Chocolate Pancakes with Mini M&Ms

This weekends felt like spring.  The flowers in the area are in bloom, and the weather is warm.  It has been a beautiful weekend.

There is a Cherry Blossom Festival in DC this weekend.  There was a parade, street festival, and about a billion tourists yesterday.  

Going to see the blossoms on the official festival day is foolish in many ways.  There is sidewalk congestion, and you have to wait your turn to take photos of the particularly picturesque blooms. 

I throw reason aside and go most of the time.  I spent the whole day wandering around the festival and city.  I spent quality time with friends and ate out for every meal.  I felt like a tourist.

Sometimes I am tired of living in DC, but yesterday I rediscovered some of the things I love about this city.  

This is my favorite chocolate pancake recipe.  Actually, it is probably my favorite pancake recipe.  I have made it many times, and the pancakes always have a deep chocolate flavor and fluffy texture.

I adding mini M&Ms and mini chocolate chips.  I also switched out the melted butter for vegetable oil because I ran out of butter.  The ingredients are 1 egg, 1 cup milk, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 cup flour, 1/3 cup cocoa powder, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips, and 1/4 cup mini M&Ms.

I whisked the milk, egg, and vegetable oil together.

In another bowl, I added the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt.

I whisked the dry ingredients together.

I added the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and whisked the batter smooth.

I folded in the mini M&Ms and chocolate chips.

I heated a skillet to medium high heat and added a little drizzle of oil to the pan.  Once the oil was hot, I scooped a fourth of a cup of the batter into the skillet.

I flipped the pancakes once bubbles formed in the center and the edges were a little dry.  I cooked the other side for a few minutes.

These have a perfect, light, and pillowy texture.

They have a deeper, richer chocolate flavor than other chocolate pancake recipes I have tried.

I enjoyed the morsels of melted, fudgey chocolate studded throughout the warm pancakes.  They became gooey and are sweeter than the surrounding pancake.  Using candy coated chocolate didn't add much to the recipe, the color and shell dissolved into the batter.