Smashed Raspberry Chocolate Chunk Pancakes
Some things I know to be true things for me:
True: Gin martinis are best, most immediately and with olives. True: sometimes painful sacrifices are made for fashion… especially when it comes to wedges. True: In my life, Hemingway and Julia Child are devoured in equal amounts. True: I will always eat a doughnut. It always seems like the right, and totally wrong thing to do.
True: Things in life can be simultaneously exciting and terrifying. Exciting progress. Exciting growth. Exciting opportunities… and at the same time totally bonkers nerve-wracking. When the road ahead is steep, and full of the promise of adventure…. and you totally want to be on that crazy road… but you also appreciate the smooth and steady road you once knew. That road was safer. There were more cookies and less adventure.
Here’s another important truth for me: Always sign up for adventure. Always say yes. Even if it’s terrifying to the core of your soul. That means you’re doing the right thing. You’re learning and growing and shoving yourself right out of your comfort zone. Unless… well, unless there are guns and heists. In that case… stay in your comfort zone and away from guns.
Also… before you forge forward. Have breakfast (preferably with chocolate) and pack cookies.
These pancakes fit into a very specific category of breakfast: breakfast dessert.
They’re what you eat after you share runny eggs and buttered toast with your breakfast mate.
Breakfast dessert is what comes after breakfast breakfast. It’s a sweetly defined ‘second breakfast’. Proudly, sweetly, specific.
These pancakes are an absolute treat. Late morning. Weekend. Oops I’m taking a nap at noon. Treat.
They’re a simple combination of buttermilk, melted butter, chocolate chunks, and fresh raspberries.
Oh! If fresh raspberries are going to break the bank (I totally get it), thawed frozen berries, drained of some of their juices work wonderfully well.
Treat yourself… that’s what Tracy would say. Treat yourself to sweet pancakes and an adventurous (although excitingly terrifying) life.
Smashed Raspberry Chocolate Chunk Pancakes
serves 2
makes about 10-12 small pancakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash of ground cinnamon
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup dark chocolate chunks
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
maple syrup and powdered sugar for garnish
butter for skillet
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon . Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, melted butter, egg, and vanilla extract.
Add the dry ingredients, all at once to the wet ingredients. Whisk to combine. If there are a few lumps in the mixture, that’s totally fine. Stir in chocolate chips. Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes while the skillet heats.
Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Place a heat-proof plate in the oven to help keep cooked pancakes warm.
Over medium-low heat, add about 1/2 tablespoon of butter to the non-stick skillet. Add 2 tablespoon of batter to the pan for each pancake. Cook until browned, flip once and cook on the other side until golden brown and cooked through. Place cooked pancakes on the plate in the oven until all of the pancakes are cooked and ready to serve.
To serve, smash raspberries in a small bowl. Place a few smashed raspberries on a plate. Top with three or four small pancakes and more raspberries. Add maple syrup as desired. Serve warm. They’re delicious.
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My husband goes crazy for raspberry and chocolate anything. So, no joke, I just emailed this post to him with the title “If I really loved you, I’d make you these pancakes… oh wait, I do really love you! so guess what we’re having for breakfast tomorrow!?!?”
This is so cute! I love it! :)
Each and every one of your entries, always seems to make me smile.
Always.
I love this recipe, any chance of chocolate for breakfast is a completely amazing day to me.
Pretty pictures!
treat yourself. love that word. gonna make this for my boy and I :) thanks for the all the sweet writings, Joy.
Breakfast’s dessert. I need to have this. Dessert three times a day is good
Oh these look good! Yum!
Just saw that you are coming to Vroman’s in Pasadena next month! Yay!
heck yes!!
Wow. Joy you are so hilarious when you write, but you are also very inspiring! Where do you come up with this stuff??
And dude…raspberries and chocolate…with pancakes!? I don’t think it could get any better.
Are you going to get engaged or something joy? what kind of scary changes we talking about?
engaged!? no…
I like your name! Our parents thought alike!! :) I spell mine exactly the same way!! :)
The most beautiful pancakes I’ve ever seen!
: ))
Jen
You are so right – always sign up for adventure. You never now what you’ll find. These pancakes seem like the perfect thing to eat before hopping onboard for the next adventure.
My 6 year old saw this over my shoulder and said “what is THAT? Can we have THAT?!”
Always a good sign …
First, that top picture of the pancakes is GORGEOUS.
Second, your message in this particular post could not have come at a better time for me. I’m moving from the East Coast to Los Angeles tomorrow, and while I’m totally excited, a tiny part of me is also terrified. I know it’s going to be fantastic though. Here’s to adventures!
Just made them with blueberries. Joy you have the bestest pancake recipes. Thanks for a good breakfast.
You are the best, Joy.
You always say all those insane things I’m thinking in my head out loud.
<3.
Are you trying to make me fall in love with you? Because it’s working.
delicious;)lovin it!
M.
wow, these look so delicious…I’m all about breakfast desserts!
these look beautiful!!! and of course, they sound amazing :)
wow. are those pancakes for real? What lusciousness!!! great post – love your Truth format…..gorgeous photos!!
Hemingway, Julia Child, adventure and chocolate chunk pancakes? Yes, please! :)
Chocolate chunk pancakes… of course this would be amazing!!!!
Chocolate raspberry is my favorite combination ever! Also, second breakfast is totally underrated.
I’d like to think of myself as a pancake feen…and THESE I have never had before. I’ll be serving this at my next breakfestival.
You know how sometimes you hear exactly the right thing at exactly the right time? Well, your comments about excitement/fear and adventure are EXACTLY what I needed to hear in this moment.
I started back to college this week and I am currently terrified! I am so excited and thrilled that I am where I am, but Microeconomics has me scared out of my wits.
Thanks for reminding me that I am in the right place, that I did choose adventure, and that I can – and will – do it!!
Your posts are like the chocolate chips in my morning waffles: something special. Like Violet, I am doing something new/scary/exciting: preparing to move cross-country to go to a new school, get in debt, and start from scratch making friends. I read your blog all the time (first comment, though!), and it’s for more than just the recipes. Advice like #19 on your “Turning Twenty-One” post is something so true and so easy to forget. I just wanted to say thanks for all the inspiring words that keep me working on bettering myself and saying yes to adventure. :)
Just woke up on a sunday morning and I am making your pancakes for breakfast!
Super excited.
Just made these :) Oh my, they are heavenly!! Thanks for a great recipe, it’s a keeper!
I really, really like this post. I may just have to post this post on my wall for motivation. tho I only drink martinis with vodka and chocolate hazlenut liquer with a little bit of choc syrup and a small chunk of, you guessed it, chocolate at the bottom :). These pancakes look wonderful, too. thx!
Joy. You have have inspired me. Ya’always do! :)
The past few days have been really hard for me as I’ve had to say goodbye to my family and friends coz’ I’m moving away from home to finish high school in another country (I got a scholarship!) I’ve also been seriously contemplating starting up a food blog for a longgggg time but didn’t feel like I could do it. Finally I’ve plucked up the courage to start the food blog and I’ve got that feeling that I might actually cope this yearAll you said about life being terrifying and exciting simultaneously – I totally get it. But what I hadn’t realised until just now was that saying yes to this crazy scary opportunity is the right thing. Even
- Oops, didn’t finish.
Even though I might be scared ti my core, It might just mean that something amazing can happen out of it
Thanks Joy for helping me realise that. :)
Cayla. xx
live it up Cayla! good things are sometimes hard to do! i hope you love love love your new adventure. i’m rooting for you!
these look delicious and I can’t wait to try them!
You can never go wrong with dessert for breakfast, especially when chocolate is involved!
Oh Yum! this would be the perfect dessert breakfast for the coddled eggs I just posted. I’m making these this weekend. Thanks!
I just wanted to tell you that 1. I love your site. And 2. that I dreamt about these pancakes and there for had to make them and 3. My mourning boyfriend said that these really made him feel better. You are awesome, and I especially love that a lot of the recipes are for 2. Great job!
this looks so darn good! cant wait to try these <3
This is essentially a stoner’s wet dream. You’re a talented baker, seriously.
teaandbubbly.blogspot.com
My son loves the pancakes I bake from recipes off your site… this is going to be the weekend breakfast for my family :)!!!!
Thanks for sharing all your great recipes!
I polished these off for breakfast this morning so fast! I swapped out half the white flour for wheat flour and it worked beautifully. They’re amazing!
Fantastic picture!
Oh wow, these look incredible! What great flavors…I want some for breakfast right now! :)
looks delicious, amazing, incredible…. yum.
Going to make these for my boy for Valentines day breakfast. Thanks, as always Joy, for the brilliance! xx
Joyyyyyyyyy,
So this is probably the millionenth recipe of yours that I’ve made and I’m sad to report that I had some major struggs with the consistency of the pancake batter. Your picture makes the batter look thick and mine was ridiculous runny and when I made the pancakes they were really tough. The combination of raspberries and chocolate was fabulous though, I will say.
Any suggestions with the pancake batter?
My goodness these were amazing! Made them yesterday as my Valentine’s day gift to The Boy. So so good, thank you!
made these for my boyfriend this morning – he LOVED them : ) really good with all sorts of berries – i used raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and chopped up cherries… delicious!
Made these pancakes for a post-8k race brunch this morning and they were a huge hit! Cute, fluffy, and oozily delicious with the chocolate chips. I managed to keep them warm and ready for serving using the oven tip. Thanks, Joy!