Buckley Bites: Decadent Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Strawberries

Last year I woke up early to make a big breakfast for my boyfriend. I was in a surprisingly festive mood, given the time, and decided that in light of Valentines Day I would decorate the meal in hearts and the color red. Below is a delicious chocolate chip pancake recipe. The pancakes are in the shape of hearts- well some are- and are topped with red heart-shaped strawberries.

If you want to make them in the shape of hearts, instructions are below the recipe. Otherwise, ignore the instructions and make these pancakes on any old occasion. They're delicious. Perfect balance of moisture and fluff. The pancakes are not too sweet so the dark chocolate compliments them well.

I have such fond memories of my sister, mom and me making pancakes from scratch when I was younger. We always used the Joy of Cooking pancake recipe. Naturally, I turned to this recipe as a base. I tweaked it a bit, making it a bit healthier and tastier in my opinion. Enjoy!

Serves 4

-1 Cookie Cutter in the shape of a heart

-1 cup all-purpose flour (healthier: use wheat flour)

-1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

-1/2 teaspoon baking soda

-1/2 teaspoon of salt

-1 ½ cups of almond milk

-2 large eggs

-3 tablespoons unsalted butter (healthier choice: substitute for ½ cup unsweetened applesauce- or what I like to do is use 1 tablespoon of butter and a few tablespoons of apple sauce. Do this if you like moist pancakes- like I do)

-3-4 tablespoons of agave (really depends on desired sweetness)

-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

-2/3 cup dark chocolate chips

-Strawberries, as many as your little heart desires –no pun intended

-Bananas, optional

Mix all the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Make sure there are no lumps. Whisk eggs in a small bowl and add all the wet ingredients. Make a whole in the center of the dry ingredients and pour wet mixture into the whole. Slowly mix the wet and dry together. Mix until you no longer see lumps.

Spray griddle with non-stick olive oil spray. Heat over medium-high flame. Pour about ¼ cup sized scoop on to the griddle. Brown on both sides. Hint: once you see the batter slightly bubbling around the sides, it should be about time to flip. Slowly lift the side with you spatula to check if it is golden in color underneath. If the pancake lifts and is not still wet underneath, flip.

HEART SHAPED PANCAKES: I advise using an oven mit, as the cookie cutter will get hot. Spray cookie cutter with non-stick spray. Use your best judgment on how much batter you should use. Since cookie cutters come in all sizes, it’s hard for me to tell you how much to use. You batter should come up about 1/4 inch on the sides of the cutter.

Place the cookie cover on the griddle. Pour batter inside. Press down on the cutter to keep batter from seeping out. After about 1 minute, slowly lift cutter. Flip pancake to brown on the other side. Cut around the sides if they do not come out perfectly.

To cut the strawberries in heart shapes, lay the strawberry on the cutting board with the stem on top. Cut off the stems in the shape of a v. Then, cut strawberry in half, from the right hump to the left- wahlah heart. Cut the bananas up, place heart strawberries and bananas in a bowl. If desired, add 1 teaspoon of agave and ½ teaspoon of vanilla and mix. Pour on top of pancakes and serve.

FOR GLUTEN-FREE VERSION

I almost always look out for my gluten and wheat intolerant folk, being pretty sensitive to wheat myself. I want to provide a gluten-free or wheat-free version of this fun recipe.

My very thoughtful sister made pancakes out of buckwheat for me the other morning. Lets just say I would have rather stuck to eggs for breakfast. So instead, lets make things simple. I saw this recipe all over Pinterest.

So as promised, I made this pancakes. They were surprisingly good. I added few things to make them taste more like pancakes. I found maple extract in my house, which to be honest, I did not know existed. If you don't have this then vanilla extract will suffice. I also added a pinch of cinnamon. I think this really made them taste more like pancakes. I would absolutely recommend making these. Unfortunately, since so many people posted this recipe on Pinterest, I do not know how created it, but props to them.