Chocolate Pancakes-- March/April-- Nikki

First of all, please forgive the tardiness. Better late than blah blah blah. Anyway. I had originally planned to make a form of potato pancakes; I, like the venerable Mr. Howard, was thwarted by the McCrorys and their lovely potato pancakes. I sat and cried for a bit, and then I pulled up my big girl panties and found something new to capture my interest. Chocolate. Pancakes. Two of my most favorite things in one tidy bundle. Even better, they were EASY. And we all know how I feel about that. The recipe:



Chocolate Pancakes
1C milk
1 egg
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1 C flour
1/2 C cocoa
1/3 C sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

It's so easy I remembered it without looking at the recipe. Anyway. Mix the liquids-- I used my extra huge 4C pyrex measuring cup. This was probably not my brightest idea ever. It was very nearly too small for the amount of liquid it was holding, and it made for some, uh, messy stirring. But, it was convenient for pouring onto the heated griddle. I digress.





In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients. (A brief confession: if I were just doing this without photographing it, I'd just toss all the dry stuff into the milk mix without mixing it. I'm a rebel. When I'm not photographing my cooking.)



Next, in two batches, mix the dry stuff into the milk mixture. Take my advice-- do it in two batches, stirring in between. Especially if you've committed to using a too-small measuring cup for your bowl. Ahem.



You're ready to pour the batter on the heated griddle. 'Cause you've heated the griddle as you mixed the batter, right? Right. Well done, you. Pour out a couple of pancakes, and let 'em cook 'til they're nice and bubbly.



(Forgive the bad photography; the weird yellow spot on the pancake to the left is the light from above.)
Because I'm not content to leave well enough alone, I decided these puppies needed some chocolate chips. 'Cause what's better than chocolate pancakes? Chocolate chocolate CHIP pancakes. You know I'm right.



I had originally planned to top these with fresh strawberries, but upon further inspection my strawberries were pretty far past their prime. Instead, Jay chose to top his pancakes with blackberry jam, and Natalie opted for fresh melon. I decided to let my pancake go commando. In retrospect, some powdered sugar would've been beautiful, and whipped cream even better. Nutella would also be a fabulous option.
The verdict?



(I'm not sure why my husband appears to be stoned; maybe there are strange properties in the jam? And also, I have the whitest hand in North America. Be careful that you're not blinded by the white.)

One last picture of the effect the delicious chocolate pancake had on my child:



The poor girl forgot her manners. The chocolate was too good for a napkin. Overall, a success. It's a fun and easy dessert that can be fancied up for guests or eaten on a Monday night. Give it a shot!