Brown Sugar Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes

What a delicious twist on regular pancakes! These cinnamon and sugar swirls caramelize as you cook the pancakes, it’s so good!!!! Crispy, crunchy pieces combined with a super fluffy pancake.

Basically they’re buttermilk pancakes with a brown sugar and cinnamon mixture swirled in. Now, this is a pretty old recipe from me, so excuse me for the poor photos hehehe. Also for me this was, after all, a half success, half failure recipe, but what the pancakes lost in the looks department they definitely won in flavor, so I’ll share it either way! Enjoy! And check the recipe!

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes

Servings: 12
Time: 50mins
Difficulty: Normal
Rating: ★★★★★
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You gotta love some fluffy buttermilk pancakes... just add some caramelized cinnamon swirls and you got yourself a winner! 😀

Ingredients

Butter – 75g
Brown Sugar – 75g (Or Plain Sugar)
Cinnamon – 1 Teaspoon
Flour – 150g
Baking Powder – 1 Teaspoon
Eggs – 2
Buttermilk – 150ml (Or milk with a little lemon juice)
Salt – A Pinch
Butter – For Greasing

Directions

Start by making the cinnamon cream. In a bowl, whisk the softened butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon until smooth, then add this to a piping bag (or, like me, a freezer bag with the corner cut off :P).
If you have buttermilk, skip this step. If not, you can make something similar in taste and texture by adding 150ml of milk and a teaspoon of lemon juice. Now leave the milk for about 15 minutes until it starts to curdle (this helps with the texture, but the acid in the lemon juice will also help the baking powder make the pancakes nice and fluffy).

Add the flour and baking powder to a bowl, followed by the eggs, stir poorly, then add the curdled milk or buttermilk and stir poorly again. You want everything mixed together (you don’t want pieces of egg floating around), but poorly mixed enough so that you don’t have a smooth batter. A lumpy batter creates fluffier pancakes.
Now heat a frying pan over medium heat with a little butter (I use a piece of paper towel on top of a spoonful of butter so I can grease it quickly and thoroughly). Once the pan is hot, pour a soup spoonful of batter into it. In my case, my pan was big enough to make two pancakes at the same time, so I poured another spoonful next to it.

Then use the cinnamon cream to make a spiral on each pancake. Cook for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. If you’re unsure, use the spatula you’re using to help flip the pancakes and lift the side a little to see how it’s cooking. If it’s golden brown, it’s time to flip.
Flip and cook for another 30 seconds to 1 minute. Note that the sugar and cinnamon will immediately begin to caramelize and bubble. Unlike pancakes or crepes, these will be a little messier when cooking. Once ready, remove the two pancakes to a plate.
Use more paper towels (be careful, the pan is hot) to clean the pan, then grease it again with butter and repeat until you have no more batter. This recipe makes about 12 pancakes.
Enjoy! Serve plain as I did, or with maple syrup, a little butter, honey, chocolate, whipped cream, or fresh fruit, anything that goes well with regular pancakes.

Notes & Tips: Why don’t I call this recipe a absolute winner, well its because its a messier kind of pancake, I feel like just adding the cinnamon sugar in the end after the pancake is done, might be better than caramelizing it on the pan, sure you lack the caramelized edges but it’s less messy and more pretty, so not too sure what’s the best bet here, but you can have them both ways hehehe 😀

If you can’t find buttermilk, the lemon juice trick really works! Let it sit the full 15 minutes, you’ll see it start to look slightly curdled and thicker. This tanginess is key to fluffy pancakes and to a nice combination with the caramelized sugar.

This is crucial! A lumpy batter is your friend here. Overmixing develops the gluten in the flour, which makes tough, flat pancakes. Stop mixing as soon as you don’t see dry flour or egg streaks.

If your cinnamon cream is too stiff, let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes. The key is to work quickly, draw your spiral right after pouring the batter, before the bottom sets too much. Practice makes perfect with the swirl pattern!

Medium heat is ideal! Too hot and the sugar burns before the pancake cooks, too low and you won’t get that caramelized crunch. If the first pancake cooks too fast or too slow, adjust your heat accordingly.

Yes, this step is annoying but necessary! The caramelized sugar will stick and burn if left in the pan. A quick wipe with a buttered paper towel between batches keeps things from getting too messy and avoids the next pancakes to stick.

Once you nail the basic technique, try different fillings! Chocolate and hazelnut spread, peanut butter and honey, or even cream cheese and jam would work beautifully with the same swirl technique.

While these are sweet enough to eat plain, they’re absolutely divine with a drizzle of warm maple syrup or a dollop of whipped cream. Fresh berries add a nice tart contrast to the sweet cinnamon.

This recipe for Brown Sugar Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Panquecas Espiral de Canela foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.