Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
Two comfort foods merge into one wonderful breakfast treat!
Nothing quite says the beginning of sweater weather, the commencement of days brisk, cloudless, and chilly in the best possible way quite like the warm, alluring notes of cinnamon swirled into a carby lot of delightful sweet treats. Whether sprinkled into a batter or soaked in a vat of cider, cinnamon heightens surrounding ingredients in the best possible way. Here the recipe for Cinnamon Roll Pancakes takes the rolled delight of a cinnamon roll and puts it into a pan-fried form ready to be whipped up for a breakfast treat.
Cinnamon Roll Pancakes are cinnamon rolls made easier. A no-yeast batter whips up quickly and is topped with cinnamon butter, giving it the wonderful appearance of your favorite cinnamon roll. Once you prep the cinnamon butter and the corresponding cream cheese glaze, go ahead and make the pancake batter.
Now comes the hardest (not hard at all) part— making the pancakes. Use a pastry bag or a zip-top bag and put the cinnamon butter inside, snipping off the corner or end of the bag. Grease your nonstick skillet, and on medium-low heat, portion out 1/4 cup serving of batter into the pan.
Once the batter settles into a round shape, swirl the cinnamon butter on top of the batter.
Since cinnamon butter burns, don’t flip the pancakes. Instead, cover the pan with a lid and let the pancakes cook completely through. Repeat this process with the rest of the batter until the batter and the cinnamon butter are all used up.
Stacked high and dripping with the cream cheese glaze, Cinnamon Roll Pancakes are the ultimate comfort food fusion. Part pancake, part cinnamon roll, the fluffy pancake base is lighter than your average cinnamon roll bread, making it easy to eat pancake after pancake.
The cinnamon butter moistens the pancake and mixes with the glaze to make a pancake topping quite unlike your classic syrup and butter combination.
Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
For the cinnamon swirl:
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
For the cream cheese glaze:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 tablespoons cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon fine salt
For the pancakes:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 1/4 cups whole milk, room temperature
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten and room temperature
- Canola or vegetable oil (for greasing the pan)
To make the cinnamon swirl:
- In a bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
- Once thoroughly combined, transfer the mixture into a pastry bag or into a zip-top bag.
To make the cream cheese glaze:
- In another bowl, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth and lump-free.
- Gradually add powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt until well combined.
- Set plastic wrap over the top and set aside. If you’re making the glaze a day before, refrigerate, and then remove from the fridge as you’re prepping the pancakes.
To make the pancakes:
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
- Stir in melted butter, milk, and eggs.
- Heat a non-stick skillet with the oil on medium-low heat and pour 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan.
- Snip the corner of the pastry (or zip-top bag) and pipe on a swirl of cinnamon-sugar butter onto the pancakes.
- Since the sugar burns, don’t flip the pancakes, instead turn the heat down to a low flame, and after you’ve piped the cinnamon swirl on, cover the pan with a lid to cook the pancakes completely through. Each pancake will take about 3 to 5 minutes on low heat to cook.
- Repeat this process with the remaining batter.
- Drizzle on the cream cheese glaze, serve warm, and enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Veggie World Recipes and Life In The Lofthouse.