Who else loves chocolate for breakfast? These healthy Chocolate Oat Pancakes are gluten-free, naturally sweetened with maple syrup, have an easy dairy-free option, and are healthy and delicious!
I love chocolate pancakes.
Well.. I love pancakes. I think I’ve talked before about how many pancakes I inhaled during my first pregnancy with my son. I don’t eat pancakes daily anymore, but guess who else loves pancakes in my house now?!? MY SON!
I guess he enjoyed pancakes too when he was in the womb 😉
While my husband and daughter both enjoy pancakes too, my son and I are die-hard pancake fans. And my daughter and I are die-hard chocolate fans.
So, I knew they would both love chocolate pancakes. Instead of making a super sugary breakfast though, I wanted to make a healthy, whole grain breakfast that was naturally sweetened and dairy-free.
These Chocolate Oat Pancakes were the result, and oh my word. I’ve been eating these for breakfast every day the last couple weeks.. I love them.
They’re lightly sweet, thick and fluffy, and super hearty. You can top them however you like. I prefer a little butter and maple syrup, or a nut butter. My husband had his with sliced strawberries and cool whip, like a chocolate strawberry shortcake!
My kids LOVED them. My son quickly gobbled his up and my daughter ate two. They were a huge success the first time I made them.
So let’s talk Chocolate Pancake details!
These pancakes are super easy to make so there’s not a lot to say.
First, you’ll want to make sure your oat flour is certified gluten-free if you need it to be. I love working with oat flour because oat’s keep you full longer, have some extra fiber, and are a whole grain.
When you mix your dry ingredients together (oat flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt) be sure you whisk them thoroughly and get out as many cocoa powder chunks as you can, or you could end up with chunks of cocoa powder in your pancakes. Not good!
To make these pancakes dairy-free, be sure to use coconut oil (or a dairy-free butter alternative), almond milk, and dairy-free chocolate chips. You can also omit the chocolate chips entirely. I actually prefer these without chocolate chips, for a light chocolate flavor first thing in the morning!
The most important thing about these pancakes is cooking them on medium-low. If you don’t cook these pancakes low and slow then they will cook on the surface too quickly, but not enough through, so they will be really hard to flip.
Low and slow is the trick. Be sure you see bubbles on top of the pancake as it’s cooking, and then the edges should start to darken. That’s when you’ll know you need to flip it to the other side. Gently, using a spatula.
When the pancake cooks on the other side it should start to puff up into a nice thick, fluffy, chocolate pancake!
These pancakes aren’t as fragile as other oat-based pancakes I’ve made – they turn out beautifully and hold together really well! I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t have any of them fall apart on me (which usually happens at least once with oat pancakes). Yes!! 🙂
If you’re looking for a healthy, simple, sweet breakfast, check these out. I bet they’ll quickly turn into a family favorite for you, like they did for us!
Other sweet breakfast ideas: gluten-free Chocolate Breakfast Cookies, Carrot Cake Banana Bread, and Cinnamon Sugar Roasted Nut Granola.
- 1 cup oat flour (certified gluten-free)
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted (or butter)
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup almond milk (or milk of choice)
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips (dairy-free if necessary)
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In a small mixing bowl, add your dry ingredients and whisk them together (oat flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt) till there are no cocoa powder clumps.
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In large mixing bowl, add your coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla and egg and whisk them together. Add your almond milk and whisk again till well combined.
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Pour your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients and stir them together till all is well incorporated.
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Heat your griddle or pan to medium-low heat. Once hot, place your pancake batter in small scoops onto your pan, forming small-medium sized pancakes. Cook your pancakes for a few minutes on one side till bubbles are forming and the edges of the pancakes are darkening, then flip them and cook them for a few more minutes on the other side. Continue till you've cooked all of your pancake batter.
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Top with butter, nut butters, jams/jellies, and/or maple syrup, and serve. Devour!
Store these in an airtight container in the fridge and they should last about 5 days.
Loved these! I used applesauce instead of oil but otherwise followed the recipe and they were so tasty! We ate these without adding syrup on top as they are perfectly sweet as is!
I love these pancakes and make them often! This is a great recipe. I often leave out the chocolate chips and they still hit the spot.
These are the most amazing oat pancakes ever. I could have eaten all of them in one sitting. Delish
Lovely addition to my limited diet. Due to diet restrictions I used Oat milk and added 1 Tbls Ground Flaxseed also used plant butter as coconut is off limits when you have high Cholesterol also I’m not a fan of Maple so Unfiltered Honey was used. This was just what I was looking for to brighten my culinary day . I topped with fresh ground all natural peanut butter which I pick up at our local Mennonite store.
Made these 2 times and they were so good, tastes like chocolate cake! The first time I forgot to add coconut oil and it was a bit dry but still taste delicious!
These were a hit with my kids. I used agave nectar instead of maple syrup and chocolate protein powder. With the chocolate chips they were so chocolaty. I also used gluten free rolled oats and blended everything together. These were delicious, thanks.
So great to hear, thanks Priscilla!
Hey, these pancakes are really really good. I love them so much. Can I find them on myfitnesspal app? Or do you think I can find. Something similar?
I’m not sure, sorry!
I have added them on myfitnespal, you can use the recipe importer with this url to do so 🙂
Also why would it not work with almond flour? Is it also do the other way that I cannot substitute oat flour for almond flour in a recipe calling for almond flour. Thx
You add the chocolate chips in at the end, after mixing your dry and wet ingredients together. You can replace the maple syrup with coconut sugar easily. Almond flour replaces pretty well with regular flour, but typically needs more egg so the structure is right. I’m afraid if you substitute with almond flour in this recipe that the pancakes won’t stay together as well. If you’re looking for a chocolate pancake recipe that’s catered to almond flour, I would recommend this one: https://healthyrecipesblogs.com/chocolate-pancakes/
So it is 116 calories per 1 pancake ?
Is maple syrup necessary in the Wet ingredients ?
Can i use like 2/3 chocolate protein powder and 1/3 cacao powder to increase protein content?
Is almond milk better than oat milk or soy milk do this recipe? Can i replace 1 whole egg by 2 egg whites?
Can i substitute almond flour for oat flour? How much?
Any Chocolate protein Syrup recipe? Thx
Where are thé choco chips in thé instructions? Thx
Hi Deborah. Yes, each pancake is roughly 116 calories (for about 10 pancakes total). Maple syrup is necessary as the sweetener, or these pancakes will not be sweet enough. You could try substituting with maybe 1/4 cup of mashed banana instead though. I have not tried to substitute some of the flour before with protein powder so I’m not sure if that would work. Almond milk, oat milk or soy milk should all work great. I think 1 whole egg will give you the best texture and flavor, but 2 egg whites would probably work still. You cannot substitute oat flour for almond flour. You can add about 1/4 cup of chocolate chips, if preferred. I hope this helps!
Thx
Do you put the chips along with the dry ingredients or just as topping at the end?can i replace thé maple with coconut sugar or stevia or allulose? Thx