Make breakfast an experience with Cinnamon Roll Pancakes! A twist on the brunch classic, these homemade pancakes feature cinnamon-sugar swirls and are topped with a cream cheese glaze. Perfect for weekends, holidays or even breakfast for dinner.
What You’ll Need
Cinnamon roll pancakes are made from a handful of ingredients you probably already have in your pantry and refrigerator. A full list of ingredients with measurements for this recipe is available in the printable recipe card below.
- Salted butter
- Brown sugar
- Ground cinnamon
- Cream cheese
- Powdered sugar
- Whole milk
- Vanilla extract
- All purpose flour
- Sugar
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Kosher salt
- Eggs
- Neutral oil
5S Philosophy 👩🏻
- Salt – I use salted butter to make the cinnamon swirl, so I don’t find that any additional salt is needed; however, you can always add a pinch of fine sea salt to the dry ingredients if you’d like.
- Seasonings – To really amplify the cinnamon flavor, try sprinkling some cinnamon or nutmeg into the dry ingredients.
- Sauces – Of course these cinnamon roll pancakes are delicious topped with the cream cheese glaze written in the recipe, but also try maple syrup, or even dutch honey syrup.
- Senses – Warm and fluffy, these cinnamon roll pancakes swirl with gooey brown sugar and spice, filling the air with sweet bakery aromas and melting on your tongue with creamy icing in every bite.
Pancake Tips and Tricks
Making pancakes, even these cinnamon roll pancakes, isn’t too challenging, but here are some helpful tips and tricks to make it a breeze.
- Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately. It’s important to get the eggs incorporated into the other wet ingredients so you don’t have stray bits of egg white in your pancakes. Also, this will help you not overmix the batter once combined and will ensure that the red color is consistent throughout your pancakes.
- Don’t overmix the pancake batter! Lumps are OK in this batter—we just want the ingredients incorporated so you can pour them onto the griddle.
- Wipe off the pan between rounds of pancakes, then brush it with butter or oil before making more. Why? This will prevent any cinnamon-sugar that’s seeped out of the pancakes from burning in the skillet and making the rest of your pancakes bitter.
- When do you know how to flip your pancakes? When big ‘ol bubbles start to form in the batter. Lift up the edge a little bit with a spatula to confirm the color on the other side before committing… because when you flip them, you won’t flip them again. (Yep. We only need to flip our pancakes once.)
Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
A twist on the brunch classic, these Cinnamon Roll Pancakes with cinnamon-sugar swirls & are topped with a cream cheese glaze! So delicious!
Servings: pancakes
Equipment
Ingredients
Cinnamon Sugar Swirl
- 5 tablespoons salted butter , melted and cooled slightly
- 8 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Cream Cheese Glaze
- 4 oz. cream cheese , softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pancake Recipe
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons neutral oil , like vegetable or canola oil
Instructions
Make the Cinnamon Sugar Swirl
- Combine the melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
- Stir until mixed well.
- Transfer to a plastic bag or a piping bag, and set aside. (This will help us swirl the mixture into the pancakes without a lot of messiness. We’ll snip the bag when it’s time.)
- Let this sit for 20-30 minutes.
Make the Cream Cheese Glaze
- Combine the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract in the base of your food processor or a blender.
- Blend until smooth.
- Set aside until it’s time to serve your pancakes. (You can also make this ahead of time, so you can store it in a food-safe container in the refrigerator.)
Make the Pancakes
- Measure the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. Whisk together until incorporated, and set aside.
- Measure the milk, eggs, vanilla extract and oil into a smaller bowl. Use a fork to stir together until combined. Make sure the egg yolk and white are incorporated.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined with a rubber spatula. Be careful not to overmix, as this will affect the texture of the pancakes. Don’t fret about lumps—they’re OK.
- Once the batter has been mixed, heat a nonstick skillet or a griddle over medium heat. Brush the pan with melted butter or unflavored cooking spray.
- Dollop the pancakes onto the preheated skillet when ready using a cookie scoop or a measuring cup.
- Snip a small corner off the piping/plastic bag, and swirl the cinnamon-sugar mixture on top of the pancakes. Cover with another small scoop of pancake batter. (Doing this step will ensure the cinnamon-sugar mixture stays inside your pancake.)
- When several bubbles have formed on the surface, flip the pancakes, and cook through.
- Wipe down the skillet between pancakes with a wet towel or cloth, and rebutter it each time. Why? This will ensure they don’t stick or become a mess.
- Repeat until all of the pancakes have been made.
- Stack the pancakes onto plates and serve with the cream cheese glaze.
- If you've tried this recipe, come back and let us now how it was in the comments or ratings!
Notes
Here are a few tips to making the best pancakes at home:
- Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately. It’s important to get the eggs incorporated into the other wet ingredients so you don’t have stray bits of egg white in your pancakes. Also, this will help you not overmix the batter once combined and will ensure that the red color is consistent throughout your pancakes.
- Don’t overmix the pancake batter! Lumps are OK—we just want the ingredients just incorporated.
- Wipe off the pan between rounds of pancakes, then brush it with butter or oil before making more. This will prevent any cinnamon-sugar that’s seeped out of the pancakes from burning in the skillet and making the rest of your pancakes bitter.
Nutrition
Calories: 229 kcal, Carbohydrates: 31 g, Protein: 4 g, Fat: 10 g, Saturated Fat: 6 g, Trans Fat: 1 g, Cholesterol: 54 mg, Sodium: 244 mg, Potassium: 170 mg, Fiber: 1 g, Sugar: 18 g, Vitamin A: 372 IU, Vitamin C: 1 mg, Calcium: 100 mg, Iron: 1 mg
Did you make this recipe?I’d love to see your recipes – snap a picture and mention @savoryexperiments or tag #savoryexperiments!
Storage and Freezing
How to store?
Line a baking sheet with wax paper, and pop them in the freezer for 4-6 hours. When the pancakes are fully frozen, transfer them to a freezer baggie. Reheat in the toaster oven, toaster or the oven until warm.
Can I freeze cinnamon roll pancakes?
Pancakes are surprisingly freezer friendly. Wait until they are fully cooled and then place them in an airtight plastic bag separated by wax or parchment paper. This prevents them from sticking to one another so you can just take out one at a time.
To reheat, wrap in a paper towel and heat in the microwave at 75% power for 20-25 seconds or place in a hot skillet for 1 minute on each side. The stove top is less likely to create rubbery pancakes whether they are frozen or just leftovers.
More Delicious Pancake Recipes
Pancakes for breakfast are always a go to for me! Here are some of my favorite pancake recipes.
Your recipe is perfect. They were fluffy, the brown sugar cinnamon swirl was crispy. I made and served them for Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday dinner with bacon and sausage links. What an indulgent pre-Lent dinner! But, as I’ve experienced when I’ve made similar, they’re super messy. So for the next time, I decided to make them as sheet pan pancakes for my family of 7. I experimented with swirl on the bottom of the parchment lined pan on half, and swirl on top for the other half. They were both delicious, with a slight edge given to swirl on top. The swirl stayed intact and still had that slight crispness!
Nothing quite beats pancakes on the griddle, but for my large family and the mess avoided, sheet pan is definitely a great option! (I used a half sheet pan for each recipe, baked at 425 for 16 minutes. )
My family loved these pancakes. I used boxed pancake mix and made it to the consistency That my family likes. It was a hit especially for our 1 year old that doesn’t care for pancakes.
The batter was too liquify. I had to keep adding flour to make it the right consistency.
Thanks for the feedback, Rachel- we will have our recipe testers go back and take a look. We usually have each recipe made at least 2 times per recipe before posting it.
My kids will love these pancakes! Can’t wait to try them!
These were the perfect way to satisfy a cinnamon roll craving without having to make any dough! Loved every bite.
These pancakes look absolutely delicious and scrumptious! My daughter and hubby are going to be all over these pancakes, so excited to give these a try for breakfast today!
Pancakes and cinnamon rolls are both awesome as they are. Who would have thought that mixing them together would feel and taste this heavenly?? Thank you so much for sharing this, I just tried this!
These sound fantastic. Also, much quicker to put together than a batch of homemade cinnamon rolls. Thanks for the recipe!