Chocolate Cake Pancakes

Published February 6, 2012. Updated December 31, 2023

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Perfectly decadent Chocolate Cake Pancakes will have you wanting dessert for breakfast every day! Fluffy, rich, sweet chocolate cake drizzled in syrup, frosting, sprinkles, fruit, or whatever you like best. It’s everything you love about a chocolate cake, but in a fraction of the time. Try these for a fun birthday breakfast!

It’s official; these are my new favorite pancakes.  How could they not be—they are dessert pancakes!  This is the perfect way to enjoy chocolate cake in 10 minutes.  I get so impatient waiting for the chocolate cake to bake, then cool, then be frosted.  It’s far too much waiting for me, so I decided I needed to create a chocolate cake dessert that could be ready to eat much quicker.

Chocolate cake pancakes topped with syrup and bananas

You could call these brownie pancakes if you’d like, since they are made with brownie mix but I decided to call them Chocolate Cake Pancakes because their texture is much more like that of a chocolate cake rather than brownies.

Also, they taste just like chocolate cake!  They are moist, oh-so-chocolatey, and purely divine.  It’s time for pancakes to become more than just a breakfast food. They are now a dessert food, too!

I love these pancakes with my signature Vanilla Cream Syrup (or my Strawberry Syrup if you love a chocolate-dipped strawberry), but there are so many variations on these pancakes.  They give me another wonderful use for any leftover Vanilla Cream Syrup I have left from making breakfast pancakes.

When to Make Chocolate Cake Pancakes

I love to make these Chocolate Cake Pancakes whenever I get a craving for chocolate cake, but don’t want to make a full cake. They make a perfect late night snack. But they’re also perfect for the following occasions:

  • Birthday breakfasts
  • Valentine’s Day breakfast
  • Brunch
  • Breakfast-for-dinner dessert
  • Midnight chocolate cravings

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Chocolate Cake Pancakes

Deliciously soft, perfectly chocolatey pancakes made with a brownie mix.
Servings: 7
Prep10 minutes
Cook15 minutes
Ready in: 25 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat a non-stick griddle to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl whisk together 2 cups brownie mix and baking powder. Add in melted butter, applesauce, eggs, buttermilk, milk and vanilla and stir until combine. Pour 3 Tbsp mixture onto non-stick griddle (if your non-stick griddle is slightly warn you may need to butter it, I just found it was better not to butter the griddle because they spread less if not using butter). Cook pancakes several minutes until tiny bubbles start to appear on surface and you are able to lift an edge, then carefully flip and cook opposite side only about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Serve warm with Vanilla Cream Syrup or alternate serving ideas listed.

Alternate Serving Ideas