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, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pancake Mix, and Banana Oat Pancakes.
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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 make 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 boxed pancake mix. Throw in some chocolate chips and you have pancakes that are light, fluffy, and taste like dessert for breakfast!
Ingredients for Homemade Chocolate Chip Pancakes
- flour–unbleached all purpose flour or whole white wheat flour (this is one time I don’t recommend whole wheat flour)
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt–just a pinch to help bring out the flavor
- buttermilk–reacts with the baking powder and soda to keep these pancakes light an fluffy (see note below on how to make homemade buttermilk)
- butter–adds richness to the batter
- eggs
- sugar
- vanilla extract
- 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.
How To Make Chocolate Chip Pancakes
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 measuring cup. Add in enough milk to equal 1 cup liquid.
- Let mixture sit for about 5 minutes before using.
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 verses 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 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 air tight container or bag.
- Store in 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.
More Breakfasts Worthy of Special Occasions
Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon vinegar distilled or apple cider
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons butter melted and slightly cooled
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips or more if desired
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, mix together vinegar and milk of your choice together. Let mixture sit for about 5 minutes before using. (Omit this step if using buttermilk as your dairy of choice.)
- In a large mixing bowl, sift or whisk together flour with baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt. Mix in the chocolate chips, just to coat with the flour mixture.
- 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.
- 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. Remove pancakes from pan and serve warm.
Kristen Chidsey
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Love how simple and easy this recipe is! I’ll be making it again!
So glad you enjoy!
These pancakes are delicious and fun treat!
They are pretty fun Brandy 😉
Can you make the batter the night before? I’m looking for quick morning breakfasts before heading out to school.
Hi Diana! Absolutely! However, I do believe that it would be best to add chocolate chips after ladling the pancake batter onto the griddle. While tossing with flour will keep the chocolate chips suspended for a short period of time, the chocolate chips are heavy enough to sink overnight 🙂 Enjoy!