Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes

I have been on a serious pancake kick lately. After about two years of eating muffins and fruit for weekday breakfasts, my girls both seemed like they were ready for a change, so pancakes have been the breakfast of choice. 

Now, don’t get all crazy and think that I’m getting up each morning and making pancakes.  Ha! Just getting lunch packed is enough morning meal prep for me, instead I make a big batch on the weekend and freeze them in individual servings for the week.  Having a freezer full of ready made breakfasts = early morning sanity saver!

Syrup isn’t terribly popular in my house.  My husband loves it on my fluffy pancake recipe, but the girls are like me, and opt out of the syrup when it comes to pancakes.  Now, don’t get me wrong – syrup and bacon or sausage – that is a thing of beauty, but ever since I was a kid, syrup and pancakes just didn’t work for me.  Give me peanut butter, butter or just straight up, but I pass on the syrup.  The girls have picked up on that, except they both prefer chocolate chips on their pancakes.  Dark chocolate to be exact, they are well on their way to becoming mini chocolate snobs. My oldest will ask the cocoa percentage of her chocolate chips.   She’d be one happy girl if her chocolate was all fine dark European chocolate.

So, back to pancakes.  Because they skip syrup, and this recipe is pretty darn low in sugar, I am fine with a little sprinkle of chocolate chips added to the pancake batter while it’s on the griddle.    And, to be totally honest, the amount of chips I put on the pancakes and the amount of chips I put on the “photo pancake” differ.  Let’s just say the “photo pancake” gets about double the chips and is always in high demand at the table.

Some people mix their chocolate chips right into the batter.  I don’t, because I find that my griddle quickly become a hot (chocolatey) mess.  While it takes a bit more time, I sprinkle the chips on to each pancake after I put my scoop of batter onto the griddle, as illustrated by my really bad cell phone photo to the left.  🙂   It does take more time this way, but to be honest it keeps me right at the griddle, and I’m guilty of walking away and letting pancakes burn, so this works for me.

To freeze these I wrap them between parchment paper, and then place in a zipper style freezer bag.  We just pop them in the microwave for a few seconds to heat them up, and breakfast is ready.  I’m all for anything I can do to make school mornings easier, and an almost instant hot breakfast that everyone loves and won’t complain about – that’s winning in my book.

While I make these with half ground oats/oat flour and half whole wheat flour, you can make them with all whole wheat flour, or even go with all purpose (though they won’t be “oatmeal” at that point).  For me this is one of those really easy places to get in whole grains, so that’s the route I go.  Also, if you want to just mix in your chocolate chips, by all means, go for it!   Another thing that I love for pancakes is a big flat griddle.  For years I just used a fry pan, but it’s so much easier, and quicker, on a large griddle.  We have this one and it works great.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes

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Ingredients

• 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup ground oats old fashioned oats run through a food processor or oat flour
• 3 1/2 tsp baking POWDER NOT baking SODA
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 egg room temperature
• 4 tbsp butter melted but slightly cooled
• 1 1/4 cup milk keep another 1/4 cup handy
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips - I find that mini chips don't get quite as messy

Instructions

• In a large bowl, mix together white whole wheat flour, ground oats, baking powder and sugar.
• In a separate bowl, combine the egg and milk, mix well. Stir in vanilla and melted butter, mix well.
• Pour liquid mixture into dry mixture and stir until combined, but do not over mix.
• Lightly oil a pan or griddle and heat to medium heat. Scoop approximately 1/4 cup of batter onto a heated pan, sprinkle chocolate chips onto top side of pancake, flip when bottom side starts to bubble and is golden brown. Cook until second side golden brown. Repeat with remaining batter. Enjoy!

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If you are a chocolate chip oatmeal fan like I am, here are some other great ways to enjoy that fantastic flavor combo…

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Muffins

All Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies