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
Recipe Details
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.
Video
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
wanted to report that my husband & I loved these Christmas morning. They were challenging to make with a wired 5 year old demanding my time. I had leftover batter so I did make them the next day. Microwaved the cinnamon filling (in a bowl, not the bag) 10 seconds stirred well and also microwaved the icing 10 seconds. Made the leftover batter and it was just as good the next day for us (maybe more so since it was easier day 2). Hope others have our success. Great recipe!
Can you make the Cinnamon filling and/or the Cream Cheese Icing the night before and refrigerate? Or do you think they would be too cold for the recipe? Trying to save time Christmas morning!
I haven’t made them ahead… I’m thinking that might be a little tricky.
Made these this morning and everyone loved them. Not as good looking as yours but I don’t think they cared lol. Wonderful!
Made these for Sunday breakfast today, they were great! Followed recipe to the letter. Thinking of skipping the cream cheese drizzle and making them “Pumpkin Cinnamon Sticky Bun Pancakes” topping them with toasted pecans and maple syrup!!
Sounds like a great idea!
I’m just having the worst time with these. Too thin and the cinnamon swirl doesn’t work…too thick and it doesn’t cook. I actually need to feed people and I even made this the night before so I would have time to enjoy and cook these up. Trouble is they are doughy and not cooking and I followed the recipe precisely. Any tips would be great if I ever decide to venture on this little diabeetus journey again.
Do not make the batter the night before!
I just want to say that if sometimes you’re a little lazy like me, these taste wonderful with a batch of Krusteaz Pumpkin Spice Quick Bread pancake batter in place of making the pancake batter from scratch. But whether you go all homemade or sub in a mix, these are still amazing. If you’re a fan of pumpkin stuff like me, I highly suggest you try it.
Can these be made WITHOUT the apple cider vinegar? I’m highly allergic to anything apple, but would love to try these.
Sure…
Was looking for something more than standard pancakes this morning when I came across your cinnamon-roll pancake recipes and I decided we had to try it! Decided on the pumpkin because it is mid-October. They were a hit with the whole family (which is rare with a family of 6!). One thing I learned … put the cinnamon swirl on as soon as you can (pour one pancake, put the swirl on). I was filling up the griddle with pancakes then putting the swirls on, and even with toothpaste consistency was getting the swirl running all over (course, they were still delicious!). When I started getting the swirl on right away, I got the cinnamon-crater goodness like in your photos.
These were the first ‘cinnamon roll’ pancakes of yours that I tried and they are AMAZING. My boys adored them. My husband actually slowed down and savored them. They’re so rich I couldn’t even finish two! I used a ladle to pour out the batter so it only made ten but those ten pancakes were the size of small plates! Thank you for this fantastic recipe!
Made these this morning and the family raved… no it was more of a moan of delight. 😉 I am certain to receive many future requests. Thank you for making me super aunt among my nephews
glad to hear!
I’ve had this recipe saved in my bookmarks for quite a long time now, and I forgot about them….sadly, until today when I was sorting those bookmarks out. Well I just decided we’re having them for dinner tonight! They pretty much sound like the most amazing dish ever, and I really, really, REALLY can’t wait to eat them!!
Thanks for sharing this <3
This looks sooooo yummy. I am going to try making a vegan version of this recipe. I can’t wait to try it!!! I think adding pecans to the batter would also tastes yummy. Love adding nuts to my breakfast treats! Good job!!
You have a cute sense of humor 🙂 I laughed when I read the following… ” I do it for you, you know? I sacrifice the possibility that this just might be disgusting” – thanks Lori 🙂
I made these this morning and they were so tasty. When I flipped the pancakes the cinnamon spread dissolved a lot so there was not as much “swirl”. Oh well…still tasty. I used the rest of the cinnamon filling drizzled over top of the pancakes with the icing and it was amazing.
Thanks for the recipe!
Dec 16/12
My son and his girlfriend got to UT. They ate at a restaurant called Kerbey Lane. My son texted me a picture of his pumpkin cinnamon roll pancakes. A few days later, his girlfriend sent me an email with a link to yours so I could make them for them when they came home. I made them today, and my son was truly impressed. These will now be our day after Thanksgiving tradition. Thank you! They are also fun to make.
I made these this evening as a test before I prepared them for guests at our B&B. One thing that made a difference for me was decreasing the width of the swirl. At first, the line was too thick causing too much run-off and breaking up the top of the pancake. Then I clipped the other corner of the bag much smaller and it was better.
I think this will make much more than 8 pancakes. The batter is very thick and I used 1/2 cup measuring cup to pour. I’m not going to make it all right now, but it sure looks like you could get 12-15 pancakes from it.
These are in the top ten most amazing foods I’ve ever eaten. Whoa. I’ve made them twice. The first time in skillets on the stove top and today with a griddle (much better experience with less burning sugar.) They are phenomenal. I would recommend, though, melting the butter and cream cheese separately for the icing. Maybe it’s just my older microwave, but the cream cheese heated up before the butter melted and caused the cream cheese to curdle. And I agree with @stormy1 – don’t flip too soon. Far less messy if you wait.
I’ve made these twice now; once following the recipe exactly, and today, substituting Bisquick and unsweetened almond milk for the pancake ingredients. I also left the icing off this time. Both ways are absolutely fabulous, and turned out just like the ones pictured. I’d definitely suggest using a slightly thicker pancake batter than normal, and don’t try to flip too soon – otherwise you could end up with a gooey (but still very yummy!) mess.
i made this morning and is the best i proved in my life 😛 thankyou
turns out you can use all oats- blended to a powder, for the flour! Still puffed up and awesome, but didn’t leave you in a sugar coma! I also only had 1 T. of butter, so I made a very small batch of filling, and used it frugally, and it lasted for most of the batch- also better for you, but still rich tasting. (the last few got some choc. chips instead) lastly, I just whisked some milk and powdered sugar for a lighter glaze, and drizzled it on lightly. it was still so indulgent tasting, yet you live to tell about it, and feel so much less guilty!!! and can have it more than once a year! Yay!
good to know!!
I made these just this morning and they are absolutely delicious! Mine didn’t come out quite as pretty as yours, but they’re so sweet and filling it’s wonderful!
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!
I’ve been determined to nail the Cinnamon Roll Pancakes and I’m getting close. But NOW……..no can of pumpkin puree will be safe!!! These are way over the top and I love it!!!
These are Uh.Maze.Ing. Last night my 4.5 year old suggested that we have pumpkin pancakes for breakfast today while reading a “High Five” magazine recipe. This morning I awakened to the first substantial rainfall in Austin, TX, in almost a year. The sky was dark with rain clouds, the air was chilly with fall temperatures (after having 90 days of 100+ degree heat this year), and my entire household slept in. So I went to work on your delicious recipe here. Fall decadence on a plate, is right! Everyone gobbled them up!
It did take me a bit to get the pancakes just right…actually, the last 2 of 10 that I made were finally as they were supposed to be. Exact griddle heat and timing were essential. I think everyone will have to tweak those two things according to their own equipment. Besides that, PERFECTION! Thanks so much for your recipe and great ideas!
Glad to hear! And happy you finally got some rain. You can celebrate fall now with more pumpkin recipes!
These pancakes look delicious! Thank you for the recipe! I love it when I find recipes that don’t call for ingredients that are impossible to find here in Norway. I’ll have to mix my own spices, but I’m sure I’ll find pureed pumpkin somewhere. It’s a little expensive over here since it’s imported, but it’s worth it!
I looked forward to making these pancakes for my kids all week, and they did not disappoint! I followed the directions to the T and they were obviously carefully thought out. In order to get the toothpaste consistency in my cinnamon filling, I had to put the baggie in the freezer for a little while. Worked like a charm. My only glitch was in the performance of my zipper bags. I first tried with a regular sandwich baggie which broke right in half when I squeezed it. I then switched to a freezer bag.
The actual pumpkin pancake batter was fabulously light and fluffy. These would be delicious just as regular pumpkin pancakes with butter and syrup. The cinnamon filling and cream cheese drizzle of course bumped them up to status of Best Breakfast Ever. I was a little concerned that they might come out gaggy-sweet, but they were perfect in every way. Will definitely make these again!
Yahoo!! We felt the same- best breakfast ever 🙂
I have to say these pancakes were incredible! I made them over the weekend and they were gobbled up! Not as pretty as yours for sure and I didn’t make the cream cheese glaze, but were just as good (Great!) with the maple syrup! Thank you it’s a keeper!
These pancakes are DA BOMB!!!!I made these for my family and everyone loved them! Thank you so much for sharing this great recipe!!!
I made these this weekend! They were delicious, but unfortunately mine didn’t look as pretty as yours 🙁 I’ll do better next time, and there DEFINITELY will be a next time. Love your blog! I started following you on twitter, and I’m so glad I did. Thanks!!
Made these for a lazy Sunday and I will say that they were the best. I did not make the icing just syrup still marvelous. We are big HUGE fans of pumpkin pancakes in our house and these turned out fluffy still hearty but def unlike the usual attempts. THANKS!
Just made these for breakfast! Amazing!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂 Such a fun fall treat!
These are the most amazing looking pancakes I’ve ever seen. Seriously. I can’t wait to surprise my family with these. AWESOME!
I just made the “original” version for the first time on Monday. They were awesome and I have shared the recipe with a few friends. Today I just happened to stock up on pumpkin… and no, I don’t wear a tinfoil hat but something is going on… I used the leftover cinn/brn sugar/butter mixture on toast later in the week. Thank-you!
Wow, I made these this morning and they were so delicious!
Holy Batman and Robin!! I never dreamed of anything soo decadent. I will definitely have to give them a try. What a special fall weekend treat. Hmmm.
OMG, amazing!!! I can’t wait to try these.
I love this! I have your cinnamon roll pancakes bookmarked too. Yum!
Pumpkin pancakes are my favorites, but add in cinnamon roll filling and cream cheese glaze? I die.
I saw a post for cinnamon swirl pancakes a few weeks ago and I’ve been craving pumpkin pancakes for days. I was going to try doing the exact thing for a post this weekend…. you beat me too it! They look amazing…. yum yum yum.
Wowza is right! These sound like comfort food to the hundreth power.
I was just reading your cinnamon roll pancake recipe….TODAY
When i went back and was reading the comment reply you left me re the blackout situation (and yes, it was freakin’ pandemonium in the city, elderly and sick on stretchers on the sidewalk in front of mercy hospital..crazy times here but that’s another story) but anyway I booked marked that recipe.
And now, have this one to bookmark too.
AMAZING! 🙂
I just recently made your cinnamon pancakes…. I cannot begin to imagine the decadence of this new version. Great idea!