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
Recipe Details
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.
Video
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.
Made these yesterday for 8 people. Mine were not very pretty, but they sure did taste great!
My “don’t do what I did” tale of caution: I made the cinnamon mixture and glaze 2 days ahead to keep prep work to a minimum and then put them in red and yellow squeeze bottles (the kind for ketchup and mustard) and refrigerated them. ~ mistake! ~ I microwaved the cinnamon mixture but could not get all of the sugar to dissolve. The chunks kept clogging up the small tip of the squeeze bottle. And yes, there was a minor explosion when the top popped off and half of the mixture dumped on one pancake (not to worry, I ate that one and it was delicious!) Next time I will use the ziplock bag as instructed or maybe cut the tip of the bottle down so the opening is larger and definitely NOT make the cinnamon mixture 2 days ahead. 🙂
These were the most delicious pancakes I ever ate. They took a bit of time to make but well worth it! Kids and Grandparents said 10 plus!!!! YUMMMMMY
I made these this for breakfast this morning and they were delicious! I made pancakes for two of us and they were very filling. It’ll probably take some practice to get the whole cinnamon swirl thing down… mine tasted great but they weren’t very pretty.
The only thing I found was that I had a ton of leftover cinnamon filling and cream cheese glaze… to use some up I was putting a little of each on each pancake as they came off the griddle. It ended up being a little too sweet doing it that way… I think if I make them again I will either double the amount of batter OR cut the amount of filling and glaze in half. I also found that making the filling and glaze before the batter and giving them the chance to thicken and cool down (from melting butter) helped.
Thanks for the recipe and the site!! 🙂
My daughter is obsessed with cinnamon rolls, so I made these for her for breakfast this morning. They were delicious, but I had a really hard time making them. I couldn’t get the cinnamon mixture to thicken up. Regardless though, they were amazing! Any tips on how to make it thicker?
Yep- see my revisions that I just added today!
Sorry, but I tried these and they were not a winner. I was attentive to the consistency on my brown sugar/butter mix but it started melting almost immediately when it hit the batter. Definitely too much butter in the swirl mixture & no way to temper the sugar burn if and when you actually are able to flip the sodden mess. Sorry, but I won’t be trying these again! Good idea but the recipe needs some work.
I actually made this recipe again today (for about the millionth time!) and made some revisions. I think people will find the revised version to be a little more successful. They definitely take some practice.
Saw these on Pinterest…..I think they are in my near future 😉
Be careful with the heat, I smoked my house out with the head on med-low.
yikes! Be sure to wipe out the pan between pancakes!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I made these for my children this morning for Valentine’s Day and they absolutely loved them. I used my Bisquick recipe for the pancakes since I have five sons and needed to yield more pancakes, but everything else was the same. Even hubby asked for seconds! I think we have a new Saturday morning favorite.
This may sound silly, but can I use a different type of oil instead of the canola? Thank you! 🙂
I use canola and vegetable oil interchangeably.
WHAT A DOPE I AM!!!
I didnt scroll down far enough after the directions to the TIPS
All would have been very helpful in preventing me from burning the heck out of my pancakes and smoking up my whole house.
The first was was delicious beyond belief because the pan wasnt hot yet. I also made a huge mess with my runny cinnamon mixture.
Basically I made every mistake you mentioned
But I was eating the 1st one while cooking and my kids didnt mind the burndy ones. They are good like that.
I am going to try these again and this time read the entire set of directions!
I just made these and they are AWESOME! Simple to make and delicious.
Thank you!
You are awesome. My family loved the pancakes. I didn’t make any adjustments. I made sure to make the filling first thing when I got up and by the time I made the pancakes the filling was the right consistency. Thank you.
I just made these today and WOW are they were amazingly delicious!! I LOVE them! They were soo easy to make, they had great cinnamon roll flavour and they melt in your mouth! My 3 year old gobbled his right up! Can’t wait to make these again to share with others! 🙂
My family and I just finished these. I followed your tips, and everything turned out perfect – first try! My kids have already asked when we can make them again. 🙂 Thanks for a fantastic recipe. We loved it!
These were very yummy – I did have to add a good bit more brown sugar to the filling and then pop it in the fridge for a bit to get it to “toothpaste consistency” . I also needed to figure out how close to the edge I could go with the filling so that it didn’t ooze out as it heated up, and I greased my griddle well to avoid having to chip baked- on brown sugar off when I was done. They are definitely a recipe you need to work with a bit, to get them to come out just right – but they are worth it!
Yes, practice makes perfect 🙂
These looked so delicious so i tried them this morning. but I had a slight issue. when i flipped the pancakes over the cinnamon filling just melted out and left me with a swirled hole in my pancake. what did i do wrong?
Did you read through all of the tips? Sounds like the filling had a chance to melt too much. You also need to do a really quick flip to keep the filling intact. Some of it will come out in the pan, but you should be able to keep most of that swirl in there if it’s thick enough when you start, and if you add it a minute or so after you put the pancake batter in the pan.
YUM! These pancakes are awesome and I don’t even like cinnamon rolls. I am trying to plan a breakfast to have some friends over to try them.
WOW!!! I cook for two gentlemen………guess what they are having this week for dinner???? YUMMMMMMMMMMY
Made these today for my family, everyone loved them!! They were pretty easy to make to! What a great recipe! 🙂
These are delicious! Make sure you have a cup of milk or tea to drink while you eat these. YUMMY!
Definitely don’t need maple syrup on those babies! Those look insanely good!
I made these last weekend for my kids and it was beyond a hit! I’m not a big cream cheese fan so I just made a simple frosting with milk and powdered sugar but the family just loved it. Thanks so much!
i Suggest not heating the cream cheese with the butter because it can burn easily i but you can carefully warm it till smooth and the melt the butter separate and then wisk together if there are some lumps heat in short (max 10sec) intervals
Made these this morning … all I can say is OMG DROOL !!! they are wonderful, took pictures and showed my family, they all begged me for the recipe lol. Thanks so much this is our favorite pancake recipe.
O-M-G!! I made these this morning. You DEFINITELY need the big spatula for turning, or you have a mess! I substituted WW flour for the AP (made me think it was a BIT healthier! LOL), and I didn’t have the cream cheese, so I used some plain Greek yogurt (I didn’t make it into “cheese” since I didn’t know ahead of time I was REALLY going to make these….ALSO a bit healthier than the cream cheese!) I really could only eat one since it was the size of my dinner plate. Another tip is to use a heavier ziploc baggie, not just a sandwich baggie – it was too thin and the swirl burst out a few other spots.
Yeah, much easier to make smaller pancakes as far as flipping is concerned. Good tip on using a heavy duty plastic baggie.