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Chocolate chip pancakes are a fun breakfast option the whole family will love – just ask my kiddos! These melt-in-your-mouth homemade pancakes are rich and buttery, light and fluffy, and incredibly easy to make. Top them with whipped cream and chocolate sauce, maple syrup, or fresh fruit, and start your birthdays, holidays, or Saturdays off with a real treat.

A stack of chocolate chip pancakes topped with chocolate chips, two pats of butter, and plenty of maple syrup.

🍴 What Makes This Recipe So Good

  • Beat it, Bisquick. Move over, Birch Benders. You’ll never need another boxed pancake mix again once you know how to make your own pancakes from scratch. Whether you’re making chocolate chip pancakes, funfetti pancakes, or just sticking with classic buttermilk, this foolproof pancake recipe is super simple and super worth it.
  • This recipe for chocolate chip pancakes gives you rich, buttery, fluffy, slightly sweet pancakes that are perfect for special occasions or just any day at all. Breakfast in bed on birthdays, Mothers’ Day, or Valentine’s Day? Random Saturday during summer vacation? A chill brunch with friends (and maybe some POG juice mimosas)?
  • Pancakes are an easy-to-scale dish that can feed as many or as few people as you need them to. They also keep well, so you can refrigerate or freeze the extras and enjoy them later!

👩🏼‍🍳 Chef’s Tips

  • For a simple breakfast later on, make a large batch of chocolate chip pancakes and let them cool completely. Once they’re cool, transfer them to a food-safe freezer bag or an airtight container and pop them in the freezer. They’ll keep up to 3 months, and you can reheat them easily in the oven. Just lay them on a baking sheet in a flat layer, without overlapping them, and bake them (from frozen!) for 10-15 minutes at 350° Fahrenheit. No defrosting needed!
  • Hate it when your chocolate chips inside the pancakes melt? Freeze them first! Spread them out on a baking sheet or plate so they don’t freeze into a big block, and set them in the freezer for 20-30 minutes before starting the recipe. Since they’ll start out much colder than the batter, the pancakes will be cooked and ready before the chocolate reaches its melting point.
A stack of chocolate chip pancakes topped with whipped cream and sliced strawberries.

🍳 More Breakfast Recipes We Love

A stack of chocolate chip pancakes topped with chocolate chips, two pats of butter, and plenty of maple syrup.
Recipe By: Cheryl Malik

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Prep 15 minutes
Cook 30 minutes
Total 45 minutes
Rich and buttery, light and fluffy, and incredibly easy to make – these homemade chocolate chip pancakes will be your new go-to pancake recipe!
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6 servings

Equipment

  • large mixing bowl
  • whisk
  • medium mixing bowl
  • Fork
  • Large skillet
  • Cookie scoop or measuring cup, batter dispenser, or ladle
  • Spatula
  • Plate

Ingredients

  • butter or neutral oil, to cook pancakes

For the Chocolate Chip Pancakes

  • 2 cups buttermilk at room temperature
  • 2 large eggs at room temperature
  • 3 tablespoons butter melted but not hot
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
  • 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 10 tablespoons mini chocolate chips ½ cup + 2 tablespoons

Suggested Toppings (All Optional)

  • pure maple syrup
  • whipped cream
  • additional chocolate chips
  • melted peanut butter
  • fresh strawberries sliced
  • butter pats

Instructions

  • Add buttermilk, eggs, butter, and vanilla extract to large mixing bowl. Whisk ingredients together until fully combined. Eggs should no longer be streaky. Set bowl aside.
    Wet ingredients for chocolate chip pancakes, fully mixed together with silver whisk resting in bowl.
  • Add sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to medium mixing bowl. Using fork, mix dry ingredients together until thoroughly incorporated.
    Dry ingredients for chocolate chip pancakes whisked together in a large glass mixing bowl with a silver metal whisk.
  • Slowly add dry ingredient mixture into wet ingredient mixture, whisking well between each addition. Continue until all of dry mixture has been added to wet mixture, and whisk until ingredients are fully combined and batter is smooth. Note: it's fine if some lumps of dry ingredients remain.
    Thick, slightly lumpy batter for buttermilk chocolate chip pancakes in a large glass mixing bowl on a dark grey table.
  • Add chocolate chips to batter and gently fold chips in until just incorporated. Be careful not to overmix or batter will become dense. Set batter aside to rest 5 minutes.
    Chocolate chips folded into pancake batter, creating chocolate chip pancake batter.
  • Heat large skillet over medium heat. When pan is hot, add butter and let melt completely, swirling skillet occasionally to distribute butter across entire surface. Note: if using oil instead, add just enough oil to coat bottom of skillet and heat oil until hot and shimmery.
  • Using cookie scoop, transfer batter from bowl into skillet, creating discs of pancake batter. Be sure to leave space between each pancake to allow for spreading. Work in batches as needed. Note: for medium-sized pancakes, use approximately ½ cup (8 tablespoons) batter per pancake.
    A single chocolate chip pancake cooking in the center of a medium skillet, just before being flipped over to cook top side.
  • Cook pancakes undisturbed until small bubbles begin to form and pop on top side of pancake, approximately 3 to 4 minutes.
  • Gently slide spatula under pancake and flip pancake over, so cooked side of pancake faces up. Cook pancakes another 3 to 4 minutes or until edges of pancake are cooked and golden.
  • Use spatula to carefully transfer pancakes from skillet to plate. Set plate aside. Add more butter or oil to skillet if needed and let melt or warm up, then repeat process with remaining pancake batter. Continue in batches until all batter has been cooked.
  • Divide pancakes into preferred portion sizes. Top with preferred toppings and serve warm with desired sides.
  • Buttermilk & Eggs: To get the desired results, the buttermilk and eggs must be at room temperature to start. If you forget to set them out early enough, you can submerge the eggs in a bowl of warm (not hot) water until room temperature. For the buttermilk, microwave it on 50% power in 10-second increments, stirring it well between each burst, until just room temperature – not hot!
  • Butter: Microwave butter at 50% power in 15-second increments, stirring it between each burst, just until the butter is melted. If you overdo it and it comes out hot, let it cool a few minutes. It should be a little more than room temperature so it’s liquid, but not enough that it’s hot.
  • First Pancake Rule: Use the first skillet of pancakes as your test batch – if the pancakes come out too dark, lower the heat under your skillet to medium-low. If the pancakes are too large or too thick, use less batter per pancake in subsequent batches.
  • Leftovers: Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 3 days. Reheat in microwave or toaster.
  • Make it Gluten Free: Use our gluten-free pancake recipe and add your favorite chocolate chips.
  • Make it Paleo: Use our paleo pancake recipe and add your favorite paleo-friendly chocolate chips (or a paleo chocolate bar, chopped finely).

Approximate Information for One Serving

Serving Size: 1servingCalories: 437calProtein: 11gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 90mgSodium: 429mgPotassium: 184mgTotal Carbs: 61gFiber: 2gSugar: 24gNet Carbs: 59gVitamin A: 453IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 178mgIron: 3mg
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.

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Cheryl Malik

In addition to being a certified health coach, certified yoga instructor, and mom of 3, Cheryl is also the recipe developer, editor-in-chief, food photographer, and passionate foodie behind 40 Aprons. Having spent the last 10+ years as a food blogger, she's become known for her flavorful recipes, detailed instructions, gorgeous photography, and down-to-earth approach to food and cooking in general.

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