Chocolate Chip Pancakes

What kid doesn't love chocolate chip pancakes?  It's the best breakfast to wake up to on a Saturday morning.  Even my husband loves these!  My quest for a new recipe started as I was making pancakes one day and while waiting to flip, I read the ingredient list.  There were hydrogenated oils in my dry mix and WAY too many items I couldn't pronounce.  Because my children want pancakes at least once a week, this item moved up on my list of foods I had to find a cleaner version of.  There are TONS of recipes on the internet for homemade pancake mix.  It's easier to make than you'd think!                     

I believe clean living means knowing exactly what's in the food you are offering your family.  It means keeping those food sources close to their natural state.  Sometimes, I'll use white flour or white sugar, but although these are allowed in a clean lifestyle, I prefer to use brown sugar and wheat flour whenever possible.  They take longer for the body to break down, and help reduce sugar crashes. I found a pretty good pancake recipe online, but with a few substitutions, managed to clean it up even more!  

Never be afraid to sub a healthier option in a recipe!!  I find my recipe inspirations the same places you likely do:  Pinterest.  I simply pick a recipe that looks good and try to figure which substitutes will still work, but make it a cleaner, healthier option!  Not going to lie, sometimes they don't come out well. LOL  But that's what experimentation is all about!  In this case, it worked!!  I used white wheat flour, brown sugar and threw in some wheat germ for an even more healthy kick. :) Note:  you can make the dry mix ahead of time (and multiply as much as you want) and put it in storage for later!  :)

Ingredients:

Dry Mix-

1 1/2 cups white wheat flour

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

Wet ingredients-

2 eggs

1 1/4 cup coconut milk

Mix Ins-  This is just what I used, but you can use anything!!  

1/3 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup wheat germ

Mix together dry ingredients.  You may have to use your hands to break up the brown sugar and make sure it gets mixed all the way through.  Start your griddle warming.  I used a paper towel to spread some grape seed oil on my griddle for greasing purposes.  Add eggs and milk to the pancake mix.  You can add more or less milk depending on how thick you like your pancakes.  (more liquid equals thinner pancakes).  Add chocolate chips.  If you mix the chocolate chips with about 1 Tbsp wheat flour they won't sink to the bottom of your batter bowl.  I use a 1/4c measuring cup to put the batter on the griddle.  Then sprinkle some wheat germ on the pancake as it cooks.  Flip when ready.  

I don't use syrup on these since they have chocolate in them and they're pretty sweet anyway.  If you do use syrup, I recommend pure maple syrup since it's a "clean" option. 

Enjoy!