Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes are made with a basic pancake batter with added nutmeg and a pinch of sugar with a delicious swirl of cinnamon and brown sugar and topped with a buttery icing to seriously take pancake mornings to the next level.
I think my family is pretty typical with that we love having a big breakfast every Sunday morning. The perfect Sunday morning for me starts with sleeping in longer than normal and taking my time getting out of bed. Then, heading to the kitchen in my pajamas to whip up some breakfast for everyone.
These Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes are a great Sunday morning breakfast that kids and adults both love. They taste like cinnamon rolls but in pancake form with lots of cinnamon and buttery goodness. I think this is where I insert [happy dance]. I put an icing on top instead of butter or syrup but you can certainly pick a maple syrup if you choose.
Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes
Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes look like they have a lot of ingredients but they are really basic ones and come together easily. The only downer is all the dishes (you need 3 mixing bowls) but trust me when I say that it is totally worth it!
Tips & Tricks
The only tip I have for you today is to stay organized. Get out your 3 mixing bowls and make each item individually before beginning to cook. If you do that- this recipe is a breeze and anyone can make these yummy pancakes!

Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes
- Yield: 15 pancakes 1x
Description
Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes are made with a basic pancake batter with added nutmeg and a pinch of sugar with a delicious swirl of cinnamon and brown sugar and topped with a buttery icing to seriously take pancake mornings to the next level. Recipe adapted from Food Network.
Ingredients
Pancake batter
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup whole milk
- 2 eggs
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter (melted)
Cinnamon Swirl
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter (melted)
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
Icing
- 1 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
- 3 Tablespoons whole milk
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter (melted)
- salt
Instructions
Pancake batter
- In a large mixing bowl, add flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Whisk those dry ingredients together.
- Add vanilla extract, milk, and eggs. Whisk together.
- Melt 3 Tablespoons butter in a small microwavable safe bowl for about 20 seconds. Pour the melted butter into the pancake batter and whisk again. Set to the side.
Cinnamon Swirl
- Whisk together brown sugar and ground cinnamon in a small mixing bowl.
- Melt 5 Tablespoons butter in a small microwavable safe bowl for about 20 seconds. Pour the melted butter into the cinnamon mix and whisk again.
- Pour the cinnamon swirl mixture into a sandwich bag and seal. When you are ready to use just cut a small section of the corner tip to use.
Icing
- In a third mixing bowl, whisk together confectioners sugar, 3 Tablespoons milk and just a pinch of salt.
- Melt 4 Tablespoons butter in a small microwavable safe bowl for about 20 seconds. Pour the melted butter into the icing mix and whisk again.
Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes
- Pre-heat griddle to 375 degrees.
- Measure out 1/4 cup pancake batter and place onto griddle. Repeat this for as many pancakes will fit on your griddle.
- Use the cinnamon swirl mix from the cut sandwich to create a swirl on each pancake starting from the center.
- Cook for 2 minutes and flip.
- Cook another 1 minute, 30 seconds.
- Serve with a drizzle of icing.
Notes
Feel like the sugar is getting slightly “burnt”? Adjust cook time of each side. Cook longer on side without cinnamon swirl, then flip to side with cinnamon for very short time to finish pancake.
Hmmm.. I’m. Pretty decent cook but sadly I had trouble with them. First of all I have to admit my griddle sticks. It’s cast iron and I’ve had trouble with pancakes sticking before, so I greased it well and it didn’t stick but here’s what happened. There needs to be more mentioned about getting the cinnamon mixture smooth. Because it was grainy it didn’t flow, it came out in plops and ruined the design. Any cinnamon mixture that hit the pan burned because of the the butter / sugar. I’m pretty bummed because I need to wait for the griddle to cool and see if I can salvage the rest of the batter and cinnamon swirl but I think I may have to make more since the first first batch are ruined as they all got burnt bottoms from the melting cinnamon, which stuck like burnt sugar…
★★★
A cast iron may not be best for this particular recipe. You may have better luck with a non-stick!
I had similar issues with the sugar clumping/burning and I used a non-stick pan. Tasted okay but more it tasted of burnt caramel than cinnamon.
★★★
Okay, I added a note about the cook time of each side. Cooking non swirl side longer and swirled side shorter, could combat this.
Enjoy! 🙂
★★★★★
Wow! These look amazing, what a great idea combining cinnamon buns into pancake form, absolute genius!!! Great for a lazy Sunday morning!!
★★★★★
Yes. The kids love waking up to these on the weekends.
Step aside boring pancakes because these swirl pancakes are now my go-to weekend breakfast.
★★★★★
Right? It is a family favorite.
Perfect breakfast pancakes! I love cinnamon swirl and nutmeg flavors 🙂
These sound absolutely incredible! I’m going to make my husband whip these up this weekend!
This looks delicious!! Will be putting this on my to-make list!
Holy yum these look amazing!
Totally making these this weekend– yum!!
I cannot wait to make these on weekend mornings. I am cinnamon OBSESSED.
Perfect pancakes for the weekend! I think you will really like the touch of cinnamon in these.