Chocolate Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

For the frosting:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar together until well combined. Add milk and mix. Set aside.

For the cinnamon swirl mixture:
Stir all ingredients together by hand or with a beater/mixer and put it into a disposable piping bag or plastic baggie with a small hole cut in the corner. Set aside.

For the batter:
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt and whisk together. In a medium bowl, combine remaining pancake ingredients (except chocolate chips) and mix well. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until combined.

Preheat a skillet to medium high heat. Spray skillet with cooking spray or rub with butter.

Pour the pancake batter onto the hot pan using a 1/4 cup measuring cup. Just do as many as you can easily fit into your skillet; you’ll want to do this in batches.

Let the pancakes cook for about one minute; they will start to set up just slightly. Then use the piping bag to gently swirl the cinnamon mixture into the top of the pancakes, pushing slightly into the batter so the cinnamon mixture is swirled into the batter, not just on top of the pancake. Keep the swirl close to the center of the batter so the mixture doesn’t melt off the side of the pancakes.

Gently press 5-8 chocolate chips on top of the cinnamon swirl. When the edges of the pancakes start to look done, use a wide spatula to flip the pancakes. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes on the other side. Remove the finished pancakes to a plate. Repeat with remaining batter and filling.

Serve topped with the frosting.