Whole Wheat Chocolate Chunk Pancakes (Vegan)

Is it possible to have forgotten how good pancakes taste?!

On that same note, I've also forgotten how much fun it is to take and edit photos. Racing against natural laws of chemistry when snapping photos while the butter melted off of the hot pancakes was quite the scene. I had to add countless pats of butter and pour more syrup than a 5 year old just to get the shots. In the end, the top pancake was reluctantly tossed - after all, they have to remain a healthy-ish recipe, right?

As easy as a generic pancake recipe is to make, this one is even easier and just so happens to be vegan. Don't shy from it because whole wheat is used. You won't be able to tell that there are whole grains, making healthy eating just a little bit easier. I may try Bon Appetit's whole wheat pancake recipe next, but I'm still partial to this recipe given its few and simple ingredient list.

and a little stop-motion fun:

Recipe: Whole Wheat Pancakes (Vegan)

1 cup of whole wheat flour*
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
a pinch of salt

1.25 cups of milk (dairy-free if you prefer)
1 tablespoon of melted butter (vegan if you prefer)

1/2 cup of chopped semi- or bitter-sweet chocolate (dairy-free if you prefer)**

dairy-free butter (for greasing the pan and serving)
extra chocolate and maple syrup to serve

Thoroughly whisk the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Whisk in the wet ingredients just until combined (some lumps are okay, you want to err on the side of under-mixing to prevent a tough pancake). Fold in the chopped chocolate. Let the pancake batter sit for 10 minutes to thicken.

Preheat a frying pan or griddle over medium-high heat. When you flick water droplets onto the pan and they begin to sizzle/dance, the pan is hot enough. Grease the pan with a little bit of dairy-free butter and use a 1/4-measuring cup to ladle out pancakes***; approximately 2-3 will fit on an average sized pan. If you prefer thinner pancakes, use the base of the measuring cup to spread the batter out.

Once the edges of your pancakes begin to dry out and bubbles begin to form on the surface, they are ready to flip. Cook the other side for 1-2 minutes, or until browned to your liking.

Serve with extra chocolate and maple syrup.


*I used white whole wheat flour. This is not the same as white flour; white whole wheat is simply a type of wheat berry that's lighter in color. The benefits of whole grains are still conserved in the milling process! 
**Use high-quality chocolate when possible. Guittard's semi-sweet baking wafers were my chocolate of choice on the day I made these pancakes; these aren't certified vegan but there are plenty of vegan chocolate companies who have incorporated social responsibility into their business model, too! 
***1/4-measuring cups will make mini "silver dollar" sized pancakes. Feel free to go big and make jumbo sized pancakes if you'd like; though the cooking time will be extended, you'll still flip the pancakes when you begin to see the edges dry out and bubbles form on the surface.