I believe I have fulfilled all of my sisterly duties by serving these pancakes on a chilly Fall morning. Honestly–a cinnamon bun, pumpkin, and the best brunch food ever? I’m sold.
In my recent pumpkin frenzy, I grabbed Taylor and suggested she come over for brunch. I had volunteered her to participate in a study at Penn for one of my roommates and–seeing as though she was about to spend the afternoon watching me press a button that sent shockwaves directly to her hand (it was a study on empathy)–I felt like I owed her something more than the slight monetary award she would receive post-shock.
For a brunch, these are all sorts of decadent, from the thickened cream cheese icing to the buttery swirl of cinnamon topping each pancake. The swirls took practice, admittedly, and I don’t think I ever quite mastered an aesthetic icing, but mess-and-mayhem aside, the final product tasted far better than the gooey, drippy photo might lead you to think. If you’re a cinnamon fanatic, or maybe just love pumpkin as much as I do, these are certainly worth trying!
PUMPKIN SWIRL PANCAKES
(via RecipeGirl)
For the cinnamon filling:
1/2 cup salted butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
For the cream cheese icing:
4 tablespoons butter
2 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the pancakes:
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup pure unsweetened pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2/ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
In a small bowl, heat butter, brown sugar and cinnamon for 40 to 60 seconds, just until butter is melted. Whisk the filling ingredients together and then pour it into a sandwich-sized zip baggie. Set aside.
In another small bowl, heat butter and cream cheese 30 to 60 seconds, just until butter has melted and cream cheese has softened. Whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla and combine until smooth. Set the icing aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together milk, pumpkin, eggs, oil, and vinegar. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, salt and brown sugar. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and stir just until all is moistened.
Preheat a large skillet to medium. Ladle a hefty spoonful of batter onto the pan and reduce the heat to medium-low. Pick up your cinnamon filling baggie, snip off a small piece of the corner and squeeze tin a swirl across the center of the pancake. Cook the pancakes three to four minutes, or until bubbles begin popping on top of the pancake. Slide a spatula underneath the pancake and gently flip it over. Cook an additional two to three minutes, until the other side is golden as well. When you flip the pancake onto a plate, you will see that the cinnamon filling has created a crater-swirl of cinnamon. Repeat with the remaining pancake batter and cinnamon filling. Serve pancakes topped with a drizzle of cream cheese icing.
