Chocolate Chip Pancakes
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Perfectly stackable, super fluffy Chocolate Chip Pancakes. Made with buttermilk for the perfect flavor & filled with mini chocolate chips. These are delish!
These chocolate chip pancakes are the perfect breakfast for when you’re craving something sweet. They have a soft & fluffy texture, that slight tanginess from the buttermilk, and they’re full of chocolate.
Now, let me share my theory about eating chocolate at breakfast: you should do it.
Seriously, if you eat chocolate for breakfast then you won’t crave it the rest of the day. And I mean come on:
- Chocolate is delicious
- You need a good reason to get out of bed
- It tastes amazing with coffee
- The sugar gives you a burst of energy
- And… it’s chocolate.
Plus – when you can have Chocolate Chip Muffins, Chocolate Doughnuts …. Chocolate Cake…. , smoothies & granola start to seem pretty boring.
So today, to continue on the chocolate for breakfast train, we’re combining the most iconic breakfast food – namely pancakes – AND chocolate. Light & fluffy chocolate chip pancakes if you please.
You can eat these for breakfast drenched in maple syrup or for dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
These chocolate chip pancakes are based off of my favorite fluffy buttermilk pancakes. I’ve taken it upon myself to diligently test this recipe (AKA make pancakes way too often) – and I know you’ll love them.
Why Use Buttermilk in Chocolate Chip Pancakes?
Buttermilk is acidic and thicker than regular milk. The acidity helps keep any baked good super soft & tender, and gives them a nice rise & lift when it reacts with baking soda. So in pancake recipes – when you use buttermilk they’ll be super fluffy, perfectly thick, completely stackable, deliciously tender and have that quintessential slight tang in the flavor.
Ingredients in Chocolate Chip Pancakes
As I learned from the Joy of Baking – each pancake ingredient has a key feature.
- Flour gives structure & creates the base
- Using both baking powder & baking soda makes pancakes rise perfectly
- Adding a little sugar sweetens the dough slightly & creates perfectly golden edges
- An egg for binding everything together (and tenderness)
- A little melted butter for flavor
- And we add in some vanilla for even more flavor
- (Then…. we won’t forget about the buttermilk)
Then the namesake of this recipe: CHOCOLATE CHIPS! I used mini chocolate chips because you get more bang for your buck (aka a higher ratio of chocolate to batter) – but obviously regular chocolate chips work just fine too.
Light & fluffy, filled with chocolate – you will love these chocolate chip pancakes!
Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons melted butter, , cooled to room temperature
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, , room temperature (place a bowl of lukewarm water for 5 minutes to warm up quickly)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk, , room temperature (microwave on high for 10 seconds then stir to warm up quickly)
- 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder & salt. Set a side.
- In a separate medium sized bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, egg and vanilla. Once combined, add in the buttermilk and whisk until combined.
- Pour the wet ingredients into your bowl with the flour mixture. Gently fold together using a large wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Then stir in the mini chocolate chips. Be careful not to overmix your pancake batter. Having a few lumps in the batter is totally ok. The batter will be thick.
- Preheat an electric griddle to 350F degrees or place a frying pan on the stove and turn to medium heat. Once the griddle or frying pan is hot, grease with oil or non-stick cooking spray. Using a 1/4 or 1/3 cup measuring cup to pour the batter into pancakes. Allow them to cook on the firs side until you see small bubbles forming in the batter (usually 2-4 minutes) then flip to the other side and fry for an additional 2-3 minutes until both sides are golden brown. Repeat the process with the rest of the batter.
- Serve immediately with maple syrup, fresh berries, or even ice cream for dessert!
Nutrition
A failproof really tasty recipe- made it today for Christmas breakfast and turned out super yummy and fluffy. Thanks for the best gift..
Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
I’m so glad that you loved the pancakes! Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 🙂
Best pancake recipe ever!! Even my husband (who is not a breakfast fan) loves these pancakes. We sometimes make them with bananas or blueberries instead — or even plain — and they are still tasty. Thank you for the recipe.
Hello Fiona ,I just realized the recipe. This is the recipe the lightest I’ve ever done! A true success! Thank you very much !
So glad you loved the pancakes!
Is it ok to mix the batter the night before and leave in the fridge for the morning ?
Yup! That would be fine. I’d make the batter the night before (except for adding the chocolate chips), then cover in clingfilm and refrigerate. Then in the morning just stir in the chocolate chips and you’re ready to go
Found this recipe so I could use up buttermilk. These came out perfect! No enough for 2~3 people, they were that good. Thanks so much for the shortcuts to room temp
How many servings on this recipe?
It makes about 8 pancakes, each using 1/4 cup of batter. Depending on how hungry you are – about to 2-3 people. It can be easily doubled if needed. 🙂
Must say, these Chocolate Chip pancakes are amazing! Super fluffy and delicious! Would recommend this recipe to anyone!
So glad you loved the recipe!!! 🙂
When there is baking soda for leavening, why do you need to use baking powder?
Hi Jake,
Good question! Baking soda requires an acid to react with and make the batter rise, whereas baking powder doesn’t. In buttermilk pancakes – the buttermilk is acidic which creates the slight tanginess in the flavor. When the buttermilk reacts with the baking soda, it neutralizes and we loose the tang that’s distinctive of buttermilk pancakes. So I like to use combination of baking soda and baking powder in buttermilk pancakes so that we can keep some of that tang in the flavor and still have pancakes that rise nicely. 🙂
I love chocolate chip pancakes and yours look absolutely delicious, Fiona
Thanks so much! I hope you like the recipe 🙂
14 teaspoons salt seems like a typo. Should it be 1/4 teaspoon instead?
Yikes! Thanks for the catch – it should be 1/4 teaspoon. I’ve updated it now – thanks again 🙂