Easy vegan cinnamon roll pancakes with cream cheese glaze

For whatever reason, Pinterest, a productive food-lover’s downfall, seems to be a breeding ground for crazy yet ridiculously popular ideas, perhaps even to the point of turning certain recipes into memes. You’ve probably heard of at least a few. They’re the fodder of Pinterest fail sites and hey let’s try this pin sites and, as you can see here, regular ol’ food blogs. Like, say, these cookie bowls.

There are actually special pans you can buy for this. Really. source

Or maybe sex in a pan, a ridiculous ‘Murican dessert which I have actually attempted on this very space.

It's a ruse! You can't actually get slices that neat! source

Or you may have seen one of these casserole monstrosities somewhere in your browsing (warning: not safe for vegans!).

All aboard the Nope Train to Fuck That Land! source

Or this Kit Kat cake and honestly I’d like to know who the hell thought this would be a good idea.

Although I won't rule out making it someday in the far-off future. source

Or—wait for it—cinnamon roll pancakes.

Ah yes. Your anticipation has paid off. Witness this glaze-slathered dripping sugary pancake stack, all yours, all for breakfast. Feel the desire emanating through the screen.

AH YES INDEED. source

What you don’t know is that that stack of pancakes probably took about a dozen tries for the blogger to get right, and that by the time they were finally able to squeeze that perfect swirl of butter-sugar mix onto the pancake batter it was already lunchtime and they were eating club sandwiches between pancake flips.

Or something. It just so happens that piping swirls ‘n’ shit onto pancake batter turned out to be the last thing I wanted to do on a Saturday morning.

What to do? The concept is certainly a delicious one, melding two of the greatest breakfast foods ever invented in one delightfully over-the-top plate. Baby June couldn’t resist.

And so that’s why I was sprinkling cinnamon sugar on my pancakes last weekend. 

SO BEAUTIFUL.

It’s got all the buttery, fluffy, glaze-drenched, and lightly spiced flavor of a cinnamon roll, but in a pancake form so easy that even my brother could do it. Okay, maybe not my brother. Maybe my dad. The point remains.

I’d even say this version is—*gasp*—better than the original, since you get a nice crunchy cinnamon-sugar crust in every bite. The cashew “cream cheese” glaze is just icing on the cake.

(That was highly redundant I know.)

In any event, I don’t think I can sell this to you any more, so I’ll just get on with the recipe aaaaand a couple more pictures, because that this stuff is the shit. 

Not literal shit but, you know--oh, forget it.

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Easy vegan cinnamon roll pancakes with cream cheese glaze

Adapted my favorite pancake base

Makes one serving pancakes, plus extra cream cheese glaze

Ingredients

Cream cheese glaze

70 grams • cashews, soaked for a few hours and drained • ½ cup

1 gram • lemon juice • ¼ teaspoon

3 grams • apple cider vinegar • ¾ teaspoon

60 grams • nondairy milk • ¼ cup

30 grams • maple syrup • 3 tablespoons

Pancakes

30 grams • dark brown sugar • 2 tablespoons

2 grams • cinnamon • 1 teaspoon

62 grams • white whole wheat flour • ½ cup

4 grams • baking powder • 1 teaspoon

1 gram • salt • 1/8 teaspoon

61 grams • nondairy milk • ¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons

3 grams • apple cider vinegar • ½ teaspoon

7 grams • vegetable oil • 1 ½ teaspoons

Instructions

Start by making cream cheese glaze. Place all ingredients in a food processor, starting with cashews, and blend until smooth. Set aside while you make the pancakes.

To make pancakes, start by combining 15 grams / 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar and 1 gram / 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Whisk together white whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt, remaining brown sugar, and remaining cinnamon in another small bowl. Stir milk, apple cider vinegar, and oil into flour mixture just until combined.

Fry pancakes on a well-preheated pan. While one side cooks, sprinkle a bit of cinnamon sugar onto raw batter. Flip quickly and let cook until golden brown. Serve with cream cheese glaze.

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Just in case you couldn't see how ridiculously fluffy these are from the above pictures.

As this recipe demonstrates, those Pinterest trends aren’t all that bad. Still don’t know about that Kit Kat cake, but if there’s anything this post taught me it’s that you shouldn’t judge a recipe by its apparent sugar content and popularity among Facebook-dwelling soccer moms.

*wipes away tear*  

Anyway. Here are some other cinnamon-infused recipes you may like.

Chocolate chip pumpkin spice sandwich cookies. These appeal to your deepest and most primal sweet tooth. They’re intense.

Blueberry muffins with cinnamon pecan streusel. God how I miss summer fruit.

Homemade cinnamon swirl bread. Perfect for French toast! Or anything, really!