Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

I was craving cinnamon rolls all week so decided to try these for breakfast on Valentines day. If you click on the pin on my board, it takes you here, but the actual recipe is from Recipe Girl. 

 

I was thinking that I would just make my normal pancakes and add the cinnamon swirl to it.  I saw this after the recipe:

Quick and easy tip: Use a boxed pancake mix as the base for this recipe.

Read my mind!  Here's what I used (and I added chia seeds to it):

 

The finished pancake batter:

So I followed the directions for the cinnamon swirl mix: 

CINNAMON FILLING:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, just melted (not boiling)
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Prepare the cinnamon filling: In a medium bowl, stir together the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Scoop the filling into a quart-sized heavy zip baggie and set it aside.

I made the filling and then put it in a candy squeeze bottle since I figures it would be easier to use:

Next, I made the glaze:

CREAM CHEESE GLAZE:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2-ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Prepare the glaze: In a small pan, heat the butter over low heat until melted. Turn off the heat and whisk in the cream cheese until it is almost smooth. Sift the powdered sugar into the pan, stir and add in vanilla extract. Set the pan aside while you make the pancakes.

I did this the easy way and put the butter in the microwave to melt it!

The directions:

Cook the pancakes: Heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium-heat and spray with nonstick spray.

I used olive oil in a Misto sprayer.  

Use an ice cream scoop (or 1/3 cup measuring cup) to add the batter to the pan. Use the bottom of the scoop or cup to spread the batter into a circle (about 4-inches in diameter).

I estimated and got 9 pancakes, so mine were slightly smaller.

 Reduce the heat to medium low. When your pancake begins to form bubbles, add the filling. Starting at the center of the pancake, squeeze the filling on top of the pancake batter in a swirl (just as you see in a regular cinnamon roll).

*Tips for the cinnamon filling: Before swirling, open up the baggie again and give it a good stir to re-incorporate any butter that may have separated from the sugar. You want the mixture to thicken a bit- it's best when it's similar to the squeezing texture of a tube of toothpaste, which will happen if you leave it at room temperature for several minutes. Don't try to use the filling for the pancake swirl unless it has thickened as it will be too runny to make a solid swirl.

Important!  

What happens if you don't mix the filling.  I probably should have paid more attention to the tips.

And then once you mix it:

It started to thicken by the 4th pancake and was hard to squeeze:

So my solution was to keep the filling in hot water to keep it melted.  It worked like a charm:

 

My stack of pancakes:

And with the glaze:

 

Not only did these pancakes smell wonderful, they tasted awesome!  They were like cinnamon rolls without all the extra frosting and sugar.  I offered half of the pancakes to my sister.  She said she would "try one," and ended up eating 4.  Her exact words, "oh my god, these are amazing!" And, the best part: I used high fiber, whole grain mix and added chia seeds, so even with the added butter and sugar, it was decently healthy and didn't taste like it!  These were 10 times better than the cake batter pancakes I tried a couple weeks ago.  These are worthy of a birthday morning tradition!  By the way, I had leftover filling and glaze, so I'm making these pancakes again soon.  :) 

Bottom Line: LOVED IT!!! (Literally the best thing I've tried from Pinterest thus far!)