These Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Pancakes are undeniably the best breakfast treat I’ve ever made, eaten or shared with my RecipeGirl readers. It’s even better than the original- those Cinnamon Roll Pancakes that have been adored by many. Or the Gingerbread- Cinnamon Roll Pancakes. This is Cinnamon Roll Pancakes taken up a notch- a big notch. !
These are the best pancakes ever. I kid you not. If you like cinnamon rolls, then this is for you. If you’re a lover of pumpkin, then you’re just going to be in absolute heaven over these. And things topped with cream cheese icing. And evil breakfast dishes. Is that you?
These Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Pancakes are definitely not for the person who is watching their weight. They’re not even the kind of pancakes you should be making every weekend. But they are a decadent treat that should absolutely be made at least once every time pumpkin season rolls around.
How to make Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Pancakes:
The key to making this recipe a success is the cinnamon filling. If you can get the cinnamon filling right, you’ll get these pancakes right. Very detailed instructions are in the recipe below. Check it out, and follow them. Your pancakes will rule the world if you do.
When you mix the cinnamon swirl mixture, it will be thick, but with a lot of melted butter that is not really mixed in. Don’t worry. That’s how it’s supposed to look at this point.
Pour it into a zip baggie and let it sit at room temperature. You want it to thicken up a bit- which it will likely do just perfectly by the time you get to the pancakes. Just pick the baggie up every once in a while and squish it around to re-incorporate the butter, which will tend to want to separate from the sugar.
You’re going to be cutting a tiny hole in the corner of the zip baggie. And then you’ll be swirling like this. See that picture above? That’s exactly how you want the swirl to be able to come out of that baggie. If it’s too liquidy, then it’s not quite ready yet. Squish it around some more and let it sit at room temp some more. Eventually, you’ll be able to get a “toothpaste-like” consistency out of it. That’s what you want.
That cinnamon filling is swirled into a spiced-up pumpkin pancake batter on a hot and sizzling skillet. When the pancake begins to bubble and pop on top, you will gently flip it over and let the cinnamon swirl side cook.
It comes out looking like this, cinnamon crater swirls and all. Wowza.
Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, and repeat with the remaining pancake batter and cinnamon filling.
Time for drizzling the cream cheese icing. Drizzle as little or as much as you want. I recommend much.
P.S. This recipe is all thanks to a reader, who happened to suggest that my cinnamon roll pancakes might be good with a pumpkin version. Thank you, dear reader. You were right. Oh so right!
Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
Ingredients
CINNAMON FILLING:
- ½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, melted
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
CREAM CHEESE ICING:
- ¼ cup (½ stick) salted butter
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- ¾ cup powdered sugar (measure, then sift)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
PANCAKES:
- 1½ cups whole milk
- 1 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
Instructions
PREPARE THE CINNAMON FILLING:
- In a small bowl- mix the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Whisk the filling ingredients together and then pour it into a sandwich-sized zip baggie. Zip up the baggie and lay it on the counter while you prepare the pancake batter.
PREPARE THE ICING:
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl, heat the butter and cream cheese 30 to 60 seconds, just until butter has melted and cream cheese has softened. Whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla and combine until smooth. Set the icing aside.
PREPARE THE PANCAKE BATTER:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, pumpkin, eggs, oil, and vinegar. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, salt and brown sugar. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and stir just until all is moistened.
CHECK ON THE CINNAMON FILLING:
- Open up the baggie again and give it a good stir to re-incorporate any butter that may have separated. You want the mixture to thicken a bit- it's best when it's similar to the squeezing texture of toothpaste (which will eventually happen if you leave it on the counter long enough, but refrigerate for a few minutes if you need to). Don't try to use the filling for the pancake swirl unless it has thickened as it will be too runny! Snip off a small piece of the corner of the baggie.
COOK THE PANCAKES:
- Preheat a large skillet or griddle to medium, and spray it with nonstick spray. Use an ice cream scoop (or ladle) to add the batter to the pan. Use the bottom of the scoop or ladle to spread out the batter into a nice, even circle. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Pick up your cinnamon filling baggie and squeeze the filling into the corner. Starting at the center of the pancake squeeze the cinnamon filling on top of the pancake batter in a swirl (just as you see in a cinnamon roll). Cook the pancakes 3 to 4 minutes, or until bubbles begin popping on top of the pancake and it is golden brown on the bottom. Slide a thin 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. Serve pancakes topped with a drizzle of cream cheese icing.
Notes
- *If you do not have pumpkin pie spice, use this combo of spices instead: 1 teaspoon allspice, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made these a few weeks ago and they were seriously the BEST things that have ever gone into my mouth! THANK YOU for this recipe!!!
These are the most amazing pancakes I have ever made!! I made them last night, at midnight! Haha! If only you knew how unlike me it is to stay up past 10:30 and to eat something so decadent!! But I enjoyed every minute and every bite of being unlike myself! 🙂 I did leave off the icing and I made the pancakes with almond butter because that is all I had and they were still insanely delicious! My baggie with the filling broke after making just a few of the pancakes so for the others I just smeared some of the filling on the finished hot pancake and that worked really well. Thank you!!
Just made these- aesthetically they didn’t look very good, but they did taste very good. I had the cinnamon swirl filling exactly the right consistency (hard to push out of bag, even) however, I believe you need to cut a miniscule sized hole in the plastic baggy, so that the swirls are pretty small, and make sure not to get the cinnamon swirl anywhere close to the edge of the pancake. Once the butter in the cinnamon swirl mixture begins to melt, it’s a gooey, wet mess all over the griddle. I was afraid they’d be so mushy and uncooked in the inside they’d be inedible…but I let them sit on the griddle for much longer than recommended to hopefully prevent that issue, and it worked although some of the cinnamon swirls got a little crunchy. All in all, they tasted good and that’s all that matters. Next time I will make adjustments in hopes of obtaining a more visually appealing appearance!
Practice makes perfect 😉
Made these this morning for my kids. Mine weren’t as pretty as yours, but boy did they taste good! I think I’ve found a new favorite website!
Made these this morning and they were AMAZING! Even DH, who is not a ‘pancake guy’ loved them. Changes I made (because of what I had on hand) – used buttermilk instead of milk and vinegar, used pureed squash from my freezer, and used 1 1/4 cups white whole wheat and 3/4 cup ap flour. They were perfect! The recipe for the cinnamon part provides plenty too, so don’t worry about running out! Thank you for the fantastic recipe!
awful, the cinnamon filling melts and burns before the pancake is done cooking.
Getting the filling part of the recipe just right is tricky, but if it’s the right consistency, these turn out perfect! Here is a post I wrote with a few more tips on getting the filling just right: https://www.recipegirl.com/2011/11/09/gingerbread-cinnamon-roll-pancakes/
These look delicious, thanks for sharing the recipe! Can the apple cider vinegar be substituted with white vinegar? I’m assuming the vinegar is for the milk so it’s a conversion to buttermilk (while also adding some flavor), but I don’t have apple cider vinegar on hand. Thanks again!
Regular vinegar should work just fine!
These look amazing. And so much quicker than making cinnamon rolls.
They were the best pancakes i’ve ever had in my life!!!!!!!!!!
If you haven’t tried it do it right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I made these on a girl’s trip and everyone was gobbling these up! They were absolutely, hands down, the yummiest things ever! I followed the recipe and it all came out perfectly. The only problem I had was the baggie broke, but I put the remaining cinnamon loveliness in another bag and squeezed it correctly and it all worked perfectly. The icing was such an awesome addition. One of my friends used syrup and tried the icing – everyone agreed the icing was a great topper and better than the syrup! Awesome, awesome recipe!