Chocolate Chip Pancakes are soft, fluffy buttermilk pancakes packed with mini chocolate chips. They’re easy to make from scratch in just 30 minutes, with perfectly golden edges and melty chocolate in every bite.
My kids are absolutely obsessed with chocolate chip pancakes. Dessert for breakfast? Yeah, I get it. And I can totally get on board with these. With all of our tips and tricks, you will be making these every weekend. I won’t lie, these are also great for breakfast or dinner.
Why You’ll Love These Chocolate Chip Pancakes
- Light and fluffy: Using buttermilk to react with the baking soda helps give the pancakes a great texture and lift.
- Chocolate in every bite: Mini chocolate chips distribute much more evenly than full-sized chips.
- No burnt chocolate: Adding the chips to the batter prevents chocolate from burning.
- Easy to make: The batter takes only 10 minutes to put together with basic ingredients.
Ingredient Notes
- Buttermilk: This is what gives the pancakes their classic texture and is needed to react with the backing soda. See the note in the recipe card about making a substitute.
- Mini chocolate chips: I love using mini chocolate chips because you get chocolate through the pancakes.
- Butter: It is important to melt the butter but give it a moment to cool before adding it to the batter.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Pancakes
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk together buttermilk, butter, eggs, and vanilla extract. The buttermilk is where the pancakes get their lift and tenderness.
- Fold the wet ingredients into the flour mixture until just combined. Be careful not to over-mix, it’s ok if it’s a little lumpy, just mix until you see no streaks of flour. Gently stir in the chocolate chips.
- Scoop the 1/4 cup of batter onto a hot skillet or griddle and cook. Flip when you see bubbles forming through the center of the pancake and cook until golden brown.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Pancakes Without Buttermilk
Buttermilk is a key ingredient to this recipe because it reacts with the baking soda. If you don’t keep buttermilk on hand, it is easy to make a substitute.
To make the replacement, use a 2-cup glass measuring cup. Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to it. Then fill the measuring cup up the rest of the way to the 1 1/4 cup mark with milk. The higher the fat content of milk, the better. But I have done this with skim milk and still had it work. You can read more about this here: How to Make Buttermilk.
How to Keep Chocolate Chips from Burning
First, add the chocolate chips right to the batter rather than sprinkling them in the pancake as it cooks on the skillet. This will coat the chocolate chips in batter and prevent them from burning. An added benefit is that it will keep them from clumping together making sure you get melty chocolate in each fluffy bite of pancake.
Second, keep the heat at medium-low. Not only will this prevent your chocolate from burning, it will help the pancake cook all the way through before the edges burn.
Tips and Tricks
- Measure your flour properly. Use a spoon to scoop the flour from the container it is kept in into a dry measuring cup. Level it off with the flat end of a spatula or the back of a butter knife. See a full tutorial here: How to Measure Flour.
- Let your melted butter cool. Once it is melted, let the butter sit on the counter for a few minutes to cool. If you add it right to the other wet ingredients immediately after microwaving, it will start cooking the other ingredients.
- Use fresh baking soda. To ensure that it reacts in your pancakes, replace the box every six months.
- Avoid over-mixing. Mix the batter until there are no streaks of flour left, ensuring that you don’t over-mix the batter.
- Preheat your griddle or skillet and keep it medium-low. Having a hot skillet or griddle is important before putting the batter on it. Heat to a nice medium-low heat (or 375 degrees Fahrenheit on a griddle) to get perfectly cooked pancakes from the beginning.
- Add the chocolate chips to the batter before cooking. This will prevent the chocolate from burning, the chips from clumping together, and ensure that chocolate is well distributed throughout the pancakes.
Storing, Freezing, & Reheating Leftovers
Pancakes are great leftover and also freeze well. They can be stored in an airtight container for two to three days in the refrigerator.
To freeze your leftover chocolate chip pancakes, freeze in a single layer and then transfer them to an airtight container. Store in the freezer for up to three months. These are great to make ahead for those busy mornings.
To reheat, simply pop them in the toaster.
What to Serve with Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Looking for a full brunch spread featuring these delicious pancakes? Here are a few ideas for what to serve:
If you try this chocolate chip pancake recipe or any of my others, leave me a comment and let me know what you think.
Recipe Video
Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (200 grams)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar packed
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk see note for substitute (340.5 grams or 354.8 ml)
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled (56.5 grams)
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (88.5 grams)
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt
- In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, butter, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk until well combined.1 1/4 cups buttermilk, 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Gently stir in the chocolate chips.1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
- Heat a skillet over medium-low heat. Spray lightly with cooking spray. (Or preheat a griddle to 375 degrees Fahrenheit). This low temperature will help the chocolate from burning and it will cook the middle of the pancakes without the edges burning.
- Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop the batter onto the skillet. Cook until bubbles begin to form in the middle of the pancake, and the bubbles on the outer edge of the pancake have started to harden. Flip, and continue cooking until the pancake is golden brown, about three minutes on each side. Keep in mind that you may need to turn the heat down on a skillet over a gas flame after the first few minutes.
Notes
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