Picture walking into IHOP on a lazy Sunday morning and being greeted by the heavenly aroma of cinnamon and vanilla wafting from the kitchen. That’s the magic of their famous Cinn-a-Stack Pancakes, a brilliant fusion that marries the best of fluffy pancakes with the indulgent sweetness of cinnamon rolls. These aren’t just pancakes, they’re an experience that transforms breakfast into dessert, layered with rich cinnamon filling and crowned with luscious cream cheese frosting that melts into every golden bite.
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Why This Recipe Works
The genius of Cinn-a-Stack pancakes lies in their multi-layered construction. Unlike traditional pancakes that rely solely on syrup, these beauties feature a rich cinnamon-butter mixture that melts between tender pancake layers, creating pockets of sweet, spiced goodness. The cream cheese frosting provides the perfect tangy counterpoint to the sweet cinnamon, while using real butter in the homemade version delivers superior flavor that surpasses the restaurant original.
Ingredients
For the Pancakes:
- All-purpose flour (2 cups) – Creates the foundation structure for fluffy, tender pancakes
- Cake flour (2 tablespoons) – Adds extra tenderness and lighter texture
- Sugar (2 tablespoons) – Provides sweetness and helps achieve golden-brown color
- Baking powder (2 teaspoons) – Essential leavening agent for fluffy rise
- Salt (1/2 teaspoon) – Enhances flavors and balances sweetness
- Buttermilk (1 3/4 cups) – Creates tender crumb and adds subtle tang
- Vegetable oil (1/4 cup) – Keeps pancakes moist and prevents sticking
- Egg (1 large) – Binds ingredients and adds richness
For the Cinnamon Layer:
- Butter (1/2 cup softened) – Creates rich, spreadable base for cinnamon mixture
- Brown sugar (1/2 cup packed) – Provides deep, molasses-like sweetness
- Ground cinnamon (2 teaspoons) – Delivers warm, spicy flavor that defines the dish
- Cake flour (2 tablespoons) – Helps thicken mixture for easy spreading
- Salt (pinch) – Balances sweetness and enhances cinnamon flavor
- Vanilla extract (1/2 teaspoon) – Adds aromatic depth to cinnamon layer
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Cream cheese (4 oz softened) – Creates tangy, rich frosting base
- Butter (2 tablespoons softened) – Adds smoothness and helps achieve proper consistency
- Powdered sugar (1 1/2 cups) – Sweetens and thickens frosting to perfect drizzling consistency
- Milk (2-3 tablespoons) – Thins frosting to ideal pouring texture
- Vanilla extract (1/2 teaspoon) – Enhances overall flavor profile
How to Make Cinnastack Pancakes
- In a small bowl combine butter, brown sugar, cake flour, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. Stir until well blended and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, use a mixer to blend together the cream cheese and the butter until light and fluffy.
- Slowly add the powdered sugar. When the powder sugar has been incorporated
- Add milk and the vanilla. Blend until combined.
- Place all-purpose flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda into a bowl and stir to combine.
- Add buttermilk, oil, and egg. Use a spoon to mix the pancake batter and beat until just smooth.
- Heat a skillet or an electric griddle to 350 and spray with non-stick spray.
- Pour enough batter to form a 4-inch pancake.
- When the pancakes start to show small bubbles on top, turn them over to finish cooking.
- Assemble the stacks just before serving.
- Spread the cinnamon mixture over one pancake, layer another pancake on top, spread more cinnamon mixture over the top, and then drizzle with the cream cheese icing.
Storage and Reheating Instructions
Refrigerator Storage: Store leftover pancakes separately from toppings for up to 3 days in airtight containers.
Freezer Storage: Freeze cooked pancakes for up to 2 months. Layer between parchment paper to prevent sticking.
Reheating Methods:
- Toaster: Best method for maintaining crispness
- Oven: 350°F for 5-7 minutes until warmed through
- Microwave: 30-second intervals until heated (texture will be softer)
Make-Ahead Tips
Pancake Batter: Prepare batter night before and refrigerate. Stir gently before cooking.
Cinnamon Layer: Make up to 3 days ahead and store covered at room temperature.
Cream Cheese Frosting: Prepare up to 1 week ahead and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature and re-whip before serving.
HOP Cinn-a-Stack Pancakes with Cream Cheese
Ingredients
Cinnamon Layer
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons cake flour you can use all-purpose
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Icing
- 2 ounces butter
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pancakes
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 egg slightly beaten
Instructions
- To Make the Cinnamon Layer: In a small bowl combine the butter, brown sugar, cake flour, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. Stir until well blended; set aside. Please note this should make a nice thick paste.Â
- To make the cream cheese icing: Use a mixer to blend together the cream cheese and the butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar. When the powder sugar has been incorporated blend in the milk and the vanilla.
- To make the pancakes: Place the dry pancake ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda) into a bowl, and stir to blend the dry ingredients. Add buttermilk, oil, and egg. Use a spoon to mix the pancake batter and beat until just smooth. Heat a skillet or an electric griddle to 350 and spray with non-stick spray. Pour about 1/2 cup of batter to form a 4-inch pancake.
- When the pancakes start to show small bubbles on top, turn them over to finish cooking. You can assemble the stacks just before servings. Spread 2 teaspoons of the cinnamon mixture over one pancake, layer another pancake on top, spread 2 more teaspoons of cinnamon mixture over the top, and then drizzle with the cream cheese icing. The leftover cinnamon mixture goes great on toast too!
Video
Notes
Chef’s Notes
The secret to restaurant-quality Cinn-a-Stack pancakes is temperature control and timing. Keep pancakes warm in a 200°F oven while preparing additional batches. The cinnamon layer should be soft enough to spread easily but not so warm that it melts the pancakes. For extra indulgence, warm the cinnamon mixture slightly before spreading to enhance its aromatic qualities.Nutrition
Do you love IHOP? Try these great copycat recipes
- Funfetti Pancakes
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- Pumpkin Spice Pancakes
- Buttermilk Pancakes
- Cannoli Pancake
- Banana Bread French Toast
- Griddle Cake
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Love this recipe! Blended the cinnamon filling to get the right consistency. It was perfect and my husband said for me to add this to the list of recipes. Thank you for this!
This recipe is good and all but what I look for in a copy cat recipe Is nearly same consistency and taste. This is basically a cinnamon roll filling but onto the pancake but the cream cheese frosting is amazing! Overall it’s a basic recipe that many other people give out but what I’m looking for is the cinnamon filling to resemble the same color and viscosity as ihop. When I make this filling it’s still grainy and it messes up the flavor for me. It’s good but not what I would call a copycat recipe.
I don’t think you are going to get a recipe with the same viscosity using items you find in a normal grocery store. Here is the ingredient deck for the cinnamon filling.
Cinnamon Filling: Sugar, Margarine (Palm Oil, Water, Soybean Oil, Salt, Distilled Monoglycerides And Soy Lecithin (Emulsifiers), Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Natural Flavor, Citric Acid, Vitamin A, Beta Carotene (Color), Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Spice, Water, Maltodextrin. Contains Less Than 2% Of: Natural And Artificial Flavor, Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), Salt.,
You could need to remove the cinnamon and find something that is flavored like cinnamon, and then color that mixture for it to look like cinnamon.
Tasty!
Loved these! Will make again.
Wow that looks extremely delicious!
I tried this recipe and it turned out to be lovely! Thanks for sharing this!
Awesome!
My whole family loved these!
I loved these pancakes. My grandkids loved them!
I LOVE IHOP cinn-a-stacks and to me personally this is NOTHING like IHOP. The brown sugar cinnamon is so gritty it’s disgusting. The icing…I should’ve known better because I make homemade cinnamon rolls and this is not a good recipe for cream cheese icing – it’s not sweet at all. If you have never had IHOP maybe you’d love it but I had my heart set on something and this was NOT it. Just my personal opinion,
I am sorry you didn’t like this recipe.
Scrumptious is best fitting word here to describe these heavenly pancakes!
I tried the cream cheese icing and it taste exactly like IHOP!
Keep up the good work I WILL BE trying more!!
Hi, Thanks for the recipe. My kids loved it! In answer the the grit issue of the brown sugar, Use a sifter AFTER you have measured the packed brown sugar. After sifting the granules will be smaller. This might help make it less gritty.
Hope this helps!:)
Hi Stephanie just a quick question: In the video you mentioned adding two tablespoons of cake flour but the printed recipe indicates two teaspoons. Can you please confirm which is the correct amount? Looking forward to trying this recipe out for my husband. Thanks.
Family loved them…gave me an 8 out of 10 rating (lol). How can the cinnamon paste be tweaked to make it less gritty?
Perhaps you could try to melt it, it may take care of the brown sugar being a bit crunchy. The grit of the cinnamon, I am not sure. I am guessing the base they use contains corn syrup, and that is something I would prefer to stay away from.
I was very pleased with this recipe. I will tweet it in the future to make it less sweet. I used regular buttermilk pancake mix. I had a similar experience eating them as when I ate them in the restaurant. Thanks for sharing, Stephanie! You made my day along with my husband’s! Kudos to you for this site.
I used your recipe for breakfast this morning. Only change I made was adding 1T of half & half to the Cinnamon spread and per my Husband’s request I made French toast instead of Pancakes. It turned out amazing, thanks for sharing :).
Made these this morning by watching your video and using your instructions,come out great,although I was wondering can you choose not to use salt in the cinnamon paste?and Thank you for this recipe.
You could leave out that salt, I think the salt does make it taste better.
The cinnamon sauce and the frosting are well made, but the pancakes are a little sour. If you had used an old fashion pancake recipe, it would’ve tastes 10 times better if the pancakes were different. A little disappointed to be honest.
Thanks for letting me know. This was the traditional buttermilk pancake like they make.