Homemade pancakes are taken to another level with the addition of chocolate chips. These Chocolate Chip Pancakes are light, fluffy, and loaded with chocolate chips for a sweet spin on homemade pancakes.

Love Pancakes? You will love Sweet Potato Pancakes, Peanut Butter Pancakes, Strawberry Pancakes, Banana Oat Pancakes, and of course these Chocolate Chip Pancakes.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes make the perfect breakfast for special occasions–like birthdays, holidays, and sleepovers! I mean is a sleepover really complete without a stack of pancakes loaded with chocolate chips?! My kids would argue that chocolate chip pancakes are a must!

While the addition of chocolate chips to these homemade pancakes makes them feel special, this recipe could not be easier to make. It can be our little secret!

This recipe starts out with a basic homemade pancake batter that comes together just as easily as a boxed pancake mix. Throw in some chocolate chips and you have pancakes that are light, fluffy, and taste like dessert for breakfast!

Key Ingredients

Flour–Unbleached all-purpose flour or whole white wheat flour is best for this recipe. This is one time I don’t recommend whole wheat flour.
Leavening Agents–For fluffy pancakes, you need baking powder, baking soda, and a bit of salt.
Buttermilk–reacts with the baking powder and soda to keep these pancakes light and fluffy (see note below on how to make homemade buttermilk)
Butter–Adds richness to the batter.
Eggs–If you need an egg-free pancake recipe, use my Vegan Pancake Batter as the base for these chocolate chips pancakes.
Chocolate Chips–Mini chocolate chips are best in my opinion as they result in more chocolate spread evenly throughout the pancakes, but you can use regular chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, or even chocolate bars cut into chunks.

Step-By-Step Directions

Step One: Make Homemade Buttermilk (if needed)

For the lightest, fluffiest pancakes, buttermilk is key. The acid from the buttermilk causes a chemical reaction to occur when mixed with the baking soda and baking powder to form air bubbles. Those air pockets are what keep pancakes fluffy and thick.

However, most people do not keep buttermilk in their fridge, and truthfully, it is not necessary for this pancake recipe. You can add vinegar to milk (any variety) and produce the same results as buttermilk.

To Make Buttermilk

Pour 1 tablespoon vinegar (distilled or apple cider vinegar) into a measuring cup. Add in enough milk to equal 1 cup liquid.
Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes before using it.

Technically you need 1 tablespoon vinegar for every 1 cup milk for homemade buttermilk, but to keep things simple, I just add 1 tablespoon vinegar to the 1 1/4 cups milk to keep things simple–and it is enough vinegar to cause the reaction we are looking for to give us fluffy pancakes.

Step Two: Prepare Pancake Batter

In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour with baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt. Alternatively, you can just whisk the dry ingredients together. I prefer sifting to remove any clumps of baking powder.
Mix in the chocolate chips, just to coat with the flour mixture–this helps the chocolate chips stay suspended in the pancakes versus sinking to the bottom. A lot of people like to add chocolate chips to the pancakes after they batter is ladled onto the griddle, but I find that by mixing the chocolate chips into flour, the chocolate chips do not sink and the chocolate chips are suspended throughout the pancake, not just on one surface. But if you are making a batch of pancakes and only a fraction want chocolate chips added to their pancakes, add the chocolate chips directly to the pancake batter once poured onto the griddle.
To the milk and vinegar mixture, add in the egg, melted butter, vanilla and whisk well.
Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated–do not over mix, as this will cause those air bubbles to pop and the pancakes to become dense.

Step Three: Cook Pancakes

Preheat a griddle or non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Grease with butter or non-stick spray.
Using a ¼ cup measuring cup, pour prepared pancake batter unto heated, greased pan.
Cook until small bubbles form on the surface. Flip and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes. Resist the urge to press the pancakes down with the spatula, this will cause the bubbles to pop and the pancakes to be dense and tough.
Remove pancakes from the pan and serve warm. Pro Tip: Remove pancakes from pan and place on a pan fitting with an oven-safe cooling rack–this keeps the pancakes from getting soggy. You can also pop that pan into a 200-degree oven to keep warm for up to one hour.

Storing Chocolate Chip Pancakes

To Refrigerate Pancakes

Cool pancakes to room temperature.
Place pancakes in layers between wax paper and place in airtight container or bag.
Store in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

To Freeze Pancakes

Place pancakes in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or wax paper.
Freeze for 30 minutes.
Remove pancakes off the cookies sheet and place in freezer-safe bag or container.