Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Delicious Chocolate Chip Pancakes are made with miniature chocolate chips and buttermilk. These pancakes have a crisp exterior with a soft, interior.

We love Chocolate Chip Pancakes for breakfast! To make an entire breakfast spread, serve them alongside this Egg Skillet or these One-Pan Breakfast Potatoes and Bacon.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Pancakes, Waffles, and French Toast are all favorites at my home — we make at least one of them every Saturday for breakfast. My kiddos go crazy for Saturday morning breakfast! 

While we typically stick these plain Homemade Pancakes, it’s fun to change up the flavors — sometimes adding overripe bananas (like in these Banana Pancakes) or fresh, juicy blueberries (like in these Blueberry Pancakes).

Today though, we’re going for a total breakfast treat — Chocolate Chip Pancakes! These pancakes are sweet, light, fluffy, and completely crave-worthy. Add a splash of good maple syrup (or our homemade pancake syrup) for the perfect finishing touch! 

Make your own Buttermilk

I’m a huge fan of buttermilk in pancakes; it gives them a wonderful lift, texture, and flavor. 

If you don’t have buttermilk, you can still make Chocolate Chip Pancakes! They do have slightly less lift with DIY buttermilk as opposed to regular, but it still works great (I’ve tested both). Here are the instructions:

Pour 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of distilled white vinegar or lemon juice into the bottom of your liquid measuring cup. Fill up the rest with whole milk and give it a quick stir. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes before adding it to the recipe. This DIY buttermilk procedure can be increased or decreased proportionately.

For this pancake recipe, I add 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon vinegar to a liquid measuring cup and add milk until reaching the 1 and 1/4 cup line.

QUICK TIP

If you use buttermilk in this recipe, you can use any leftovers in this Air Fryer Dutch Baby, Banana Chocolate Chip Cake, this Cornbread Recipe, or these Banana Cupcakes!

Toppings for Chocolate Chip Pancakes

The best thing about making your own pancakes–chocolate chip or otherwise– is that you get to pick exactly how you want them topped! Below are some ideas:

• A pat of butter
• A drizzle of peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, etc.
• Pure maple syrup
• Vanilla Sauce
• Buttermilk Syrup (great way to use up leftover buttermilk)
• Whipped Cream
• Fresh berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc.)
• Toasted coconut
• Jam (any flavor would be delicious!)
• A sprinkle of powdered sugar
• A drizzle of Nutella® (or similar chocolate/hazelnut spread)

I hope you enjoy these syrup-drenched, chocolate-studded, absolutely perfect pancakes!

Tips for the Best Chocolate Chip Pancakes

QUICK TIP

 My number #1 tip: Do NOT overmix the batter. Too much stirring is going to start the gluten development in the batter and make the pancakes flat and tough (not light and fluffy). As soon as you don’t see flour streaks, stop mixing. Remember, lumps in the batter are a good thing and they’ll be eliminated as the batter rests.

• Let the batter stand at room temperature for about 5-10 minutes before adding to the griddle. This gives the flour a chance to absorb the liquid and allows some of those stubborn lumps (that you didn’t overmix!) to take care of themselves.
• Pay attention to the temperature: Really pay attention while you cook the pancakes. If they’re browning too quickly, turn the heat down a bit and cool the pan for a minute. Sticking a lot? Add a bit more butter to the pan. As long as you keep monitoring and adjusting the temperature as needed, your pancakes will turn out fine.
• Invest in a griddle: If you make pancakes often, and have space, I highly recommend an electric skillet or griddle; we use ours a couple of times a week! A griddle makes pancake-making so much easier!
• Before your pancake batter hits the hot pan, run a cold stick of butter on the pan to grease it. This gives the pancakes an evenly distributed layer of fat to cook in. 
  • I like to hold the stick of butter with tongs to keep the heat away from my fingertips. Use the tongs as an extension of your hand, and run the butter across your skillet or griddle.
• Use your favorite type of chocolate. We like miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips best in these pancakes — they disperse more evenly which means there’s chocolate in every bite! That said, you can use whatever chocolate chips you have on hand or like best — dark, milk, semi-sweet, or even white chocolate!

Chocolate Chip Pancakes FAQs

More easy breakfast recipes

• Quiche Lorraine with bacon
• Healthy Breakfast Cookies no baking required
• Dutch Baby also called German pancakes
• Strawberry Scones with Greek yogurt
• Soft-Baked Oatmeal Breakfast Bars with chocolate chips

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Chocolate Chip Pancakes

5 from 1 vote

- Review this recipe

Delicious Chocolate Chip Pancakes are made with miniature chocolate chips and buttermilk. These pancakes have a crisp exterior with a soft and chewy interior.

SAVE TO RECIPE BOX

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Chocolate Chip Pancakes

5 from 1 vote

- Review this recipe

SAVE TO RECIPE BOX

Print Recipe

Delicious Chocolate Chip Pancakes are made with miniature chocolate chips and buttermilk. These pancakes have a crisp exterior with a soft and chewy interior.

Course Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine American, Vegetarian

Keyword chocolate chip pancakes

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 12 pancakes

Chelsea Lords

Calories 156kcal

Author Chelsea Lords

Cost $3.12

Ingredients

• ▢ 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• ▢ 1-1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk (Note 1)
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ▢ 1-1/4 cups white, all-purpose flour
• ▢ 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, lightly packed
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips, plus more for topping if desired

US - Metric

USMetric

Instructions

• OVEN/PREP: Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F and prepare a large baking sheet by setting a cooling rack on top of the tray. Place both in the oven. Start by melting 5 tablespoons of butter. Once completely melted, set aside to get back to room temperature.
• WET INGREDIENTS: In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla. Set aside and work on the dry ingredients.
• DRY INGREDIENTS: In a very large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and miniature chocolate chips. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and set aside.
• FINISH WET INGREDIENTS: Drizzle melted and cooled to room temperature butter into the wet ingredients. Whisk until smooth.
• COMBINE: Pour wet ingredients into the well of the dry ingredients and mix until JUST combined. Do not overmix; just mix until you don't see streaks of flour -- the batter should be a bit lumpy. Let the mix stand for 5-10 minutes.
• COOK: Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium-high heat (~300 degrees F). When hot, run the cold stick of the remaining 3 tablespoons butter across the skillet/griddle. (I like to hold butter with tongs to keep the heat away from my fingers.) Lower the heat to medium-low and use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to scoop and drop the pancake batter onto the skillet or griddle.
• COOK CONT.: The batter should spread into a pancake about 3 inches wide. Cook until bubbles are forming on the edges of the pancakes and then use a thin spatula to gently lift one side and look underneath. If the pancake is golden brown, flip and cook on the other side for 1 and 1/2 to 2 and 1/2 minutes, or until the bottom of the pancake is golden brown and the pancake is cooked through. If the pancake or butter starts to burn, lower the heat.
• REPEAT: As soon as you take a pancake off the skillet or griddle, place it on the wire rack in the prepared sheet pan. (The rack keeps the pancakes from getting soggy underneath!) Place the pan in the oven as you continue to cook more pancakes. Wipe down the skillet/griddle with a paper towel. Rub the butter across the skillet again and repeat until the batter is used up.
• SERVE: Serve pancakes as soon as possible. Topped with an extra pat of butter (optional) and your favorite syrup -- maple syrup or some of the options listed in Note 2.

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Buttermilk: No buttermilk? No problem: Add 1 tbsp + 1 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup. Fill up the rest with milk. Whisk and set aside for 5 minutes. 

Note 2: Toppings: Here are some ideas for topping your pancakes: A pat of butter, drizzle of peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, etc., pure maple syrup, this vanilla sauce, this buttermilk syrup, fresh whipped cream, fresh berries, toasted coconut, jam, a sprinkle of powdered sugar, or a drizzle of Nutella.

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 156kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 37mg | Sodium: 227mg | Potassium: 23mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 296IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 1mg

We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed.

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