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Is it normal to have people just show up at your door?
In my house, it totally is.
But yesterday was a weird one. Highly unexpected.
Yesterday we had a family friend show up all the way from Cleveland.
And he didn’t fly, he drove the twenty-fours from Rocky River, OH to Silverthorne, CO. And all because he got up on Saturday and decided my brother’s 1996 truck needed to get removed from his driveway, so he drove it out.
Yes, he is insane.
But we are all pretty excited to have him, even if it’s only for a super short time.
So when random people show up I make pancakes for lunch and this for dinner.
I just kind of feel like pancakes are a good welcoming lunch or I mean breakfast if you are normal, but I really am a pancakes for lunch (or dinner) kind of girl.
In all honesty, only mom and I got these pancakes. See, he kind of showed up after the fact and we pretty much wolfed these the second I was done taking photos. We tried to hide what had just gone down, but mom had her signature chocolate lip liner going.
She totally gave us away.
I mean, come on. You would think after all these years she could get it together already.
I of course offered to make more, but he is not really a “sweets” guy. He is actually more of a “Bud” guy.
Always has been, always will be.
These pancakes came to be because one, I really wanted pancakes and two, I really wanted pancakes with chocolate.
What? It’s just a good combo.
Since you may be eating these for lunch, I tried to make them a little heartier than sweet. But while they are whole grain, they are still pretty sweet thanks to the honey. Ok, that and the mass amounts of dark chocolate chips I added.
Don’t worry though, it’s dark chocolate, so we are good to eat mass amounts.
Basic math people. I am a genius at it.
Oh, and a pat of butter on top is a must for these. Melted butter combined with the honey and chocolate??
So good.
Chocolate Chip Lemon Baklava Pancakes with Salted Vanilla Honey Syrup.
Ingredients
Pancakes
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour, or regular flour
- 3/4 cup oat flour or brown rice flour
- 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, may swap coconut milk or regular milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 small lemon, zested
- 1/3 cup shelled pistachios, chopped (more or less to your liking)
- 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped (more or less to your liking)
- 2/3 cups dark chocolate chips, more or less to your liking
Vanilla Honey Syrup
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 small vanilla bean, seeds scrapped and pods reserved
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- To make the syrup, combine the honey, vanilla, vanilla bean seeds + pods and salt in a small sauce pot gently simmer over low heat for 5-15 minutes. You just want to warm the honey and infuse it with the vanilla. Remove from the heat and set aside (I like to keep it slightly warm).
- In a large bowl add the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, melted butter, honey and lemon zest. Whisk to combine. Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.
- Gently fold in the nuts and chocolate chips. Allow the batter to sit 10-15 minutes at room temperature.
- Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat and grease well with butter or cooking spray. Using a 1/4 cup measure, spoon batter into rounds. If desired sprinkle a few more nuts + chocolate chips on top of the pancakes (I always do). Cook the pancakes until bubbles form on top, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook for another minute or two more. Repeat with remaining batter.
- Serve the pancakes warm, with a pat of butter and drizzled with the vanilla honey syrup. Garnish with strawberries and lemon zest.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Pancakes on Tuesday? Yup, it’s as fun and awesome as it sounds.
I read the whole post, and was eagerly waiting to see a photo of your mom’s “give-away” lips. 😉
Delicious! Used egg whites, almond milk and 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips and the pancakes were fluffy and flavorful. Loved the nuts and the addition of the fresh strawberries! Compliments to you for this recipe!! By the way, the wooden spoon in your photos is insanely beautiful! Where did you get it?
Thank you so much!! So happy you loved these! 🙂
The spoon is from sur la table.
That is a long way to drive to just “drop in,” but at least you fed him right!
it is! Thanks and have a great weekend!