Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Anyone who doesn’t like pancakes just haven’t had good ones. I can’t imaging how someone could not like pancakes. IHOP is one of my favorite places to visit any time of day. To me, breakfast is a classification of a meal, which has absolutely nothing to do with the time of day.

Pancakes and waffles make for a hearty breakfast. Add some eggs and bacon and its a winner. There are many variations on pancakes and in this household, the addition of chocolate chips is the number one choice.

IMHO, pancakes must be cooked with just enough grease for them to not stick to the cooking surface and should never be fried. I’ve seen people add so much oil to the pan it was as if they were frying something.

I use my Presto Griddle to make pancakes. To make pouring easier, I use a large cookie scoop to drop the batter onto the griddle, which can fit up to 8 pancakes at once. Using a griddle cuts the preparation time down by so much more than using a fry pan. When adding the chocolate chips, I add them to the pancakes while they are cooking on the grill and not in the batter. When added to the batter, the chips sink to the bottom. I’ve recently tried out my new Cuisinart Griddler to make pancakes but they didn’t come out as well. Likely because I was rather impatient that morning and didn’t wait till the bubbles appeared before trying to flip the pancakes. One tip is to get a really large round spatula to flip the pancakes when they’re ready.

I use white whole wheat flour and almond milk as a substitute in this recipe. I’ve found that the white wheat flour somehow makes the pancakes much more light and fluffy than they already were.

This recipe was taken from the Naparamia Cookbook. Most Trinidadian households own this book. Its a go to book for the Multi-Cultural Cuisine of Trinidad & Tobago.

PANCAKES

1 1/3 cup flour
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg beaten
1 1/4 cup milk
3 tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a small bowl

2. Combine beaten egg, milk, melted butter and vanilla

3. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour liquid all at once

4. Stir quickly until it come freely from side of bowl. Do not beat, mixtures should be lumpy 5. Pour about 1/4 cup batter on lightly greased frying pan, griddle or tawah

6. When bubbles cover top flip over and cook until other side browns.