Cinnamon roll pancakes with maple cream cheese glaze

If you ever needed a reason to eat pancakes, today is the day! It’s National Pancake Day! I decided I wanted to make something super decadent to celebrate this special day. Immediately the first thing that came to my mind was cinnamon roll pancakes!

There’s a restaurant in Bloomington on Kirkwood Avenue called Village Deli. Village Deli has the most amazing, bigger-than-your-head pancakes. And even better, they have cinnamon roll pancakes! It is life-changing. And since I haven’t been to Village Deli since I graduated in 2013, I NEEED to recreate it!

I started scouring the internet to figure out how I could recreate this blissful breakfast item. And after some research, I discovered that you could essentially turn any pancake into a cinnamon roll pancake by adding a cinnamon sugar swirl to the batter while it’s cooking. Genius, right?!

And of course, cinnamon roll pancakes wouldn’t be complete without a cream cheese glaze. I made a simple glaze using just butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk, and a little maple syrup. These pancakes are great with just regular maple syrup, but they’re FANTASTIC with cream cheese glaze.

So treat yourself on National Pancake Day by combining two of America’s favorite breakfast foods into one glorious treat!

Cinnamon roll pancakes with cream cheese glaze

Yield: Makes about 8 pancakes

Ingredients

For the cinnamon filling

·      4 tablespoons butter, melted

·      1/3 cup brown sugar (69 grams)

·      1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

For the cream cheese glaze

·      4 tablespoons butter

·      4 ounces cream cheese softened

·      1 cup powdered sugar (126 grams)

·      1/4 cup milk

·      1 teaspoon vanilla extract (can replace with maple extract)

For the pancakes

·      1 cup all-purpose flour (125 grams)

·      3 tablespoons brown sugar (39 grams)

·      2 teaspoons baking powder

·      1/2 teaspoon baking soda

·      1/2 teaspoon salt

·      1 cup sour cream (227 grams)

·      4 tablespoons melted butter

·      1/2 cup milk

·      1 egg

Directions

For the cinnamon filling

1.     Combine melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon in mixing bowl.

2.     Fold a quart-size Ziploc bag over a cup and pour cinnamon sugar mixture into bag. Seal and set aside.

For the cream cheese glaze

1.     In a saucepan on low heat, melt the butter.

2.     Add the cream cheese and whisk until smooth.

3.     Remove from heat and slowly whisk in powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Set aside while you prepare pancakes.

For the pancakes

1.     In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

2.     In a medium bowl, whisk together sour cream, milk, melted butter, and egg.

3.     Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and gently mix until just combined. DO NOT OVERMIX.

4.     Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Use 1/4 cup measuring cup (or an ice cream scoop) to add batter to the pan. Let the pancakes set on the skillet for about 2 minutes.

5.     Snip the corner of your bag of cinnamon filling. Starting at the center of the pancake, squeeze the filling on top of the pancake batter to form a large swirl. Do not get to close to the edge of the pancake.

6.     Let pancakes cook about 3 more minutes, or until the bubbles begin popping on top of the pancake and the underside is golden brown. Slide a thin, wide metal spatula under the pancake and gently flip.

7.     Cook an additional 3 minutes, or until the other side is gold brown as well.

8.     Remove pancake from skillet and put them on a plate, swirl side up.

9.     Before cooking the next batch of pancakes, wipe all cinnamon sugar filling from the griddle.

10. Drizzle cream cheese glaze on top of pancakes and serve warm.

Recipe adapted from No. 2 Pencil