Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes
These Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes are at their core soft, pillowy buttermilk pancakes. From there, powdered peanut butter is added to the batter and chocolate chips are studded into the pancakes. If you are looking for a copycat IHOP pancake recipe, but with peanut butter and chocolate, look no further, you’ve come to the right place!
Oh! And, if you want to take this buttermilk pancake recipe even a little further into what we colloquially call Flavortown, check out the FAQs for a bunch of options including brown butter pancakes. The last, best part? They freeze and reheat really well. I tend to make a double batch of silver dollar sized pancakes and freeze enough for a few months in one go. Easy peasy!
Get the Recipe: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1½ cups 00 flour, (all-purpose works too!)
- ⅓ cup peanut butter powder
- 2 teaspoons double acting baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, (approx 50-55g)
- 1 cup whole milk
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¾ cup semi sweet or dark chocolate chips
Equipment
- 1 kitchen scale (optional)
- 1 medium mixing bowl
- 1 Whisk
- 1 small mixing bowl
- 1 ladle or large cookie scoop
- 1 large sautè pan or griddle
- 1 spatula, flipper
- 1 cooking spray (optional)
Instructions
- First measure the flour, peanut butter powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar into a large bowl and whisk to combine. Set the bowl aside.
- Next, crack the egg into a small mixing bowl and whisk it until it froths up into a lighter colored, loose foam.
- Add the milk and buttermilk into the eggs bowl and mix everything together.
- Now, pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until just incorporated. There should still be some small lumps in the batter.
- Last, gently melt the butter either on the stove top or in the microwave. Once melted, pour the butter into the batter and gently stir until you can see little spots of butter suspended in the mixture. Those little specks help keep the pancakes from sticking while you cook them.
- Time to cook! Next, heat up a non-stick sauté pan or griddle to between medium and medium high. If you need it for the first round of pancakes, spray the pan with cooking spray or add some oil for a little extra non-stick action. Make sure to have the chocolate chips ready to go, either in their bag or in another bowl, whichever works best for you.
- Using a large cookie scoop or ladle, pour about ¼ cup or 60 ml of batter into the hot pan. Immediately drop the chocolate chips (measuring with your heart) into the top, uncooked side of the pancake as the bottom side cooks. When bubbles form across the entire top of the pancake and the sides puff a bit and firm up, slide the turner under the cooked side and flip the pancake over. Cook until both sides of the pancake are a nice warm brown and fully through. Move the pancake to a plate chocolate chip side facing up.
- Repeat the cooking steps for the next pancake. Then, stack that pancake on top of the first pancake chocolate chips side down. Continue stacking pancakes chips to chips and top to top, so the melted chocolate doesn't make a mess. Repeat until you've finished the batter.
- Top with a pat of butter, maple syrup, some melted peanut butter, and/or fresh fruit. Whatever you like best!
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Two ways. First, make sure to replace the amount of buttermilk with additional milk. And second, without buttermilk, there will not be enough acid to make the baking soda react, so you will need to increase the baking powder to 3 teaspoons (9.75g). Double acting baking powder reacts first when it mixes with any liquid and second when it is introduced to high heats. Because baking powder contains an acid, you don’t need to worry about reactions with leavening agents.
So, you have probably seen the ingredient list and optional substitutions by now, if you’ve made it this far. I prefer to use 00 flour in all baked goods that I wish to have a light and soft texture. And, pancakes are one of those baked goods. 00 flour is milled very finely and made of soft winter wheat. While, AP Flour is not as fine and uses hard winter wheat. Because protein content and gluten development are not important here, those two factors are the most important ones. The fine milling allows for better hydration and moisture retention. And a softer wheat makes for softer pancakes. That last point, make the decision seem like a no brainer.
That being said, AP Flour does make delicious pancakes. I’m just letting science guide me a little bit more towards my idea of the perfect pancake. If you plan to substitute AP Flour for the 00 Flour they will measure the same in weight and be close enough in volume, that you can switch them 1:1.
You want options? I’ve got options:
1. OG Buttermilk Pancakes… Forgo the peanut butter powder and add in half the amount of powdered milk (2 tbsp or 15g). Technically, the powdered milk is optional, but it will help maintain the moisture of the pancake crumb.
2. Brown Butter Pancakes… If you know me, you know I’m a huge fan of toasted milk powder, and this is the perfect application for it. For this recipe, simply substitute the peanut butter powder for toasted milk powder (1/4 cup or 30g) and you’re all set. If you are curious about toasted milk powder, you are in luck! Check out my Ultimate Guide to Toasted Milk Powder.
3. Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes… Okay, options within options, sorry I am NOT sorry! This really depends on how much effort you want to put in.
– First, fresh sliced bananas on top would make a simple combination of the two.
– You could also dice fresh banana and drop them into the batter like you would chocolate chips. This way the banana warms and cooks a bit to sweeten them.
– To brulee sliced bananas top banana slices with granulated sugar and use a butane torch to melt and caramelize the sugar on each one.
– Lastly, a bananas foster topping would have the most flavor. For an easy banana’s foster topping, heat 3 tablespoons (42.5g) of butter in a saute pan on medium. Mix in 3 tablespoons (41g) of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons (30ml) of dark rum, and a pinch of salt. Let them come to a gentle boil and place the banana slices into the mixture for 1 minute on each side. Top and enjoy!
YEP! Silver dollar pancakes are simply tiny pancakes. Use a #50, 1.6in (4cm) cookie scoop for the correct amount of batter. The recipe should make between 30-36 silver dollar pancakes.
The best way to keep the pancakes fresh is to freeze them. Lay the peanut butter chocolate chip pancakes on a lined baking tray, chip side up. If you need multiple layers, place freezer paper or parchment paper in between each layer. Next, put the tray into the freezer. When the pancakes have frozen through, pull them up and place them in a bag for storage. They can be kept frozen for up to 1 month in the freezer and reheated as fresh.
To reheat the pancakes, place them in the microwave and cook them at 15 second intervals. If you have a microwave with a pizza or bread setting, use those. Once the panacakes have just warmed through, they are ready to eat.
