Chocolate pancakes; two magic words for the best start to your day. I’m not saying this is an everyday kinda breakfast, but as a treat these are gorgeous. Rich and chocolatey and topped with berries, whipped cream, all the major food groups. I’ve also had them with whipped cream, raspberries and a super quick chocolate ganache. So yummy. This is the easiest thing to make; literally melt some chocolate with hot water and you’ve got the quickest ganache ever.

These are a particular favourite of mine. Not only do you get to have chocolate for breakfast but these souffle beautifully when you fry them because you’ve put that little extra effort whisking those eggs nice and fluffy. Yes it’s the morning and sometimes we can’t be bothered, but your future self will thank you big time if you put this bit of effort in for a truly satisfying pay out.

Give these a go; a handful of ingredients and you’re in for a seriously special breakfast or lazy morning brunch with friends. 

Chocolate pancakes

Recipe 

3 large eggs 

90g plain flour

25g cocoa powder (I like to use a really dark rich cocoa powder like Dr Oetker)

1 heaped tsp baking powder

140ml milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp coffee powder

pinch salt

2 tbsp caster sugar 

Blackberries/raspberries

Double cream (to serve)

Quick ganache – optional – add in 80g milk chocolate and approx 50 ml boiling water

Method

Separate the eggs, popping the egg whites in one large bowl and the yolks in another. 

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and coffee powder together. 

Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the eggs. Add in the sugar. 

Then gradually add in the milk. It’s best to do this slowly so you don’t get too many lumps. Don’t worry if there are a few in the batter though, this is morning pancakes we’re making, so let’s not be too hard on ourselves. 

In the other bowl, add a pinch of salt to the egg whites and whisk together on a high speed for a few minutes until they form stiff peaks and hold their shape. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate batter. I like to add in about ⅓ of the mixture first quite quickly to loosen the mix and then more gently fold in the rest of the egg whites to help them keep all that lovely air in. You don’t want to beat the mix here, otherwise you’ll lose all the air that you’ve whipped into the eggs and then the pancakes won’t be as fluffy. 

Let’s get cooking

Heat a non-stick frying pan on a medium heat. I like to use a smaller gas hob so the heat doesn’t get too intense too fast to cook the pancakes. If you have a high heat the pancakes can brown too quickly before they are ready to flip. 

Once you’ve heated the pan for a few minutes use a ¼ cup to spoon out the pancake mix and start cooking in batches. 

The pancakes are ready to flip with the edges start to go wrinkly and bubbles start forming on the tops of the pancakes. This takes a few minutes. 

Flip the pancake and cook for another minute. 

Once all the pancakes are cooked, serve and top with whatever you fancy. I decided to go with berries and a pretty generous blob of whipped cream. If you want to make the speedy ganache, chop the chocolate and add in the water and melt on a high heat in the microwave. Checking every 30 seconds or so. Once the chocolate has completed melted, it’s ready. Check the consistency and add more boiling water as needed to get a nice consistency for drizzling.

Happy Brunching. 

If you’re on the hunt for more tasty breakfast ideas, try our Get up and go granola – homemade breakfast ideas or Pumpkin spiced pancakes with orange maple syrup and toasted pecans.