chocolate chip pancakes

Recipe & photos by @freshoffthegrid If you have kids (or a bit of a sweet tooth yourself!) then you’ll definitely want to try these Chocolate Chip Pancakes. They’re such a fun camping breakfast to make and are sure to please the littles! Chocolate for breakfast? Well alright! You’ll have no problem getting your kids to join the clean plate club with this one! Adding chocolate chips can be such a fun twist on the classic pancake breakfast. All it takes are some chocolate chips to transform ordinary pancakes into a decadent morning splurge. 

Why We Love Them

• Guaranteed hit with the kids.
• Dry ingredients can be premixed at home.
• Uses the same base recipe, so you can divide the batch in order to some chocolate pancakes and some that are not.
• Pair beautifully with fresh fruit like strawberries.

Ingredients

Endangered Species Chocolate Chips: We used Endangered Species Oat Milk + Dark Chocolate chips for this recipe to get that rich, velvety chocolate flavor. Flour, Sugar, Baking Powder, Salt: We like to premix all of these dry ingredients at home. Egg: The binding properties of the egg are fairly critical. Milk: We use extra-creamy oat milk for our pancakes since it’s what we usually have on hand, but you can use dairy milk as well. Coconut oil: We recommend using coconut oil in the skillet (instead of butter) to achieve those delightfully crispy edges. Coconut oil has a much higher smoke point than butter and also adds a pleasant toasty flavor to the pancakes.

Make the Batter

At camp, in a large bowl, thoroughly scrambled the egg until it becomes uniformly yellow. Add the oat milk and mix until combined. Then slowly in your premixed dry ingredients. Using a fork, slowly and gently mix the dry and wet ingredients together until you reach a mostly wet, lumpy consistency. If you want to make an entire batch of chocolate chip pancakes, now is the time to add them to the batter. If you just want to make a few, divide out some of the batter to a separate bowl and mix in the chocolate chips. Depending on how long the batter sits, the chocolate chips might start to drift towards the bottom. But just give it a gentle swirl with a fork to mix it all back up again before pouring out on the skillet.

Best Skillet to Cook Pancakes in While Camping For the best results, we recommend cooking the pancakes in a non-stick skillet over a camp stove. The highly conductive aluminum will radiate heat out across the pan, reducing the likelihood of developing an intense hot spot in the center. We like to use this GSI Bugaboo Square Skillet, which allows us to cook four pancakes at once. Cast iron is a viable option too, but you will want to move the pan around frequently to minimize the effects of a center hot spot. Pre-warm the skillet prior to starting your first batch for about 5 minutes. Aim for medium-low heat.

How to Keep Your Pancakes Warm

We like to cook our pancakes on one side of our two burner stove and then transfer them to a large enamel plate placed on the other side of the stove (with the burner off). A cast iron skillet will work as well. The ambient heat from the cooking burner will warm the plate or skillet slightly to help keep the pancakes warm.

How to Serve Chocolate Chip Pancakes

We love to serve these chocolate chip pancakes with all the usual pancake toppings like butter and maple syrup. But we also find the chocolate pairs really nicely with fresh strawberries or raspberries. Also, if you have come so far, a little cone of whipped cream and a few more chocolate chips on top wouldn’t be the worst thing either!

• Strawberries
• Raspberries
• Whipped Cream

• 1 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• ⅓ cup chocolate chips
• coconut oil

1. At home, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a small sealed container.
2. In camp, whisk the egg and milk together in a bowl with a fork. Add the dry ingredients and stir to combine, taking care not to over mix (some small lumps in the batter are okay). Gently fold in the chocolate chips.
3. Heat a non-stick skillet on your camp stove over medium low heat. Add one tablespoon of coconut oil to the skillet and swirl to coat the pan. Pour ¼ cup of batter per pancake into the skillet. Cook for a few minutes until the tops begin to bubble and the sides are set, two or three minutes. Using a spatula, flip the pancakes and cook the other side until golden.
4. Repeat with the rest of the batter, adding additional coconut oil into the pan as needed.
5. To serve, stack the pancakes and top syrup, fruit, and/or whipped cream.