Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Pancakes

In my opinion, everyone should have a killer from-scratch pancake recipe in their repertoire to whip out for the occasional weekend breakfast treat. I was without one for awhile, until I saw Brown-Eyed Baker's post titled "Best Buttermilk Pancakes". When a food blogger claims something is the "best", you listen to them. Usually this kind of declaration implies that multiple recipes have been tried, and I gladly take advantage of that kind of research whenever I can. So I've hijacked her hard work and can now rest assured that I will always have a great pancake recipe to fall back on. I've made these a few times already and they haven't disappointed yet! I even gained some confidence to play around with the recipe a little and so today I'm sharing a whole wheat chocolate chip version of her best buttermilk pancakes.

Aren't they beautiful? Not perfectly round, but I love the color of them and the specks of mini chocolate chips peeking through. A few tips I've picked up along the way for making near-perfect pancakes: don't overmix your batter, ensure the batter is thin enough to spread out nicely, and resist the temptation to squish down the flipped pancakes with a spatula. I've been guilty of all three, but if you're careful about those points, you'll get fluffy pancakes every time with this recipe. I made these in a pan (sadly no storage room for a griddle, yet...), so I could only do a few at once, and I like keeping them warm in a low-heat toaster oven as I finish up the rest of the batch. Do you have any other great pancake-making tips? I'm always learning!

Ryan LOVES chocolate chips in his pancakes, so I threw mini's in for this recipe, and swapped in a cup of whole wheat flour for a health kick. Use this recipe as a base recipe and add in whatever mix-ins you prefer -- blueberries, banana puree, applesauce, or nothing at all (that's actually what I prefer). Surprise your Dad with a batch of homemade pancakes this weekend and you're sure to win "best child" with these "best pancakes"!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Pancakes

Recipe adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2-1/4 cups buttermilk*

1/4 cup sour cream

2 eggs

3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1-2 tsp vegetable oil for greasing pan

- In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

- In a separate medium bowl, combine buttermilk, sour cream, eggs, and melted/cooled butter.

- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet. GENTLY stir in chocolate chips until just combined (the batter will be lumpy with a few streaks of flour -- don't overmix!). Allow batter to sit for 10 minutes before cooking

- Heat 1 tsp of vegetable oil over medium heat until shimmering. Using a paper towel, carefully wipe out oil, leaving a thin film of oil.

- Using a 1/4 cup measure, portion batter into pan. Cook until edges are set and bubbles on surface are just beginning to break (about 2-3 minutes).

- Using a thin, wide spatula, flip pancakes and continue to cook until second side is golden brown (about 1-2 minutes longer).

- Repeat with remaining batter

Recipe yields about 16 pancakes

* I added 1/4 cup of buttermilk because of the high protein content of the flours I use (Pillsbury/Gold Medal have low protein, King Arthur and the Stop and Shop brand I use has higher protein), but adjust this amount according to the type of flour you use.

PS: Can you tell I was inspired to decorate my kitchen from the mug in these photos??