Dried Cherry and Almond Chocolate Pancakes

I have recently become obsessed with dresses.  I look at new styles online, and I'm always on the lookout for a pretty new one.  When I was a child, I disliked dresses.  They didn't fit with how I viewed myself.

I would only wear a dress on Sundays for church, and as soon as church was over, I changed into other clothes.

As I got older, I hardly ever wore dresses.  When I needed to dress up, I would wear a skirt.  

I now own several dresses, and I wear them all the time.  Dresses are perfect for summer.  They are not ideal for fiscal exertion, but I spend most of my day sitting.  

I used my favorite chocolate pancake recipe from food.com for these pancakes.  I made it as directed except I added dried cherries and almonds.

The ingredients are 1 cup milk, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons melted butter, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup dried cherries, and 1/4 cup almonds.

I combined the milk, egg, and melted butter.  All of the liquid ingredients were at room temperature.  If the milk or egg is cold, the butter will solidify.

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

I whisked the dry ingredients together.

I poured the liquid mixture into the flour concoction and stirred until just combined.

I added the dried cherries and chopped almonds.

I poured a fourth of a cup of batter into a hot and greased skillet.

I flipped the pancakes once small bubbles started to form in the center.  I let the other side cook for a couple of minutes.

I ate these pancakes slathered with preserves and fresh fruit.  Powdered sugar or whipped cream would have been fabulous too.

I have raved about this chocolate pancake recipe in other posts.  The texture is tender and fluffy.  The chocolate is pronounced and deep.

The cakes have the perfect, subtle amount of sugar.  I don't like my pancakes cloyingly sweet.  

The cherries were sweet, chewy, and tangy.  The almonds were crunchy and nutty.  

Cherries, almonds, and chocolate are a divine combination.

These pancakes were an early morning treat.  The brightened up my mornings.