This decadent chocolate pancakerecipe is a chocolate lover's dream! Fluffy chocolate pancakes topped with whipped cream and fresh berries make the perfect easy, amazing breakfast treat for special occasions.
These chocolatey pancakes are a variation on my favorite buttermilk pancake recipe. I tweaked that classic pancake recipe with the flavors and ratios of my tried-and-true chocolate waffles recipe, and came up with a winner! Homemade chocolate pancakes made with an easy recipe and ingredients you probably already have on hand.
It's the firstMondayof the month, and that means it's time for the Taste Creations Blog Hop! This month, we're sharing decadent breakfast treats, and I think these cocoa powder pancakes definitely count! Be sure to check out the other amazing recipes from my fellow bloggers toward the bottom of the post.
Chocolate Pancake Recipe Ingredients:
- 3 cups all purposeflour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 Tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- chocolate chips (optional)
How to Make Chocolate Pancakes
Making these fluffy pancakes full of chocolate flavor is just as easy and fast as making regular pancakes!
Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk to form the pancake batter.
Ingredient Substitutions for Chocolate Pancakes
- If you can't have dairy, or don't have any butter on hand, you can substitute 4 Tablespoons of vegetable oil or melted coconut oil for the melted butter.
- Dutch-processed cocoa powder or natural cocoa powder can be used in this recipe. Dutch cocoa powder is less acidic and darker (and is what I used in this recipe).
- You can also melt a half cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips or baking chocolate and mix that into the batter in lieu of cocoa powder.
- If you don't have buttermilk, use regular milk, and add a Tablespoon of white vinegar to the milk to approximate buttermilk.
- If you want to make these chocolate pancakes a little healthier, try using whole wheat flour instead of AP flour.
Cooking the Chocolate Pancakes
Regular buttermilk pancakes are cooked on medium-high heat, but because these chocolate pancakes have a higher sugar content, it's important to cook them on a lower heat than you normally would. Cook these chocolate pancakes on medium-low to medium heat.
I like to cook my pancakes on a large electric griddle, because it cooks quickly and I can make a lot of pancakes at once. You can, of course, also cook your pancakes in a large skillet on the stovetop. It will just take a bit longer to cook all the batter, so you can keep cooked pancakes warm by stacking them on a baking sheet and keeping them warm in the oven while you cook.
Pour 1/4 cup of batter on the hot griddle for each pancake. Cook for 2-3 minutes on the first side. Watch for bubbles to form and pop on the surface of the pancake. At first, the batter will fill in the hole made by the popped bubble. When the popped bubbles don't fill in with batter, and craters start forming, it's time to flip the pancake. Continue cooking for another 1-2 minutes until the pancake is completely cooked through.
If you want to turn this into a double chocolate pancake recipe, add chocolate chips! The addition of chocolate chips requires a little bit of finesse. Rather than adding chocolate chips to the bowl of batter, I like to place the batter on the griddle as usual, then sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly on top of the batter. For best results, I then use a little extra batter to cover up the chocolate chips I've added. This prevents uncovered chocolate chips from making a mess of the griddle when you flip the pancake over. If you leave melted chocolate on the griddle, it can eventually burn and ruin later pancakes.
And if you can't see them, the gooey chocolate chips in the middle of the pancakes are a delicious surprise!
This batch of pancakes made 22 chocolate pancakes.
Add a generous dollop of whipped cream to the stack of pancakes and garnish generously with fresh fruit.
Want to turn these into triple chocolate pancakes? Add homemade chocolate syrup or chocolate ganache if you're feeling really decadent!
Other Topping Ideas for Chocolate Pancakes:
- Slather some pancakes with peanut butter and top with chocolate sauce to make amazing chocolate peanut butter waffles.
- Make homemade strawberry sauce to top the pancakes
- Top with caramel sauce
For me? Nothing can beat the flavor combination of strawberries and chocolate.
Printable Chocolate Pancakes Recipe
Want a one page, printable, PDF version of this homemade chocolate pancake recipe? Click on the image below to print directly or save the PDF to your device.
Other Breakfast Treat Recipes from the Taste Creations Blog Hop:
Be sure to check out the other delicious and decadent breakfast recipes from my fellow bloggers in the Taste Creations Blog Hop this month!
Breads and Sweets: Pear and Strawberry Breakfast Crumble
Our Good Life: Baked Vanilla Bean Glazed Donuts
Mom Home Guide: Cinnamon Roll Donuts
