How to make cinnamon pancakes inspired by warm, gooey cinnamon rolls. This is not your typical pancake recipe.
These cinnamon pancakes are everything we love about a big, warm, gooey cinnamon roll wrapped up into pancakes.
We start with the fluffiest cinnamon pancakes and drizzle sweet cream cheese glaze on top. The cinnamon makes them warm and spicy, and the glaze makes them sweet and gooey. Amazing!
How to Make the Best Cinnamon Pancakes
The batter for our cinnamon pancakes has a whole tablespoon of cinnamon added. The extra spice from the cinnamon is delicious, especially since we’re topping them with a sweet cream cheese glaze.
Look at the batter below. It’s super thick, and that’s a good thing. That’s okay. These pancakes are incredibly fluffy and are pretty thick (you could thin them out with a little more milk if you wanted). They are almost cake-like and inspired by these easy fluffy pancakes.
You could stop there, but why not add a cinnamon roll glaze? It is super simple to make. Combine melted butter, cream cheese, vanilla extract, powdered sugar, and milk.
Whisk it all together, then add milk to thin it out to a consistency that allows you to drizzle the glaze all over the pancakes. Add as much or as little to the pancakes as you like. We even added a little crunch with pecans, but that’s totally up to you!
You could stop there, but why not add a cinnamon roll glaze? It is really simple to make. It’s melted butter, cream cheese, vanilla extract, powdered sugar, and milk.
Everything gets whisked together then milk is added to thin it out to a consistency that allows you to drizzle the glaze all over the pancakes. Add as much or as little to the pancakes as you like. We even added a little crunch with pecans, but that’s totally up to you!
Cinnamon Pancakes
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
My family loves this cinnamon pancake recipe. Since cinnamon rolls inspire them, the batter adds a whole tablespoon of cinnamon, and then we top the cooked pancakes with a sweet cream cheese glaze.
You Will Need
Cinnamon Pancakes1 ½ cups (195g) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ¼ cups (295ml) milk
1 large egg
3 tablespoons (42g) butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup chopped pecans, optional
Cream Cheese Glaze4 tablespoons (56g) butter
3 ounces (85g) cream cheese
1 ½ cups (170g) powdered sugar, sifted
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 4 tablespoons milk
Directions
- Make Pancakes
1Melt the butter and set it aside.
2In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
3In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla extract. (Don’t worry if the butter solidifies slightly).
4Create a well in the center of your dry ingredients. Pour in the milk mixture and stir gently with a fork until the flour is just incorporated. A few small lumps are okay. As the batter sits, it should start to bubble.
5Place a large skillet or griddle over medium heat. Sprinkle in a few drops of water to test if it’s ready. You want them to dance around a bit and evaporate.
6Brush the skillet with melted butter (this creates crispy edges, but you can skip it if using a quality nonstick pan).
7Scoop the batter onto the skillet using a ¼ cup measure or large cookie scoop, and spread each pancake into a 4-inch circle.
8After 1 to 2 minutes, the edges will look dry, and bubbles will form and pop on the surface. Flip the pancakes and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes until lightly browned and cooked in the middle.
- Make Glaze
1Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove pan from heat, then whisk in the cream cheese. It will look separated at first, but it will come together in a thick paste after whisking.
2Whisk in the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and 2 tablespoons of milk. You want to be able to drizzle the glaze over the pancakes. If it’s too thick, add another tablespoon or two of milk.
3Serve warm pancakes drizzled with the glaze and topped with chopped nuts (if using).
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Measuring flour: Fluff the flour in its container, then gently scoop it into your measuring cup until slightly mounded. Level off the top with a knife for accurate measuring. For even more accuracy, use a scale and measure the flour by weight (in grams).
- Best baking powder: Use aluminum-free baking powder (Rumford and Bob’s Red Mill are examples), as they prevent the tinny flavor that can appear when baking powder is used in higher quantities (like in this recipe). I use Bob’s Red Mill baking powder in this recipe with great results.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. Estimates are likely a bit high, but I’ve included all the glaze in the recipe above.
Am I able to use shortening as a substitute for butter
We love the flavor that butter adds to these pancakes, but yes, you can use shortening if that is all that you have on hand.
I usually dont care for pancakes but these gave me a new found love for them. Thank you!
Amazing! 🙂
I haven’t made these yet. I made the plain fluffy pancakes and I can’t stop eating them. My son loves them as well. Can I make them with a different type of flour? If so how much will it change the pancakes? 🥞
It depends on the flour. An all-purpose gluten-free flour is great as is whole wheat flour. Other flours like coconut or almond will require changes to the liquid in the batter.
Thank you so much for sharing. Blessing to both of you.
WOW! Just WOW! These cinnamon pancakes are superbly delicious! I made the cream cheese glaze first, but instead of milk, I used 10% cream. Then, when I made the pancakes, I mistakingly used white sugar instead of brown sugar, but they still came out tasting great, I also used 10% cream for the pancakes & they still came out wonderful. BUT, next time I make them, I will use actual milk for the cream cheese glaze !
So happy you enjoyed them Bernice! Thank you for coming back and letting us know.
Hey! I was just wondering i can make any other glaze that goes on top without cream cheese. I love cinnamon rolls cream cheese glaze but right now i am short of cream cheese. Can u please guide me what should i do now. Can i make any other glaze or just substitute cream cheese and make it with icing sugar and milk only??
Hi there, mix a few tablespoons of powdered sugar with a little bit of milk or cream. Add the milk in very small amounts until the mixture is pourable. You can also add a tiny pinch of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla for more flavor. We use a similar glaze for these pumpkin scones.
Can you substitute Almond milk instead of milk?
Yes.
As someone who has tested quite a few different styles/flavors of pancakes, this recipe is possibly the best I’ve ever tasted. It’s super simple to make and the resulting pancakes are fluffy and light. The pancakes by themselves have a distinct cinnamon flavor and are only slightly sweet, so they’re complemented really well by the sweet glaze.
slap LOVED these cinnamon pancakes!!! I cried when he tried them. These pancakes were stupid thick, and had PERFECT amount of cinnamon. You are truly a blessing for creating this wonderful recipe. My whole family is in LOVE.
Hey I loved these pancakes and I was just wondering how many calories do you think there are in the whole 8 pancakes or per pancake?
Delicious!! My son found your recipe and made it for Mother’s Day lunch. We all loved it.
I’ve been making these for awhile because my son loves them. He doesn’t like much but he loves the pancake.
In your basic pancake recipe, a fork was used to incorporate wet mix into the dry. Is it okay to whisk with this recipe? Will it make the pancake heavier if whisked? Sorry, I’m a novice in the kitchen so I’m following everything down to a tee 😉
Hi Suzi, A fork or whisk can be used. When whisking, whisk until the batter looks incorporated. If there are a few bits of flour, that’s okay.
Delicious. I tripled the sauce accidentally. Just added all Ingrdients together with triple the cinnamon. Delicious.
I found these looking for recipe for breakfast. My husband hates pancakes, but pancakes from scratch are something quick and easy for me. He cringed when I told him what we were having, but after trying them, he wants them every morning. I followed the recipe exactly. They are amazing.
YUM made this for my husbands birthday this morning was a great hit! I did add cinnamon into the glaze to add extra flavor, will keep the glaze for the next breakfast for on top of the French toast
We loved the thicker batter because they puffed up light and fluffy when they were done. We didn’t even make the icing and used maple syrup instead. I backed off the cinnamon a little for lack of icing and they turned out perfect. Family agreed they were amazing.
hi,
this recipe sounds great. i just wanted to check the serving size: does this only yield 4 pancakes?
also, can the cream cheese glaze leftovers (if there are any!) be stored in the fridge? how long do you think it’ll keep?
thanks!
Hi there, Sorry for the confusion! The recipe should yield 7 to 8 pancakes (we originally meant that it would serve 4 to 4 people). The recipe is updated now!
If you do have glaze leftover, you can store it in the fridge. It should last in the fridge about 1 week and can be frozen (if stored in an airtight container) for a couple months. When you are ready to use it, let it come to room temperature and whisk well.
Oh. My. Wow!! I have autistic twin sons. One is borderline failure to thrive because food textures and flavors are disgusting to him. we had him in a feeding clinic and he went from eating 4 foods to 14. Now we added another GIANT ONE to the list with this recipe!! He wants them day and night. I can’t make them fast enough!! He doesn’t use the frosting but lite syrup. That kid is IN LOVE! The cinnamon knocks it outta the park. I cried when he tried it. And loved it. You’ve no idea. Except now I use a bit more milk and we make waffles. Sorry for the diatribe. I just wanted you to know how one recipe can change a family.
God Bless you, Jenn and family! You’re comment brought tears to my eyes. I will always think of you and you’re twin blessings when I make these. Stay strong and keep doing what you’re doing, mama! And thank you for sharing.
This recipe wasn’t for me. The massive amount of cinnamon made me VERY nauseous, I couldn’t even finish making the recipe and the pancakes I had made tasted very bland. :/ maybe I just made it wrong some how
Delicious!!!
I made these pancakes, but didn’t have cream cheese on hand so I used maple syrup and topped with a defrosted mix of frozen berries. I also made a double batch.
These pancakes are ridiculously delicious. The cinnamon and vanilla are the stars of this show, but I would imagine the topping would have been too. They taste like cinnamon rolls!
My husband and daughters loved them. My six year old told me to pat myself on the back for making such yummy pancakes-hilarious.
I recommend trying these if you haven’t. I will be making these again and again.
So happy you loved them Arleen 🙂
Holy wow wow. Boyfriend and I discovered we were out of pancake mix and decided to find a recipe online. I’m so glad we found this one. Absolutely delicious, and I’ll definitely make this again.
I made pancakes from a scratch for the first time, but it went really good! My family liked this pancake recipe especially my 8 years old! I didn’t get to make the glaze, but it was still yummy with mixture of powder sugar and ground cinnamon. Thank you!
yes
Found these yesturday made them after school my family loved them. But I used my waffle iron and the little waffled held all the cream cheese glaze. They were sooo good may never make cinnamon rolls again so easy and were a real treat
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It’s a snowy, cold February morning. I’ve been good (dietary wise) long enough now to know I need to splurge soon or I’ll fall off the wagon. A quick google search for cinnamon pancakes revealed this recipe, so I gave it a go. They were HUGE hit with the family! I doubled the recipe thinking I could freeze some, but they were all eaten in one sitting. Very tasty–and like Nikki said, “fluffy, moist, and dense all at the same time”. I used (because it’s all I had) FF cream cheese, light margarine, and liquid egg substitute and the pancakes were still delicious despite these substitutions.
I did freak out slightly when I was making the pancakes and came across this line, ” Don’t be surprised if the pancake batter bubbles a bit, that is from the baking soda. ” The recipe didn’t call for baking soda! Since it all turned out fine, I assume it’s a typo?
Hi Megan – So glad you liked them! Sorry about our mistake to say “baking soda” – it should have read “baking powder.” Fixed now 🙂
I made these for dinner tonight. My husband, 3 year old daughter and I loved them. They were fluffy, moist, and dense all at the same time. The 1tbsp of cinnamon wasn’t overbearing at all, and actually, I added cinnamon chips to the batter. For me, the sweeter the better. The glaze was a perfect “syrup”-I think I added a tad bit more milk then what the recipe called for. Other than that and the chips, I made it as is. Thanks!
So yummy! So easy to make, too!
Okay, these were ridiculously delicious. I doubled the recipe and served these Christmas morning and they were easily the star of the meal. Thanks!
You forgot to add the powdered sugar in your glaze
To make the glaze, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove pan from heat then whisk in the cream cheese. It will look separated at first, but after whisking will come together into a thick paste. [this is where the sugar would be added] Add vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of the milk. Whisk then check the consistency. You want to be able to drizzle the glaze over the pancakes. If it’s too thick, add another tablespoon or two of milk.
Thank you for catching the mistake. I just updated the recipe to include powdered sugar.
I made these this weekend and they were fantastic. I will definately make them again. I loved the density and thickness of the pancake, very tasty and moist. Topping was great too.
These look absolutely delicious! Wonderfully warming on a cold winter morning.
I am going to make thse for my sister tomorrow, she loved the cinnamon pancakes we had at brunch at our apartment complex.
Mmmmm, these look fabulous! Anything cinnamon roll-flavored is a-okay in my book!