Very Chocolatey American Pancakes

Very Chocolatey American Style Pancakes- American style pancakes with added cocoa powder and chocolate chips to make them extra chocolatey. Perfect for dessert with whipped cream or ice-cream on Pancake day!

Pancake Day is just around the corner! We are going for American style pancakes again this year for two reasons. The main reason is convenience. They are easy to make in big batches and then freeze, so you can whip them out the night before you need them and away you go. Also, I have just grown to prefer them. They are more substantial and a bit firmer, less floppy, than traditional British pancakes.

Last time, I made banana pancakes which were really nice and were good for breakfast or dessert. This time, as it will be evening when we have them, I wanted something much more desserty, so I went for chocolate pancakes. They ended up being very chocolatey as I added cocoa powder and chocolate chips! 

Instinctively, I wanted to put the chocolate chips in the pancake batter. I decided not to because the pancakes have to stay in the pan for quite a while as they cook, and there's nothing worse than burnt chocolate! The chips sink to the bottom and burn there or, if you put them on as it cooks, they burn when you flip them over. Even if they just melt, the remainder will burn in the pan after you have taken the pancakes out. So, resist temptation! Don't do it!  In the end, I sprinkled them over the hot pancakes on the plate and they melted nicely onto them. I used dark chocolate chips which made them very chocolatey, but you could tone it down a bit with milk ones. The pancakes are very nice with cream or ice-cream to top them off.

Hope you enjoy!

Make Very Chocolatey American Pancakes

Ingredients

(makes 12)

190g self-raising flour

250ml milk

1 heaped tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp caster sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

1 tsp butter

50g chocolate chips

Method

1. Mix the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and sugar together well.
2. Make a well in the centre of the bowl and crack the egg into it. Mix the egg into the dry ingredients until you have a lumpy texture.
3. Add the milk a little at a time, mixing as you go along.
4. Put a large frying pan on medium heat and grease with some of the knob of butter.
5. Use a table spoon to drop a spoonful of the mixture onto the pan, and then another. Making two pancakes at a time works best for me. Use the back of the spoon to shape them a little but don't worry too much. They won't sizzle, they will just spread slightly and then start to firm up.
6. Once they start to show open air bubbles and lose their shine on the top, flip them and cook the other side.
7. Put the pancakes in stacks of 4 and sprinkle the choc chips over the top. Add ice cream or whipped cream if desired.