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These chocolate pancakes are my family’s favorite way to have dessert for breakfast! They are thick, fluffy, and made with just 5 wholesome ingredients.
Looking for more pancake recipes? Try my zucchini pancakes, savory pancakes, and sweet potato pancakes next.
Table of Contents
Need an excuse to have dessert for breakfast? These pancakes are your answer.
Mornings are always a rush in our house, but that doesn’t stop us from having something satisfying for breakfast. A chocolate pancake goes a very long way to making our mornings a little special.
Why I love this recipe
- Only 5 ingredients. Five pantry staples are all that’s needed. The fewer ingredients you use, the less mess you create in the kitchen!
- Made in one bowl. Speaking of mess, all you need is one bowl and one skillet to make the magic happen.
- Secretly healthy. There’s no oil, buttermilk, or eggs in this recipe, though you’d never guess by how moist and soft they are.
★★★★★ REVIEW
“These chocolate pancakes are so simple to make and I love to whip them up for my family for a fun and sneakily wholesome weekend breakfast.” – Suzanne
Key Ingredients
- Flour. I use sifted whole wheat flour for this recipe as it is healthier than white flour, but you can use regular all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour if you prefer.
- Cocoa powder. Unsweetened and sifted to remove clumps. Choose Dutch-processed cocoa powder as it has a richer flavor.
- Sugar. I used white sugar, but brown sugar or a sugar-free substitute works just as well.
- Baking powder. To help the pancakes rise.
- Milk. I used unsweetened almond milk to keep these dairy-free/vegan, but whole milk works too.
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips. Optional, but who doesn’t love double chocolate pancakes?
How to make chocolate pancakes
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Make the pancake batter. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add the milk and whisk until a batter forms. Stir in the chocolate chips (if using), and let the batter sit for 5 minutes.
Cook. Heat nonstick cooking spray in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Once hot, pour 1/4 cup portions of the pancake batter and cover the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes, flip the pancakes, and cook for another 2 minutes. Repeat until all of the batter has been used.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Avoid overmixing the batter. More mixing means more air gets lost, making for flatter pancakes.
- Don’t skip the resting time. Those 5 minutes help the baking powder activate and give the pancakes their rise. If you’re not concerned with fluffy pancakes, you can skip this step.
- Cover the pan. If you’ve made any of my pancake recipes before, you know this is my non-negotiable tip. Doing this traps in the heat which yields uber fluffy pancakes.
More sweet breakfast ideas
- Zucchini pancakes
- Lemon ricotta pancakes
- Almond flour pancakes
- Oat flour pancakes
- Red Velvet pancakes
Chocolate Pancakes
Video
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder sifted
- 3 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 cups milk
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, sift in the flour and cocoa powder. Add the sugar and baking powder and mix well. Add the milk and whisk until a batter remains. Let the batter sit for 5 minutes.
- Add some oil to a non-stick skillet and place over medium heat. Once hot, add 1/4 cup portions of the pancake batter and immediately cover the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes, remove the lid, flip, and cook for another two minutes.
- Repeat the process until all the pancakes are cooked.
Notes
- Add more chocolate flavor. Swap some of the liquid with a shot of espresso. You won’t notice the coffee flavor, but it’ll give the pancakes a richer mocha flavor.
- Enhance the flavor of the batter. Add a pinch of salt or one teaspoon vanilla extract.
- Drizzle with peanut butter, healthy Nutella, chocolate sauce, or caramel sauce.
- Add mix-ins. Try fresh raspberries, strawberries, or banana slices.
- Don’t forget the toppings. I’m boring and prefer my pancakes with a little melted butter and maple syrup, but a little whipped cream and fresh berries never hurt!
Nutrition
Originally published February 2023, updated and republished June 2024
Ti be honest I started using low fat cocoa powder recently. Will try this one!
Can I use almond flour instead?
Haven’t tried- feel free to experiment and see!
Wow such a good recipe. I rarely make pancakes. This can be change!
good as hell!
Why do you not list the nutrition counts?
They are being included now for new recipes, feel free to calculate it!
There is no mention if u grease the frying pan! So do you? If so how much oil/butter do u use? thanks
I used 1 teaspoon, but I have a good quality non-stick pan
I made these yesterday for my girls and nephews…they LOVED them!!! Thank you so much for a healthy recipe that I feel good about making for my biggest critics! I had them begging for more today 🙂
I’m a bit confused on the recipe. T? Tablespoon, Teaspoon? For the flour? That does not seem like enough to make the pancakes…
Hi there, have you used coconut flour before? A little goes a long way! T is tablespoon.
This would be the first time. Thanks for your reply! 🙂
Do you think you could add some protein powder to these without getting a gritty texture? Would I need to change up ratios? Just wondering if you’ve tried before potentially ruining a batch!
Hi Dee Bee! Unfortunately, I haven’t tired this with protein powder so am unsure how the final result will turn out. Please let me know if you do, I’m curious to see how it will work! 🙂
I need help! Maybe I’m not beating the egg whites engough? But mine don’t come out fluffy at all. They stay flat in the pan and I have trouble flipping them. I only need to add 1/4 cup of the milk because it doesn’t take much to make the batter thinner. The flavor is there (and good) but mine don’t look anything like your picture 🙁
Hi Shirley- Don’t beat the egg whites much- It doesn’t need too much beating o get the fluffy texture! You need to let the batter sit for a little bit to thicken up which in itself, should be EXTREMELY thick (spoonable batter!).
Hey, these do look amazing. However I’m confused: you state they’re totally sugar-free and yet granulated sweetener is one of the ingredients. Does the sugar-free only apply if you use a sugar substitute, then?
Hi Miranda! Sure is- I used Norbu, which is a granulated monk fruit sweetener which is considered sugar-free. I’ve also tried it with liquid stevia too 🙂
For liquid stevia, is it 1T as well?
Hi Rowena! Liquid stevia, I’d do the equivilant of 1 serving, as per the bottle!
do we know the nutrition facts? can we get them anywhere?
Hi Susan! For sure- If you add the ingredients into a calorie calculator it will provide it for you! Enjoy!
I this something that you would consider doing with your recipes? would be so nice to have. Just chose your most recommended ingredients to do so? even know there are variations? thanks for any comment. just a great service to add.
Hi Lonna! I tried doing that with a few recipes but it created too much conflict. Luckily, there are many calorie calculators online, so if people need this info, they can easily work it out for themselves 🙂 Enjoy!
New reader! Can’t wait to try these.
Quick question…. I need to sub oat flour for the coconut flour (bc I want these for breakfast tomorrow and don’t have coconut flour) ….would I use the same amount of oat flour or more?
Hi Olivia- I honestly haven’t tried it with just oat flour in so long- I think it will still work, but reduce the milk a little bit/adjust that 🙂
Only 3 Tablespoons of coconut flour for this whole recipe? Is that correct and this makes about 6 pancakes as pictured?
Hi there, have you used coconut flour before? It requires much more flour than others in recipes which call for liquid/eggs.
How many pancakes will this make lease
Hi there, depending on how large you make them, I made 4-5 thick pancakes per serve.
I am loving these pancakes, and I am a patient person, too!
🙂 You’ll have RIDICULOUSLY fluffy pancakes then! 🙂
Thank you for reminding me of Applesauce. I need to call Mom and making her bring me a couple of mason jars full of it. I mean, you know. Moms.
Also, I want Pancakes! I will have to prep them, cause I am ALWAYS too lazy to get up earlier and make a stack. AND they need to be fluffy!
Omg. Our mum’s need to swap foods, applesauce and almond butter!
You’re talking to the queen of impatience here. To allay my impatience I have to be working on something else! Ugh, I’m such a multitasker. These pancakes do look super amazing, and I guess that I’ll just have to listen to music or read something online while I wait for goodness to cook…
You are so patient- I remember you telling me your hot/cold smoothie pudding concoction!
Well this is good timing! I literally just told Laura this morning that we should go out for pancakes today. She said she’d rather not since we’d already had breakfast. But I’m thinking a big stack of these fluffmonsters could be appropriate for lunch, no? 🙂
Dude, upstate NY = Diner = POTATOES. Oh and the omelettes the size of your face.
I learned to be patient when I started making nut butters. They take a while but are totally worth it! Pancakes though…I am more of a waffle person because you just press the button and you don’t have to flip anything and after like 8 minutes they’re done. I’ve had too many pancake fails in that department lol
I have to share my waffle recipes then!
Please do Arman. I recently found a silicone waffle mold that you can BAKE waffles with. I don’t have a recipe for healthy waffles, yet, and I’m wanting to try this out. I have also recently found King Arthur’s Flour Keto Wheat Flour and Baking Sugar Alternative. They are both low carb and measure 1:1 with sugar. The Sweetener is 0cal, carbs, fat, and I’m in LOVE with it! I can’t recommend it enough! It is the closest Sweetener in taste that I have found compared to sugar. I’m looking forward to using it and the flour for pancakes and waffles. I recently made a strawberry sauce with the low carb sweetener. and a bit of Allulose. I had it with low carb French Toast yesterday morning, and it was to die for! I imagine it would taste delightful on waffles, too. I’m getting hungry! Good thing it’s dinnertime. Looking forward to your waffle recipes, Arman!
I can’t believe how big and fluffy they are with just few ingredients!
Right? Thanks Megan!
I wish I was more patient. Maybe my pancakes would turn out better then. Also I always have the problem that as long as I have the pancakes in the pan they are thick and fluffy and as soon as I remove them from the heat they deflate. Anyways I will give these a shot. Practicing my patience 😉
Yoghurt is okay-ish here but I just payed 15 Euros for a bottle of vanilla essence by accident.
Okay, you NEED to try this slow and long. SO GOOD.