Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

 

Yesterday morning I was lying in bed checking out Pinterest on my phone. My friend Colleen had pinned some Cinnamon Roll Pancakes and I knew I needed to make them immediately. A quick glance at the ingredient list told me I had everything I needed to make them, even cream cheese, which I rarely have in the house. It was fate.

Now, I'm pretty lazy, especially on a Sunday when I didn't need to get dressed or leave the house, so rather than making the pancakes from scratch, I made them from a mix. I was a Bisquick girl for many many years, because that's what my mom always made, but I recently discovered Whole Foods' 365 Buttermilk Pancake and Waffle Mix, and it results in delicious, fluffy waffles every time. So that's what I used as my base.

To do the cinnamon swirl, the recipe recommended putting the mixture in a plastic bag and cutting off the corner, using it as a makeshift pastry bag. However, I decided to use a squeeze bottle because I figured it would give me more control. It was actually a good thing I went that route, because I had a good bit of mixture leftover and am now storing it in the bottle in my fridge. You might want to consider halving the recipe for the cinnamon filling unless you plan to make a ton of pancakes. I got 7 pancakes out of my batter (these are big half cup pancakes) and only used maybe half of the cinnamon mixture. This could possibly be because using the squeeze bottle resulted in thinner cinnamon ribbons than a plastic bag would have given me, but I think I'd still go the bottle route in the future. Here's how the pancakes looked before I flipped them and cooked the cinnamon roll side:

I also took a photo of what the pancakes looked like after cooking them but before adding the frosting. Just like a cinnamon roll! I should be clear that I did not eat this whole stack of pancakes - it was purely for photography purposes! I had two and they were so filling I couldn't possibly have eaten more. I put the rest into freezer bags to reheat for future breakfasts. Well, the rest minus two that I had to tearfully throw away because a glass fell out of my cabinet and shattered all over, leaving glass shards on two of my beautiful pancakes. So sad.

These would be great to make for a special breakfast on Thanksgiving or Christmas. Or just on a regular weekend when you want to indulge a little!

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
Recipe from Life in the Lofthouse

Ingredients:

For Pancakes:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten

(OR use a pancake mix, prepared as directed on the package)

Cinnamon Filling:
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Cream Cheese Frosting:
4 Tbsp butter
2 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp milk or half & half (add gradually while stirring the mixture- you may need to use more or less depending on whether you want more of a spreadable frosting or a glaze to drizzle)

Directions:
You'll want to prepare the cinnamon filling first to give it a few minutes to thicken up a bit. In a medium bowl, mix butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Spoon the filling into a small plastic bag or squeeze bottle and set aside.

Prepare your pancake batter by mixing the ingredients above or following the directions on your pancake mix of choice. Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium-low heat. You might want to use a non-stick spray if your skillet is not non-stick. I didn't need to and my pancakes released just fine. Scoop about 1/2 cup of pancake batter onto the skillet. Snip the corner of the bag containing the cinnamon filling and squeeze a spiral of the filling onto the top of the pancake. When bubbles begin to appear on the surface, flip carefully with a spatula and cook until lightly browned on the underside, 1 to 2 minutes more.Remove pancake to a plate to keep warm and repeat with the rest of the batter.

As the pancakes are cooking, prepare the frosting. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, heat the butter and cream cheese until melted. Whisk together until smooth, then whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla. Add milk, a little bit at a time, under you reach the desired consistency.

When ready to serve, spread or spoon cream cheese frosting on top of each pancake. Enjoy with a cup of coffee or glass of milk!
 

 

Baked Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Singles

 

This is a very different kind of oatmeal than the Pumpkin Slow Cooker Oatmeal I posted a few weeks ago.  As the recipe name indicates, this oatmeal is baked, and portioned out into individual servings. It came together really quickly and easily, and made my house smell fantastic. After sampling one right out of the oven, I put the rest into a freezer bag and have been popping one or two into the microwave to enjoy for breakfast over the past few days. I think next time I might double the recipe to have even more on hand for a great on-the-go meal or snack.

Even better, if you happen to be on Weight Watchers, these will fit right into your plan! It's just 3 P+ for one of these, or 5 P+ for two. Not bad!

 

Baked Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Singles
Recipe from Emily Bites

Ingredients:

2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg white
1 egg
¾ cup skim milk (I actually ran out of milk, and used 1/4 c. 1% milk and 1/2 c. water)
2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup peeled chopped apples (I used a gala apple)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly mist all 12 cups of a muffin tin with cooking spray, or use cupcake wrappers.

Combine the oats, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl and stir to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg white, egg, applesauce, milk and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until blended together. Fold in the apples.

Scoop the oatmeal mixture into the prepared muffin cups. Each cup will be nearly full, but because these are not muffins and don't really rise, you don't have to worry about overflow. Bake uncovered for 18-22 minutes or until oatmeal is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. I took mine out after 18 minutes, but probably could/should have left them in another minute or two to get a little more browned. Allow to partially cool in the pan, then remove to a cooling rack. You may need to loosen the edges a little with a butter knife unless you use cupcake wrappers.

Overnight Slow Cooker Pumpkin Oatmeal

I think the only thing better than a warm, delicious-smelling breakfast on a cold Fall morning is one that's all ready to eat as soon as you wake up! I put all of the ingredients for this oatmeal into my slow cooker before I went to bed one night, and the next morning all I had to do was stir it all up and scoop some into my bowl. Doesn't get any easier than that!

I followed a recipe from The Yummy Life and she gave two different methods to cook this - you could either put the ingredients directly into your slow cooker and let it cook for 5 hours, or you can put it into a heat-proof bowl inside your slow cooker, and have 8 hours of cooking time. Since I wanted this to cook overnight, and since I made it on a weekend and knew I'd be in bed for well over 5 hours, I opted for the bowl method. This makes for a softer oatmeal, whereas cooking it directly in the slow cooker would make a bit of a crusty edge more like a baked oatmeal. I'd like to try it that way at some point, but for now, the bowl method worked better with my schedule.

After I had eaten my first serving, I scooped the rest into small containers to have a ready-to-go breakfast throughout the week. I drizzled a little bit of maple syrup over each one before putting it in the fridge, and then each morning I just added a splash of milk to the container, heated it for one minute, stirred it up, and heated it for one minute more. So easy, and just as yummy on the last day I ate it as it was on the first.

Overnight Slow Cooker Pumpkin Oatmeal
Adapted from The Yummy Life

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups milk 
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup uncooked steel-cut oats
1/4 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup pure pumpkin puree
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (I used some with cinnamon added)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp butter, cut into pieces

Directions:
Place a heat-proof bowl inside your slow cooker (I used a large Pyrex bowl); coat inside of bowl with cooking spray. Add all ingredients to the bowl and stir to completely combine. Pour water into the slow cooker on the outside of the bowl so that the water goes about halfway up the sides of the bowl. Cover the slow cooker, and cook on low for up to 8 hours. 

I slept for a long time that night, so my oatmeal cooked for 8 hours, and then was on the warm setting for 2 hours, and it was perfectly hot and delicious when I woke up. You can top your oatmeal with any number of toppings (walnuts, raisins, chopped apples, etc.) but I chose to keep it simple and just drizzle a little additional maple syrup on top.