These are the best chocolate pancakes! Fluffy, decadent, and delicious. A special trick using hot milk gives them a rich, chocolate-y, flavor. Best served with some chocolate syrup and lots of whipped cream!

I love chocolate chip pancakes but how about just making chocolate pancakes? Just as fluffy and soft as regular pancakes, but fully loaded with chocolate flavor. It also just so happens to be February as I write this, which I feel like is peak chocolate month. I don’t really celebrate Valentines day but it’s a great excuse to eat more chocolate so I’ll take it!

This chocolate pancake recipe is easy to make, fluffy, and delicious! You only need half an hour, a handful of ingredients, and your favorite flipping spatula (mine is this one here that I impulse bought at Crate and Barrel).

Ingredients for Chocolate Pancakes

To make these pancakes, you will need:

All-purpose flour
Unsweetened cocoa powder
Baking powder
Fine sea salt
Granulated cane sugar
Hot milk: yes, hot milk. I’ll explain below. Any milk will work though!
Unflavored Greek yogurt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
Vanilla extract
Melted butter
Optional: chocolate chips to add to the batter

To expand upon the milk bullet above, the reason why you want to use hot milk is to ‘bloom’ the cocoa powder. What this means is that you’re dissolving the cocoa in hot liquid to release the chocolate flavors contained within. It gives these pancakes a richer, deeper flavor.

Simply heat up the milk on the stovetop or microwave before using it!

Stick around this blog long enough and you’ll learn that I love to to bloom cocoa powder. I do so in these peanut butter stuffed chocolate cupcakes, as well as the best brownies ever.

How to Make The Best Chocolate Pancakes

These pancakes are easy to make, but here are some tips to ensure maximum success:

Use room temperature to warm ingredients: warm ingredients mix better and will allow for a better rise to your pancakes. Just make sure nothing is piping hot!
Let the batter rest: letting the batter rest for 10-15 minutes before cooking helps relax any glutens that may have built up and lets the flour really absorb the liquid. Absorption = moist pancakes = happy you.
Don’t over-mix the batter: lumps are okay! In the recipe, we pour the wet ingredients into the dry and then whisk them together. You only will need to give the batter a few strokes to bring it together. Mixing too much will result in tough, gummy pancakes. Want a fun challenge? See how few strokes you can use to make the batter (just make sure all of the flour is incorporated).

If you have any questions about this chocolate pancake recipe don’t hesitate to ask in the comments!

Topping Ideas

The list of things that taste great on chocolate pancakes can go on for a long time, but here are my top picks:

Sliced bananas
Chopped walnuts
Whipped cream
Fresh raspberries or strawberries
Chocolate syrup
Nutella
Maple syrup

In the pancakes you see pictured, I used bananas, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup. More specifically Torani’s Dark Chocolate Syrup that I heated for 10 seconds in the microwave.

Did You Make This Recipe?

If so, I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to leave a comment, rating, or take a picture and share it with me on Instagram @toppedwithhoney. Looking forward to seeing your decadent chocolate pancakes.

If you’re not ready to bake yet, no problem! Simply hover over any image in this post (pick your favorite), or tap if you’re on mobile, and click the pin icon in the corner to save for later.

Have fun cooking and check out some other breakfast recipes here!

Let’s also connect on Instagram and/or Pinterest!

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4.67 from 3 votes

The Best Chocolate Pancakes

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Servings

These chocolate pancakes are soft, fluffy, and easy to make! Best served with chocolate syrup, bananas, and whipped cream.

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
5 tbsp granulated cane sugar
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp fine sea salt
⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup hot whole milk
¼ cup Greek yogurt
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, optional

Toppings

chocolate syrup
sliced bananas
whipped cream

Instructions

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. These are your dry ingredients.
In a separate, heat-proof bowl, whisk the hot milk and cocoa powder together until the cocoa powder is fully dissolved. Let this cool down until just warm to the touch. Once cooled, whisk in the yogurt, eggs, vanilla extract, and melted butter. These will be your wet ingredients.
Create a well in the middle of your dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. If using chocolate chips, add them in at this step as well. Use a whisk to bring everything together until the flour is just combined. Do not over-mix–it is okay if the batter is a little lumpy.
Let the batter rest for 10-15 minutes on the counter.
Heat up a skillet or pancake griddle on medium heat. Once hot, spray with non-stick spray.
Add ¼ cup of the batter at a time into the skillet. Cook on one side for 75-90 seconds, or until you start to see bubbles. Then flip and cook for another minute, or until cooked through. Make sure to flip only once. This makes around 7 pancakes.
Top with chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and/or bananas and enjoy!