On Saturdays we eat pancakes. This is totally a rule in my house. It comes from the popular movie, “Mean Girls,” which is my favorite movie of all time. I love the scene when the girls are sitting at the lunch table and say, “On Wednesdays we wear pink.” That scene is epic and since pink is my favorite color, I thought it was a fair rule.

When Saturday rolls around, my family already knows what time it is. Yep, pancake time. I try to keep things exciting and will test different pancake recipes. My kids are the best food critics. Anytime I try a new recipe, I always get my kids to test it out. They will let me know very quickly if it’s a yay or nay. Last Saturday, my kids were asking for chocolate at 6 a.m. Yep, 6 a.m. My kids are early risers. Of course, I didn’t want to give them chocolate candy or anything extremely unhealthy for breakfast, so I decided to make these Extra Fluffy Chocolate Chip Pancakes.

Extra Fluffy Chocolate Chip Pancakes. (Andrea Mathis / Beautiful Eats & Things)

I’ve mastered the secret to achieve super fluffy pancakes, and I’m going to share it with you right now. Whenever I combine my wet and dry ingredients, I let the batter sit for at least 5 minutes to allow the baking powder to “activate.” While it’s activating, you can kinda hear little crackles or pops. It reminds me of that sound you hear when pouring milk over Rice Krispies cereal. After the batter sits for about 5 minutes, stir the batter again and pour onto your griddle. You will have fluffy pancakes every time.

These Extra Fluffy Chocolate Chip Pancakes turned out great. I didn’t even need syrup — but since I felt a little fancy, I wanted to top this fluffy stack with a decadent peanut butter drizzle. There are no words to explain what happened when I took a bite. They were so good. My kids devoured them. I had a couple of pancakes left, so I saved them for the next day. They were just as good. Give them a try.

Extra Fluffy Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Extra Fluffy Chocolate Chip Pancakes. (Andrea Mathis / Beautiful Eats & Things)

Click here for a printable recipe.

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup unsweetened almond milk or skim milk
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1½ tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla
• ¼ cup milk chocolate chips

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, combine the egg, almond milk, oil and vanilla.
3. Add mixture to dry ingredients and stir until combined.
4. Let batter sit for about 5 minutes.
5. Fold in chocolate chips.
6. Heat griddle to medium.
7. Using a ⅓ measuring cup, scoop batter onto griddle and cook for about 2 minutes on each side. Flip over when surface is bubbly and edges are dry.
8. Serve immediately with your desired toppings and enjoy.

Recipe notes

Nutritional information (1 pancake): calories 170, carbohydrates 20 grams, fat 8 grams, protein 3 grams, saturated fat 2 grams, fiber 1 gram, sugar 6 grams.

Andrea Mathis is a registered dietitian and owner of Beautiful Eats & Things. For more great recipes, visit beautifuleatsandthings.com.