These Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pancakes are made healthy with whole grains and are a little decadent with the addition of chocolate chips!
When I was little, I had a best friend in the neighborhood by the name of Karen. She was strikingly pretty for a little girl. I wanted her perfect, shiny, thick hair, she was always one to attract the boys, and she had eyebrows like Brooke Shields. I always thought Karen’s family was a bit exotic and interesting too. Her Mom was an interior designer and was always dressed very fashionably, her Dad was a Tom Selleck look-alike with the perfect mustache, and her older brother was seemingly obsessed with Elton John and the piano. Karen’s house was the place to be, and what I remember most about hanging out at her house was eating Chocolate Chip Pancakes.
Every time I spent the night at Karen’s place, her Mom had Chocolate Chip Pancakes waiting for us in the morning. This chocolate-inside-pancakes thing was such a foreign concept to me. Sure, my Mom made buttermilk pancakes on weekends, but certainly never with chocolate chips. It was a real treat. I’ve turned Mrs. E’s pancakes into whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes.
I decided on a whole wheat pancake base because I was trying to balance a little bit of healthy along with the chocolate. The pancake batter is thick- don’t worry about it, since this will help you create a nice, fluffy, thick pancake that is able to hold those chips.
I like to use BIG chocolate chips- like these Ghirardelli Bittersweet ones. Flip your pancake when the edges kind of curl under and look dry. Medium-low heat is perfect.
How can anyone not crack a smile when they’re making breakfast with a happy-face spatula?
Here’s what happens if you get too anxious and try to flip your pancake before it’s ready to be flipped. Too gooey.
I love how these whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes taste. They are a big, fluffy pancake, and I added plenty of chocolate chips to make them extra yummy. The chocolate becomes all melted and wonderful during the cooking of the pancakes. You can add as many chocolate chips as you’d like. I definitely sprinkle more on top!
People are Kind:
Karen’s family was always very kind to me and got me through some tough times in those younger years. I moved away from the neighborhood when I was about 9 years old, and- strangely enough- Karen and I have kept in touch ever since. I’ve only seen her a few times since we were teenagers, and we’re friends on Facebook and Instagram. She still reminds me of Brooke Shields. And I’ve always wondered if her Mom is still making chocolate chip pancakes? Maybe for her grandchildren now? So these whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes, Mrs. E., are for you 🙂
If you are a lover of pancakes, be sure to check out my very popular recipe for Cinnamon Roll Pancakes. And I adore my friend Heidi’s Chocolate Pancakes too.
Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups whole wheat flour
- 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
- chocolate chips, as many as desired!
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg and oil. Stir in the dry ingredients and mix just until moistened (lumpy batter is what you're looking for). The batter will be pretty thick, but if it seems a little too thick for your taste, you can mix in a couple more tablespoonfuls of buttermilk.
- Heat a large skillet or griddle and spray with nonstick spray. Scoop the batter onto a heated surface (I like to use an ice cream scoop), spread into a circle and position a few chocolate chips on top. Cook over medium-low heat for about 1 to 2 minutes, until the edges begin to curl under a bit and appear dry when you place the spatula underneath. Flip and cook the other side for a minute or two. Your pancakes should be golden brown on both sides. Serve immediately with syrup.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Your spatula makes me giggle. 🙂
Delicious! Quite possibly the perfect pancake recipe- thank so much! 🙂
These are amazing and your pictures are so great! My chocolate chips came out flat and buried in the batter… how do you get them to stick out of the pancake and look so super? I put the chips on top, and then flipped them, and from the top you can’t even see the chips. They still tasted great but what is you secret to the unbelievable presentation?
I definitely dropped a few more chips on top of the stack just before shooting the photo!
i made these pancakes for my younger brother this morning, who in our house is the king of pancakes, and he LOVED them! I also added some diced strawberries to the batter, and he said they were by far the best pancakes he has ever eaten in his life 🙂 Thanks for the wonderful recipe… i will definitely make these again for my entire family!
This recipe is amazing!!! I make for my boyfriend and I about three times a week, we are on a pancake kick right now.. 🙂
sometimes we add bananas , we add two small mashed bananas in with large bowl mixture! <3
thanks for this delicious recipe
My family and I woke up this morning in want of pancakes. My dad went to the store to pick up a few ingredients for breakfast including pancake mix. When he got back he had everything except the the pancakes smh. Needless to say, I had to turn to Pinterest for some help. I stumbled across your recipe and decided to give it a try. I thought of course that these weren’t going to be better than the box, (I had recently tried another homemade pancake recipe that was a fail) but that some pancakes would be better than none. Final results: I was wrong. These pancakes are BETTER than the box!!! Right texture, right flavor, right look. It’s a winner among my family. Moreover, I will never use the box again. Thanks for the share!
so happy you loved these!
These look scrumptious! Yum, now I’m hungry. 🙂
I just made these for dinner with cherry compote. Absolutely delicious. A new staple in our house!
I just made these this morning – but I replaced the chocolate chips with blueberries – thanks for the great recipe that I will defitnitly use again!
I made these pancakes over the weekend and while they were good, they weren’t what I expected. Mine came out really thick, almost bread like! I’ll have to add more buttermilk next time. 🙂
@Lisa@healthy diaries, They are most definitely a thick batter, but if it’s too thick just add a little extra buttermilk.