Cinnamon Streusel Pancakes with Cream Cheese Drizzle

These pancakes are life-changing. Ask any of my family members who came to visit us.

You will never go back to plain ol' pancakes.

It's been two weeks since I have done a blog post. I have been busy with friends and family visiting and I had a blast. Fortunately for you, I have also been busy in the kitchen while I was gone, and I have many recipes to share with you! I decided that I needed to come back with something big. Something that will make your mouth water the instant you read the title, not to mention once you see the pictures.

I saw these pancakes on this blog, and I was immediately hooked. I knew I had to make these. Which I did of course. Then I made them when my friend came and visited. Then I made them when my family came over.

And now I am making up for it at the gym.

But anyway, that's not the point! The couple at Two Peas and Their Pod served these with maple syrup and butter. I knew after one bite that that wasn't going to work for me. You see, as soon as I tasted these (after swooning over their deliciousness) I was reminded of the warm, gooey, heavenly center of a cinnamon roll. Which then led to my inspiration for a cinnamon roll frosting. I made a glaze with just powdered sugar and milk, which was good. But then I modified a recipe for cream cheese frosting and wow was that fantastic!

Enough said, you have to make these pancakes. I know this is getting long but they're soooooo amazing!! You can use any pancake recipe, even a box mix (I won't tell), because the real treasure is the streusel topping. Trust me, this topping will make the flattest, driest pancakes taste good! As a side note, I doubled the streusel recipe because I made smaller pancakes than the original recipe said, which meant I needed more streusel to go around! If you are going to use the cream cheese drizzle (highly recommended, recipe below), make that first and pop it into the warm oven until you're ready so that it drizzles smoothly.

Cinnamon Streusel Pancakes with Cream Cheese Drizzle (Print)
pancake recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod
Prep: 15 minutes
Yield: 7 servings, 2 pancakes each (these babies are filling!)

Streusel:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons cinnamon
10 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into chunks

Pancakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add the butter and cut in with a fork or pastry cutter until you have small crumbles. Set aside. Turn on a griddle or pan to medium low. Grease if needed. Turn the oven on warm (175-200 degrees).

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate small bowl, whisk the buttermilk, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir just until combined. The batter will be slightly lumpy.

3. Spoon or drop batter onto hot griddle or pan to your desired size. They will expand some, I probably used 1/3 to 1/2 cup batter per pancake. (I ended up with 14 pancakes). Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of streusel on the pancakes right away. Using your hands works best.

4. Cook until bubbles form and the underside is golden, 2-3 minutes. You will not be able to flip these pancakes more than once, so make sure the underside is done. Carefully flip over the pancakes and generously, I mean load it, with streusel. I found the easiest way was to put a pile in the middle and spread it to the edges with my fingers. Proceed to lick your fingers and wash as necessary.

5. As the pancakes are cooked, transfer them to a large baking sheet and place in the oven to keep warm. Try to stack as little as possible, as the streusel topping will stick to the other pancakes if they are stacked. Serve with toppings of your choice, or none at all!

Cream Cheese Drizzle
adapted from Taste of Home Baking Cookbook
Prep: 5 minutes

3 ounces cream cheese or neufchatel cheese, softened
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
2-1/2 cups powdered sugar
milk, for thinning

1. In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and salt. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar. Add milk, about 1 tablespoon at a time, until frosting drizzles easily from a spoon. Keep in mind that it will be thinner if you have it warm in the oven.

My Review

• Preparation: 4
• The part that takes the longest is cooking all the pancakes, other than that, it's pretty simple!
• Taste: 5+
• I think I've said enough about that already!
• Cost: 5
• Pantry staples
• Clean-up: 3
• Several mixing bowls but it's all worth it!
• Changes
• NONE :)
• Summary
• You must make these before you die. Or else you have not lived. The end.