Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Chocolate chip pancakes- Fluffy pancakes dotted with lots of chocolate chips are only better than the classic ones. The buttermilk-based batter helps to keep these pancakes extra fluffy, airy, and soft.

These soft cloud-like Chocolate chip pancakes are going to be your motivation to get up just a little bit early every morning. It is easy and super quick to put together the batter and see the pancakes sizzle on the griddle. Trust me trading the extra sleep would be totally worth it when you take a first bite of these pancakes.

Before we get into the details of the recipe, let me tell you why this recipe works and assures the best chocolate chip pancakes.

Buttermilk and baking soda are a magic duo that aerates the pancake batter. And the aerated batter gives the most fluffy and soft pancakes. Buttermilk because of its acidic nature also tenderizes the batter.
Unlike other pancakes, the chocolate chip wouldn’t sink at the bottom, because of the right consistency of the batter.
This recipe can easily be doubled and made for a larger crowd.
You would need basic pantry ingredients for this. So most probably you don’t have to do an emergency grocery run.
These pancakes are far better than the ready-made mix.

Stack of soft chocolate chip pancakes. loaded with chocolate chips and topped with butter.

Chocolate chip pancakes – Ingredients

The list of the ingredients is as follows.

Flour – Regular all-purpose flour.
Eggs- Make sure they are at room temperature
Sugar – White crystal sugar
Buttermilk – ready-made buttermilk. In case you don’t have access to buttermilk, then add 1.5 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to 1.5 cups of room-temperature milk, mix, and let it rest. The milk will look curdled and ready to use.
Baking powder, Baking soda- Make sure they are aluminum free and also not expired. If the baking soda is old, then it won’t react with buttermilk to aerate the batter.
Butter – Unsalted. melted and cooled down. Butter adds richness to the pancakes and keeps them tender.
Vanilla- real natural vanilla extract.
Salt – to round off the flavors

How to make Chocolate Chip Pancakes – Steps by step

Detailed recipes along with measurements can be found in the recipe card.

Keep the ingredients measured. Start with mixing buttermilk, eggs, butter, and vanilla. Whisk it well so that butter and eggs are incorporated well.
Similarly whisk together the dry ingredients. Mixing wet and dry ingredients separately ensure all the ingredients are distributed well.
Next is to add the wet mixture to the dry. Gently mix everything using a spatula. Avoid overmixing or beating the mixture.
Fold n the chocolate chips. The batter needs to be thick yet of spreadable consistency. Let the batter rest for 5-10 minutes allowing the baking soda and buttermilk to react and create air pockets.
Heat a nonstick skillet or griddle. Brush with melted butter and add portions of batter to the hot pan. Once you see the bubbles, flip and cook until set.

Tips for the best result

Make sure the ingredients are at room temperature (especially the wet ingredients) for even mixing.
It is important that the rising agents ( baking soda and baking powder) are fresh.
Worried that the chocolate chip might sink at the bottom? First of all, the batter consistency is just right to hold the chips, any thinner chocolate chip would have settled at the bottom. Make sure you use mini chocolate chips so that they will distribute evenly and will also not weigh down. Cold chocolate chips have less chance of bleeding into the batter before cooking.
Don’t overmix – small tiny flour pockets are absolutely fine. Overmixing will create gluten, which in turn will make the pancakes chewy.
The batter needs to rest for 5-10 minutes. Any longer, it will start to lose the air pockets and the pancakes would be not as fluffy.
The temperature of the skillet/griddle – The batter begins to rise as soon as it hits the hot skillet. If the skillet is not hot enough, the pancakes will not rise properly. On the other hand, if it’s too hot, the bottom might get cooked fast while at the top it’s undercooked. Heat the skillet to medium-high.
Use a large ice cream scoop / measuring cup to portion the batter evenly and also to get even sized pancakes.
Don’t slap the pancake from a height onto the skillet while flipping. Use a spatula to gently flip the pancakes for the air pockets to remain intact.

cross section of chocolate chip pancake that show how airy the batter is.

If you are a morning Pancake person then give these healthy Banana Oatmeal Pancakes, Ricotta Pancakes, or during the festive season Ginger pancake a try.