusty, sugary cinnamon swirled within.
You might find three of these stacked in a fancy breakfast restaurant, but I’m gonna tell you that one pancake is all you need.
It’s like eating a cinnamon roll, and no one needs more than one cinnamon roll for breakfast. Or certainly no more than two 😉
See, just like a cinnamon roll. Love this. I can eat this pancake just as you see it, but you really need to add the glaze to get the full cinnamon roll-effect. Read on…
Oh yeah. A warmed cream cheese glaze drizzled on top really completes this pancake. No syrup needed.
Let me say that again: No. Syrup. Needed.
There you have it: Cinnamon Roll Pancakes with lots of ooey, gooey cream cheese glaze drizzled on top.
Do yourself a favor and treat yourself to a pancake today. Go get ’em.
These babies are just like eating a cinnamon roll, which is a perfectly okay… once in a while, right?
I mean, it’s not like I put chocolate chip cookie dough in them or anything. Hmmmm.
If you’re coming here to sample these delicious Cinnamon Roll Pancakes, you just might like the latest recipe that I’ve posted for Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Pancakes and Gingerbread- Cinnamon Roll Pancakes too.
And if you just love pancakes in general, you must try The Best Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes and Peanut Butter- Chocolate Chip Pancakes. Enjoy!
Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
Ingredients
CINNAMON FILLING:
- 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, just melted (not boiling)
- 6 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- ½ tablespoon ground cinnamon
CREAM CHEESE GLAZE:
- 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
- 2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
PANCAKES:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
Instructions
PREPARE CINNAMON FILLING:
- In a medium bowl, stir together the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Scoop the filling into a quart-sized heavy zip baggie and set it aside (see *Tips below).
PREPARE GLAZE:
- In a small pan, heat the butter over low heat until melted. Turn off the heat and whisk in the cream cheese until it is almost smooth. Sift the powdered sugar into the pan, stir and add in vanilla extract. Set the pan aside while you make the pancakes.
PREPARE PANCAKE BATTER:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk in the milk, egg and oil, just until the batter is moistened (a few small lumps are fine).
COOK THE PANCAKES:
- Heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium-heat and spray with nonstick spray. Use an ice cream scoop (or ⅓ cup measuring cup) to add the batter to the pan. Use the bottom of the scoop or cup to spread the batter into a circle (about 4-inches in diameter). Reduce the heat to medium low. Snip the corner of your baggie of cinnamon filling and squeeze the filling into the open corner. When your pancake begins to form bubbles, add the filling. Starting at the center of the pancake, squeeze the filling on top of the pancake batter in a swirl (just as you see in a regular cinnamon roll). Cook the pancake 2 to 3 minutes, or until the bubbles begin popping on top of the pancake and it's golden brown on the bottom. Slide a thin, wide metal spatula underneath the pancake and gently but quickly flip it over. Cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes, until the other side is golden as well. When you flip the pancake onto a plate, you will see that the cinnamon filling has created a crater-swirl of cinnamon. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, and repeat with the remaining pancake batter and cinnamon filling. Re-warm the glaze briefly, if needed. Serve pancakes topped with a drizzle of glaze.
Notes
TIPS:
- *Quick and easy tip: Use a boxed pancake mix as the base for this recipe.
- *Tips for the cinnamon filling: Before swirling, open up the baggie again and give it a good stir to re-incorporate any butter that may have separated from the sugar. You want the mixture to thicken a bit- it's best when it's similar to the squeezing texture of a tube of toothpaste, which will happen if you leave it at room temperature for several minutes. Don't try to use the filling for the pancake swirl unless it has thickened as it will be too runny to make a solid swirl.
- *Keep the heat low or your pancakes might cook up too quickly. Don't flip them until you see those bubbles starting to pop on top. Flip them with a wide spatula so you can grasp the whole thing without batter and filling dripping all over the place!
- *I wrote a very detailed post on how to get the cinnamon filling *just right* on my Gingerbread- Cinnamon Roll Pancakes Post. Check it out before you attempt these!
- *If you're trying to justify your intake of decadent cinnamon rolls, you can make this a tad bit healthier by using half whole-wheat flour and low fat cream cheese, or enjoy the pancakes without glaze.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Mine were not nearly as beautiful, but damn were they tasty!
I also may not have been as liberal with the cinnamon filling as I should have, because I ended up with twice as much filling as I did batter. (And I’m trying hard to resist the urge to just make a second batch of batter!) Next time I will cut the filling down by half.
Just made these this morning, and what a bit hit they were! Delicious and light, but just right as far as being full afterwards. Pancakes Im used to usually sit like bricks in your stomach, but not these babies~! (not diet friendly of course, but I’ll make an exception for cinnamon!) Definitely going to be a staple when heading out to friends’ houses~.
Loved this recipe! Just made some today and my family loved them!
I am not a fan of pancakes but I think I would really like these. What a cool idea. Thanks for posting.
Love this idea! Thank you for sharing!
I was almost drooling when looking at these pictures this morning, so I made these pancakes for breakfast. They were absolutely delicious! My cinnamon filling was a little watery for the first couple pancakes, but I managed to choke them down anyway. 🙂 I ran out of cream cheese, so I microwaved a little bit of leftover frosting and used it instead of the glaze. These pancakes will definitely go in my “special breakfast” recipe folder. Thanks so much!
OMG! I just made these this morning and they are SO GOOD! And they look so pretty. One trick to do if the cinnamon filling gets watery is to stick into the fridge for 2-3 min. Also, I used a boxed pancake mix, so it was super easy. Thanks for sharing this receipe.
I just made these for my family for breakfast. They are so delicious. We had a little fruit on the side to counteract the totally indulgent pancakes. I will certainly be making them again, what a great idea!
Tasty and cook up as described, but note that quite a bit of the cinnamon swirl ends up on the griddle after the pancake is flipped. Do cook a little cooler than usual, grease the griddle well, and the excess filling can be promptly wiped off between batches before it cooks on. These babies define the words “gooey” and “sweet”.
These LOOK absolutely delicious! Can’t wait to try them on my family. I do have a suggestion, someone else may have posted-but I don’t want to read over 200 comments to see! For the cinnamon swirl, it might be easier to put the filling in a squeeze bottle instead of a plastic bag – that’s what I’m going to do. Thanks for sharing the recipe!