Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

I found this delightful little recipe on facebook. 

A friend of mine had shared it and I'm always in need of new breakfast ideas.  Let me tell you, it did not disappoint! 

I love this recipe because it doesn't require a lot of strange ingredients.  I had everything on hand the first time I made them.  

Ingredients:

For the pancakes: 

4 c. flour

8 t. baking powder

2 t. salt

4 c. milk

4 T. vegetable oil

4 lg eggs, lightly beaten

For the cinnamon filling:

1 c. butter, melted

1 1/2 c. brown sugar

2 T. cinnamon

For the cream cheese glaze:

1/2 c. butter

4 oz. cream cheese

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 t. vanilla

Directions:

Combine melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon in ziploc bag.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  In another bowl combine milk, oil, and eggs.  Stir all ingredients togther until just moistened.  Batter will be lumpy.

In a microwave bowl, melt butter and cream cheese.  Stir together.  Whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla.  Add milk if needed. 

Heat griddle to 325 degrees.  (too hot will make the cinnamon burn.)  Pour batter on griddle for desired-size pancakes.  Snip corner of the ziploc bag containing the cinnamon filling and pipe onto pancake in a swirl starting at the center of the pancake.  Wait until pancake has lots of bubbles before turning.  Drizzle warm pancakes with cream cheese glaze and serve immediately.

In my test kitchen:

The first two times I made these pancakes, everything went smoothly.  But for some reason when I made them for some friends this weekend, it was a disaster!  My first tip:  DON'T SNIP TOO MUCH OFF THE CORNER OF THE ZIPLOC BAG!  As soon as I snipped the corner, I instantly knew it was too big and wouldn't pipe well onto the pancake.  So I tried to transfer the filling to a new bag.  Wow.  What a mess.  My hands had cinnamon and butter all over them and it was all over the counter.  By the time I got it transfered the pancakes on the griddle were too cooked to let the cinnamon settle into the batter.  So then when I tried to flip the pancakes, the cinnamon filling just melted all over the griddle and there was no visible swirl in the pancake.  So I recommend snipping (a tiny) corner off the bag just BEFORE you put the batter on the griddle.  You should also be sure to pipe the cinnamon filling onto the pancake immediately after getting your batter on the griddle. 

When I made these the first time I wondered why the instructions called to prepare the cinnamon mixture first.  I did as it said and my cinnamon piped really easily onto the batter.  I had been worried that I would need to reheat the filling just before I piped it but then I realized it needs to be sort of cold and settled in order to pipe well.  The mixture needs to harden just a bit so it doesn't run all over the pancake. 

I have also had some trouble with the glaze.  I don't think cream cheese likes to melt down very well in a microwave.  It kept turning out a little lumpy.  So this last time I melted the cream cheese and butter down in a saucepan and I added a couple tablespoons of milk at the beginning of the melt down.  Then I whisked in the powedered sugar and vanilla and added a little more milk.  It turned out much smoother.  So I would suggest doing it on the stove instead.

Also, this recipe makes a lot of pancakes.  I mean A LOT!  I halved the recipe and it still made at least 20 pancakes.  I guess it depends on how big you make them. 

~Happy Cooking!