Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

We are now officially into things I have made since my husband moved to Colorado.  Things he took to Colorado include our (my) camera!  So I am stuck with my seriously old point and shoot. Which is such a shame with amazing breakfasts like this, you get stuck with not great pictures.  But....I will get my camera back, and you will get good pictures again!  It just might be awhile :(

I did it, I finally caved and made Cinnamon Roll Pancakes.  I have seen these all over different blogs.  I do not know where it originated, but whoever came up with it is genius!!  It really was only a matter of time before I tried these.  Pancakes are a big hit at our house, and my 6 year old can barely go a day without something cinnamon.  I knew these would be a huge hit, and they were!  I made these for the first weekend that my husband was gone.  I figured we had made it through 7 days alone, we deserved a special treat! 

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
From RecipeGirl
Printable Recipe

Pancakes:
1 cup  flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 Tbls canola oil
1 egg, lightly beaten

Filling:
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbls cinnamon

Glaze:
4 Tbls butter
2 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

To make Pancakes:Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add milk, oil and egg.  Whisk until just combined (lumps are good).

To make Filling:  Mix butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Put filling into a zip loc bag and set aside.You do not want this to get too liquidy.  About the consistency of toothpaste.  If it gets too hard, you can microwave it for a few seconds.

To make Glaze:  Heat butter and cream cheese until melted. Mix until smooth; whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla.


Heat large skillet or Griddle over medium-low heat. Spray with nonstick spray. Pour about 1/2 cup batter into pan.  Cut the corner of your bag of filling and squeeze a spiral of the filling onto the top of the pancake. Flip carefully when bubbles begin to appear on the surface.  Cook for about another 1-2 minutes.  

Serve with glaze drizzled over pancakes!

Guest Post - Cinnamon Roll Scones

I am so excited to introduce to to Cassie today!  She has a wonderful site over at Bake Your Day where she makes delicious treats, and shares wonderful tips!  Cassie is a sweet, kind, caring and generous friend.  I am very glad to have "met" her!  I think she had me in mind when she came up with this recipe - it is absolutely perfect for my family.  So sit back, relax, and meet Cassie!

Hi guys!  I’m Cassie and I blog about baking, cooking and life over at Bake Your Day.  I love Dinners, Dishes and Desserts and I am so excited to be here blogging for Erin while she is on vacation!  Enjoy my scone recipe and I hope to see you soon at Bake Your Day!  

There aren’t many flavor combinations that I like as much or better than cinnamon and sugar.  If you read my recent cheesecake post it also talked about flavor combinations.  I would normally say that I’m on a combination kick and then my husband, Paul, would make fun of me for saying that I’m on a “kick.”  I do say that often and he likes to make fun of me for it.  Sometimes I get on a roll, and I go with it!  No pun intended there.  But since I mentioned it...

I have always loved cinnamon rolls and my family has always had an incredible knack for making them.  I enjoy making them myself but sometimes I just want the flavor combo without having to take the time to actually make the rolls.  Yes, I could reach for Cinnamon Toast Crunch (my favorite unhealthy cereal) or Cinnamon and Sugar Pop Tarts (also very unhealthy) or just make some plain cinnamon toast.  However, I’ve had scones on my “to-bake list” for a while now so I came up with these, my quick version of the cinnamon roll: a cinnamon roll scone (still not the healthiest but totally worth it!)

As a side note, let me say that I am a huge coffee drinker.  Everyone knows that scones go pretty well with coffee.  “Scones go pretty well with coffee” is an understatement for these beauties.  The cinnamon and sugar is a great compliment for a strong cup of joe. 

The scones came together so quickly.  I learned to love the center of the cinnamon roll the best and these scones reminded me so much of the center of a cinnamon roll.  The texture is that of a scone but they are airy and moist and I wanted to eat the whole batch.  I made the classic icing that my mom always made as a kid.  Super simple and gooey!  And the best part is that these can be ready in as little as 30-40 minutes.  Perfect for a last minute breakfast or morning get-together!

Cassie’s Cinnamon Roll Scones

Ingredients:

For the scones:
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 cup + 2 Tbs. granulated sugar

1/4 tsp. cinnamon
6 Tbs. unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

For the filling and topping:
1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Prep:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Line a medium baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder salt and sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl and combine well with a whisk.  Cut the butter into the dry ingredients using a pastry cutter or two forks.  Continue to mix until the mixture is crumbly and resembles the consistency of sand.

In a small measuring cup, combine the milk and vanilla.  Create a well in the dry ingredients and pour the mixture over the dry ingredients.  Gently stir the dough with a fork just until combined and a cohesive dough forms.

Combine filling ingredients in a small bowl and crumble most of it into the dough.  Gently knead the mixture into the dough, leaving some streaks.  You want it to somewhat resemble the streaks of a cinnamon roll.  You’ll see what I mean. 

Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet and form a large circle, about 8-9 inches in diameter and about 1 inch thick.  Sprinkle the remaining topping over the dough.  Cut into 8 wedges and transfer to the baking sheet.  

Bake for about 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cook slightly on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack. 

Adapted from Baking Bites

My Mom’s Cinnamon Roll Icing

Ingredients:

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 Tbs. milk

1-2 cups powdered sugar

Prep:

Mix vanilla, milk and powdered sugar together in a small bowl.  Stir with a wire whisk or fork until combined.  To reach a thicker consistency, add more powdered sugar.  To thin out, add more milk.  Taste and enjoy! 

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

As you all know by now, we love muffins!  Another thing my son absolutely loves in cinnamon.  I mean just about anything with cinnamon.  Cinnamon rolls, cinnamon toast, cinnamon bagels, cinnamon poptarts, I could go on.  So when I saw The Baker Chick made a Cinnamon Roll Muffin, I hit print immediately!  I knew, this would be a success!  And boy was it ever.  At first bite, my son said this was the best muffin EVER!  I had one too, and they were pretty darn good.  Reminiscent of Cinnabon from the mall food court, which was The Baker Chick's goal when she came up with this brilliant idea!  My Dad absolutely LOVES Cinnabon, so I am thinking I am going to have to make these for him.  I think he will be very impressed.  Oh yeah, they freeze well too!

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

Adapted from The Baker Chick

Printable Recipe

1 cup Buttermilk (I used ½ buttermilk, ½ cup skim)

½ cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ tsp vanilla

1 egg

3 cups flour

Filling

2 Tbls Butter, softened

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Icing

1 cup powdered sugar

2 -3 Tbls milk

½ tsp vanilla

In a bowl combine brown sugar, baking soda, salt, vanilla and egg.  Add in the buttermilk.  I actually had some buttermilk leftover from when I made these.  But, I usually don’t have it around.  I would not hesitate to just use regular milk next time I make them.  Mix together with a fork.  Add the flour.  Stir until it is well combined.  Be careful not to over mix!

Turn the dough onto a floured surface, and knead for about a minute.  Roll the dough into a 12x24 inch rectangle. 

Spread the butter over the dough, and sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon.

Roll the dough into a log, and stretch it slightly.  Cut into 2 inch pieces.  Put them  into a greased muffin tin.  Bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees.  

While they are baking you can put together the icing.  Add the milk slowly to the sugar.  Doesn’t really matter how much you use, just get it to the consistency you want.  Drizzle over the muffins!  

These were so gooey and delicious!  I recommend you make them right now!

This recipe is also posted on Sweet As Sugar Cookies

Elephant Ears

This morning I made the mistake of asking the birthday boy what he would like for his birthday breakfast.  He took full advantage, and picked something we almost never make.  I should have known better, these Elephant Ears are his all time favorite, but I just wasn't thinking.  They are pretty easy, but with just 2 of here, and me trying to stop eating so much after this weekend, we didn't really need them!  Oh well, it is his birthday! 

I had never heard of these before I was in my 20's.  But apparently it is a well known breakfast to make with kids.  My husband made these frequently as a kid.  His mom gave me the recipe, which she got from a magazine years ago.   They are similar to a cinnamon roll, but without the frosting.  The dough is a little different, but they are really good and easy. 

Elephant Ears
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup flour
2 Tbls sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup milk
3 Tbls sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.   Mix the flour, 2 Tbls sugar, salt, and baking powder together.  Stir in the milk, and 3 Tbls of the butter.  Once the dough forms a ball, knead dough about 10 times.  Mix the 3Tbls of sugar and the cinnamon in a separate bowl.

Using a rolling pin, roll the dough on a floured surface into about a 9x5 rectangle.  Spread the remaining 1 Tbls of butter on the dough.  Sprinkle with almost all of the sugar mixture.  Leave a tiny bit, to sprinkle on top before you bake.  

Roll into a log, and then cut into 5 pieces.  Put them on a greased or lined cookie sheet, and press down gently with the palm of your hand.  Sprinkle lightly with the rest of the sugar mixture.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.  They are best served warm. Warm, gooey cinnamon....yyyyuuuummm!
If you have some leftover frosting, you could drizzle some of that over the top.  Never tried it, but I am sure it would be good!