Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes

The very first recipe I ever posted on this blog was my favorite pancake recipe. And I still love it and use it all the time - for myself and all the Pancakes with the Princess meals. And in fact, it is used in this recipe too! This is just the ultimate twist on pancakes.


I found this recipe on the It's a Keeper blog. It's one of my new favorite blogs to use for recipe hunts. I made these for the first time when I had Ronda over for dinner, and she and I fell in LOVE with this recipe. It takes a little bit of extra time beyond the prep for regular pancakes, but TRUST ME. You will be so very glad you took the time. These will revolutionize your pancake life. I'm so not even kidding.
The Recipe


** In addition to what is listed below, gather all the ingredients for your favorite regular pancake recipe. This is the link to mine. **


1 stick of butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons cinnamon
2 cups powdered sugar
2 ounces cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 Tablespoons milk

In a microwave safe bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until smooth. Microwave on high for 10 second increments until it is soft and can be squeezed through a bag. Transfer mixture into a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off.

Pour pancake batter onto hot griddle. Pipe cinnamon mixture onto batter in a swirl shape. When pancakes are lightly browned, flip and cook until done.

Using the hand mixer, mix powdered sugar, cream cheese, vanilla, and milk until smooth and pour the icing into a Ziploc bag. Squeeze it over the cooked pancakes.
Here are the ingredients listed above. The pancake ingredients aren't shown.

I actually slightly melted the butter first and then added the brown sugar and cinnamon. (I also only made half a batch because I only made half a batch of the pancakes.) I learned not to completely melt the butter or it will be too runny to work with when piping.

I stirred them all together with a spoon, making sure to blend the softened butter in well. It made a really thick paste - not quite as thick as peanut butter.

I just spooned it into a sandwich bag and crammed it all down into the corner.

I slightly softened the cream cheese and then poured the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla in with it.

I started out stirring with the spoon but did use the mixer (I was on the phone and forgot to take a picture of that part) to end up making sure it was smooth. Then I poured it into a baggie. It was pretty runny. I could have used a little more cream cheese.

This is the pancake batter. Because this recipe took more time to make than plain pancakes, and I have been making it for company, I learned that I can mix up all three parts (the cinnamon mix, the cream cheese mix, and the pancake batter) and just leave them until it's time to eat - and then I just start pouring. Works great!

Warning: These pancakes are VERY rich. So it's probably a good idea to make them smaller. I was able to get three in my skillet, which is not very big.

After some bubbles began to form on the top, I snipped the corner of the baggie and swirled on the cinnamon mixture.

Then I flipped them. (Please note I do not always flip gracefully. Oh well. I'm not trying to win a magazine cover.)

When flipped back over, here's what they look like. The cinnamon mixture sort of caramelizes. It's amazing.

I scooped them onto a plate, cinnamon side up and drizzled on the cream cheese mixture.

Happiness on a plate. No syrup needed. Seriously.