Best Chocolate Chip Pancakes
The best Chocolate Chip Pancakes bring a fancy restaurant brunch to your home kitchen with ricotta cheese, lemon zest, and big chunks of rich chocolate.
Best Chocolate Chip Pancake Recipe
Yes, Chocolate Chip Pancakes are an excuse to eat dessert for breakfast. Absolutely. But is that such a bad thing every once in awhile?
Whether it’s Mother’s Day brunch or just a Saturday morning after a long week, everybody deserves this indulgence now and then.
Our recipe takes some cues from a fancy restaurant brunch by including ricotta cheese, lemon zest, and rich, high quality chocolate that is actually way more like chunks than chips, but that’s our little secret.
Why You’ll Love this Chocolate Chip Pancake Recipe
- The combination of fluffy ricotta cheese pancake batter with rich, melted chunks of chocolate is simply irresistible.
- They’re effortlessly impressive, with no special skills needed to stir up the batter. Even kids can help make these!
- Our best chocolate chip pancake recipe purposefully makes 14 pancakes, so you can have a few griddle sacrifices that don’t turn out perfectly, but still be left with a dozen pancakes for brunch.
Best Chocolate Chip Pancakes Recipe Ingredients
- all-purpose flour – the bulk of our batter, providing the structure of the pancakes.
- granulated sugar – sweetens the batter.
- baking powder and baking soda – leavening agents that help the pancakes rise so they’re fluffy and light.
- kosher salt – just a pinch will enhance the flavor of the pancakes and balance sweetness.
- eggs – bind the ingredients together and provide structure.
- milk – adds moisture to the batter and thins it out.
- ricotta cheese – contributes richness and creaminess to this chocolate chip pancakes recipe.
- lemon zest and juice – adds a bright, tangy flavor that enhances the flavor of the chocolate.
- unsalted butter – just a touch will add richness and flavor to the pancakes.
- vanilla extract – enhances the overall flavor with its warm, sweet aroma.
- roughly chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips – the star of the show! We highly recommend Harvest Chocolate Guatemala Snacking Chocolate. It is a rich 68% dark chocolate with notes of strawberry and lemon curd, making it ideal for these lemon zest-infused pancakes that we often garnish with strawberries!
How to Make Chocolate Chip Pancakes
1. DRY INGREDIENTS. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
2. WET INGREDIENTS. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, then whisk in the milk, ricotta, lemon juice, lemon zest, butter and vanilla.
3. WET INTO DRY. Add the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients, along with the chocolate. Use a rubber spatula to gently mix until just combined, but do not overmix.
4. GRIDDLE. In batches, spray a griddle or nonstick skillet with cooking spray and pour the batter by 1/4-cupfuls onto the prepared cooking surface. Cook 1 to 3 minutes per side or until golden brown and cooked through on both sides.
Best Chocolate Chip Pancakes Substitutions
- CITRUS – Don’t have a lemon? Orange zest and juice are also great in this chocolate chip pancake recipe.
- FAT – An equal amount of vegetable or coconut oil can be used in place of the butter in this recipe.
- FLOUR – While all-purpose flour is the foundation of our pancake recipe, whole wheat flour or a cup-for-cup gluten free flour blend can be used instead.
Chocolate Chip Pancake Home Chef Tips
- Cook one or two “test pancakes” to check the heat of your griddle in a few spots, so that you can make adjustments and have the rest of your pancakes come out perfectly.
- Pancakes are ready to flip when the surface of batter is covered in several bubbles in different places, and the edge of pancake starts to look a bit dry.
When to Add Chocolate Chips to Pancakes
Chocolate is prone to burn if it touches the griddle directly, so its best to gently fold it into the pancake batter to ensure that the chocolate is coated in batter, as well as evenly distributed.
Chocolate Chip Pancake storage
Cool any leftover pancakes to room temperature before storing them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
To freeze, place pancakes in a single layer on a parchment-lined plate or sheet pan, then transfer to the freezer uncovered and freeze until solid. Then, transfer to a freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheat pancakes in a toaster, oven or microwave until heated through.
Chocolate Chip Pancakes Recipe FAQs
You can use your favorite type of chocolate chips for this chocolate chip pancake recipe (semi-sweet, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or even white chocolate), but we prefer chopped chunks of dark chocolate for the richest experience.
If this is an issue for you, you can try chilling the chocolate in the freezer for a few minutes before adding it to the pancake batter. But in our opinion, the beauty of this recipe is the bits of melted chocolate studding each pancake!
The secret to good pancakes is not overmixing the batter! Some lumps are OK. If you overmix, your pancakes will be flat and not fluffy.
If your chocolate chip pancakes are burning, the heat is probably too high. Every griddle, stove and skillet is a bit different, especially for pancakes. Lower the heat slightly and adjust as needed, because sometimes griddles get hotter and hotter over time. You may need to continue to reduce the heat as you continue cooking pancakes.
Allowing the pancake batter to rest for 5 minutes can help relax the gluten in the flour, giving you lighter and fluffier pancakes. However, if you’re in a hurry, just go ahead and cook the chocolate chip pancakes immediately without resting, and they’ll be just fine.
Best Chocolate Chip Pancakes Recipe
The best Chocolate Chip Pancakes bring a fancy restaurant brunch to your home kitchen with ricotta cheese, lemon zest, and big chunks of rich chocolate.
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 3/4 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (from about 1 lemon)
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 ounces dark chocolate (roughly chopped) or chocolate chips
- Nonstick cooking spray
- Whipped cream, maple syrup, bananas and/or fresh berries, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. In large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda until well combined.
- In medium bowl, whisk eggs. Add milk, ricotta, lemon zest, lemon juice, butter and vanilla and whisk until smooth.
- Add ricotta mixture and chocolate to flour mixture and use rubber spatula to gently mix until just combined. Batter will be slightly lumpy; this is OK. Do not overmix.
- Heat griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium heat. In batches; spray griddle with nonstick spray, then pour batter by 1/4-cupfuls onto griddle. Cook 1 to 3 minutes per side or until golden brown and cooked through (pancakes are ready to flip when surface of batter is covered in bubbles).
- Transfer cooked pancakes to rimmed baking sheet and transfer to oven to keep warm. Repeat process with remaining pancake batter. Serve pancakes with desired toppings.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 541Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 168mgSodium: 618mgCarbohydrates: 75gFiber: 3gSugar: 33gProtein: 18g
This website provides estimated nutrition information as a courtesy only. Nutrition information does not include any optional ingredients or toppings. You should calculate the nutrition information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
