Chocolate Chip Pancakes

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. 

More Breakfasts Worthy of Special Occasions

• French Toast Casserole
• Easy Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole
• Blueberry Coffee Cake 
• Maple Candied Bacon

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Chocolate Chip Pancakes are light, fluffy, homemade pancakes loaded with chocolate chips.

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 12 pancakes

Calories: 131kcal

Author: Kristen Chidsey

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.

Nutrition Facts

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Amount Per Serving

Calories 131 Calories from Fat 36

% Daily Value*

Fat 4g6%

Saturated Fat 2g13%

Cholesterol 20mg7%

Sodium 159mg7%

Potassium 179mg5%

Carbohydrates 20g7%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 7g8%

Protein 3g6%

Vitamin A 147IU3%

Calcium 95mg10%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

I would love to know how you enjoy this recipe!Snap a picture and tag #amindfullmom on Instagram or Facebook - I would love to see!