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These decadent Cinnamon Roll Pancakes are made with vanilla cake batter swirled with cinnamon sugar, and topped with toffee sauce and cream cheese frosting. They are an over-the-top treat to serve for a birthday or special occasion.

Instead of using pancake batter to make the Cinnamon Roll Pancakes, I used vanilla cake batter. The trick is to add less liquid than called for to create a thick batter. Then I added a swirl of cinnamon sugar while the pancakes were cooking. Once cooked, I topped the pancakes with a drizzle of toffee sauce, a dollop of cream cheese frosting, and a scoop of toasted walnuts.

The inspiration behind these Cinnamon Roll Pancakes is the Dream Cakes that I had at Besaw’s in Portland, Oregon. The Besaw’s “Dream Cakes” are also cinnamon roll pancakes with toffee sauce, cream cheese frosting, and walnuts. I think that they are called Dream Cakes because they taste like a dream come true – which is why I had to learn how to make them myself.

I do want to let you know that making Cinnamon Roll Pancakes does require a time commitment.  It took me about an hour from start to finish. Mixing up the vanilla cake batter takes no time at all, but then you need to make the cinnamon sugar for the swirl, the toffee sauce, and the cream cheese frosting. It makes a little mess, and it takes a little longer than most pancake recipes, but it is totally worth it.

If you want to save time, you can definitely use store-bought caramel sauce and cream cheese frosting. You don’t have to make everything from scratch. You could also opt to just top the cinnamon roll pancakes with maple syrup.

Two of my girl friends came over once the pancakes were ready, and they eagerly dug right in, and couldn’t stop eating them. This recipe was certainly a hit!

When I was testing this recipe I learned that there is a secret to adding the cinnamon swirl. You need to let the pancake cook for a minute or two first. If you add the swirl right away, the cinnamon sugar will sink to the bottom of the pancake, potentially burn, and made it more challenging to flip the pancake. Waiting to add the cinnamon swirl proved to be the solution to the problem. I recommend adding the cinnamon sugar to a piping bag to plastic bag and cutting a small hole in the corner to add the cinnamon swirls.

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Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

These decadent Cinnamon Roll Pancakes are made with vanilla cake batter swirled with cinnamon sugar, and topped with toffee sauce and cream cheese frosting. They are an over-the-top treat to serve for a birthday or special occasion.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

For the Pancakes:

• 1 Box of Vanilla Cake Mix
• plus the ingredients called for on the box
• Butter for the pan

For the Cinnamon Swirl:

• 1/2 cup Melted Butter
• 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 tablespoon Cinnamon

For the Toffee Sauce:

• 1/4 cup Butter
• 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/4 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 4 ounces Cream Cheese
• 4 tablespoons of Butter
• 1 cup Powdered Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla

Optional: Toasted Walnuts

Instructions

1. First, prepare the cake batter. The trick for using cake batter to make pancakes is to add less liquid than it calls for on the box. I used a box that called for 1 cup of water and 1/2 cup of vegetable oil. I added only 1/2 cup of water and it was the perfect thickness. If you are using a mix that calls for slightly different ingredients, just add 1/2 cup less liquid. Set the batter aside while you prep the other ingredients.
2. To make the cinnamon sugar for the cinnamon swirl, just whisk all the ingredients together. Pour into a pastry bag or plastic bag and slice a small hole in the tip.
3. For the toffee sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar, and stir frequently until the mixture becomes golden brown. Then whisk in the cream and vanilla. Let simmer and thicken until the sauce is thick enough to stick on the back of a spoon. Keep warm over very low heat.
4. To prepare the cream cheese frosting, beat the cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer. Once whipped, melt the butter, and slowly add it in while the mixer is running. Once the butter and cream cheese are well mixed, add the powdered sugar and vanilla and mix until smooth.
5. Now it is time to make the pancakes. I recommend making them one by one. Add just a small slice of butter to a non-stick skillet and heat over medium heat. Once the butter melts add a little less than 1/3 cup of the batter to the skillet. Let the pancake cook for 1-2 minutes and then add a swirl of the cinnamon sugar. Let the pancake continue cooking until some bubbles form on top and the pancake is golden brown. Use a spatula to flip the pancake and let it cook for another 1-2 minutes.
   
6. Follow this process making pancakes one by one, adding more butter to the skillet as necessary. You will end up with about 10-12 large pancakes.
7. Top the pancakes with a drizzle of the toffee sauce, a dollop of the cream cheese frosting, and some toasted walnuts. Enjoy the sugar high.

Recipe Notes

When I was testing this recipe I learned that there is a secret to adding the cinnamon swirl. You need to let the pancake cook for a minute or two first. If you add the swirl right away, the cinnamon sugar will sink to the bottom of the pancake, potentially burn, and made it more challenging to flip the pancake. Waiting to add the cinnamon swirl proved to be the solution to the problem. I recommend adding the cinnamon sugar to a piping bag to plastic bag and cutting a small hole in the corner to add the cinnamon swirls.