Forget the bagel, try sweetened cream cheese pancakes and you have a match made in Heaven. It’s a delicate taste, meaning for those that like just a hint of flavor and sweetness this version of sweetened cream cheese pancakes, muffins or donuts should fit the bill.
Sweetened cream cheese pancakes – use store bought flavored or make your own?
Have fun experimenting with all the different flavors of cream cheese for these stuffed pancakes, my kids love the store bought strawberry flavor. I like the smoked salmon or the vegi cream cheese. If using a savory cheese then leave the sugar out of the pancake mix. Similar to what you would do with sweet or savory crepes. When you are navigating around our site look up crepes, we have great versions of those as well. If you buy the flavored cream cheese then it’s not necessary to follow the directions to sweeten the cheese, it’s up to you. That’s a few extra minutes gained and one less bowl to clean.
What is the difference between Neufchatel and regular cream cheese?
American Neufchatel is the lighter version of cream cheese with a 1/3 less fat. You can substitute Neufchatel for cream cheese in most cases, especially in these pancakes with sweetened cream cheese. Neufchatel has a slightly lighter flavor and texture than its cousin cream cheese. Because there is so little difference between the two, I typically opt for the Neufchatel to reduce the fat. Hey, some of us have to watch the fat and calories. In 2 Tablespoons of cream cheese there are 102 calories and 10 grams of fat, in Neufchatel there are 70 calories and 6 grams of fat.
Easy Baked Sweetened Cream Cheese Pancakes
The easiest way to make these stuffed pancakes is the On The Go Bites baked version. We use a “muffin top pan” or Whoopie pie pan and bake the pancakes. This is a simple way to crank out several pancakes without laboring over the stove.
More Difficult, Traditional Stuffed Pancake Method
You will need to make frozen sweetened cream cheese discs. The easiest way to make the cream cheese discs is to freeze them before you make the stuffed pancakes. Don’t have time to freeze the discs? No problem, for this recipe for sweetened cream cheese pancakes you can fill a resealable plastic bag, fill with cream cheese mix, cut a small hole in the corner of the bag and squeeze the cream cheese onto the cooking pancake. See our Nutella Stuffed Pancake recipe for explanation on how to do this and alternate ways to make the pancakes.
Bake and enjoy! If you choose to freeze the sweetened cream cheese pancakes, mini muffins of donuts then they can easily be reheated and will be perfect grab and go items. Just pull straight from the freezer and microwave for a minute. Boom, you have a portable breakfast that’s a lot better than a McGriddle. Did I say the maple syrup is baked right into the pancake?
If you like these sweetened cream cheese pancakes then try Jelly Pancakes, Nutella Pancakes, Reese’s Pancakes or Greek Yogurt Pancakes. All of these variations can be made as baked stuffed pancakes, muffins or doughnuts.
Sweetened Cream Cheese Pancakes
Ingredients
Sweetened Cream Cheese Filling
- 4 Ounces Cream Cheese
- 1/4 Cup Heavy Cream or 1/2 & 1/2 or milk
- 1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla
- 1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar Sifted for smoother consistency
Pancakes
- 1 1/2 Cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
- 4 Tablespoons Sugar
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 Whole Egg
- 1 1/4 Cups Milk
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Optional
- 2 Tablespoons Butter Melted
- 1/4 Cup Maple Syrup
Instructions
Cream Cheese Filling
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Using a fork or a hand held mixer, whip the cream cheese, whipping cream, vanilla and powdered sugar together until smooth. OR skip this whole step and just use your favorite flavored cream cheese.
Easy Baked Pancakes - Option #1
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Melt butter and let cool slightly or the pancakes will be lumpy.
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Mix the dry ingredients together, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
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In another bowl mix the wet ingredients, egg, milk, vanilla, melted butter and syrup. Room temperature milk is best so that it doesn't combat with the warm melted butter, you can microwave for about 30 seconds if needed.
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Gently pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Mix with a fork until combined, do not over mix or the pancakes will be dense.
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Gently pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Mix with a fork until combined, do not over mix or the pancakes will be dense.
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Pour a tablespoon of pancake batter into the muffin top tin inserts, if needed use the back of the spoon to spread the batter. Bake for 2 minutes to set the pancakes so that you can add the filling without it dropping to the bottom of the pancake Do the same for the mini muffins or doughnuts.
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Remove from oven, gently spread a tablespoon of cream cheese on each pancake. It's important to use room temperature cream cheese so that it spreads easily. This is a great time to add chopped fresh fruit to the pancakes for an extra flavor profile. Then pour a tablespoon of pancake batter over the flavored or sweetened cream cheese. Return to oven and bake an additional 6 minutes for pancakes or 10 minutes for mini muffins or doughnuts. The top of the pancakes, mini muffins and doughnuts will NOT turn a golden brown. Use a toothpick to test if done, toothpick should come out clean.
Traditional Pancakes on The Griddle - Option #2
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This is a harder method than the baked muffin top pan but makes more traditional looking pancakes.
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Swirl about 2 Tablespoons Cream Cheese Filling onto a parchment paper lined baking tray, swirl with the back of a spoon into a 4" diameter circle, freeze for at least an hour or overnight until you have a solid disk.
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Warm a skillet or griddle over medium heat. Remove 2-3 cream cheese fillilng disks at a time from the freezer, if you take too many disks out they will start to melt and it's a mess to get them onto the pancake batter. Spoon 1/4 Cup batter (use a measuring cup for even size pancakes and to make sure that the size is appropriate for the frozen cream cheese disk). Immediately lay down a frozen disc of cream cheese filling and immediately pour another 1/4 Cup batter on top. If you wait too long the second layer of pancake will run over and outside of the bottom layer producing an uneven pancake and thin coverage for the cream cheese filling. This makes it messier to carry when you are ready to eat and walk.
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Eat immediately or freeze for later.
Recipe Notes
-Pancakes will keep for 5 days in the refrigerator. To freeze, place pancakes on a parchment lined baking sheet in a single layer and freeze, once frozen you can put the pancakes in a ziplock bag marked with recipe name and date frozen. Reheat in microwave for 1 minute and enjoy.
-Option: Add 2 Tablespoons jelly once the frozen disk is placed on the pancake batter.
-If you are short on time and can't wait for the cream cheese filling to freeze into solid disks, then you can fill a zip lock bag with the cream cheese filling, snip a small hole on one of the bottom corners and squeeze onto the pancakes (step 5). The cream cheese filling doesn't spread as evenly as using the frozen disks, but in a pinch it works.
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