"There's a party on my plate" - 3.5 year old

Making chocolate pancakes + Listing to Pink Martini + Coffee + Happy Kids = Perfect Sunday Morning

This chocolate pancake recipe was only one google click away from delicious pancakes.  I'll admit that it's pretty much like eating chocolate cake for breakfast, but is that such a bad thing?  No...well, it wasn't, until later that day when 60 Minutes had to go and do a segment which declared SUGAR the new evil of the millennium.  So, being the paranoid worrier that I am, it's now Monday night and I have not had an ounce of anything containing white sugar since these pancakes.  At least they can't take my coffee away - for now.

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

First, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Stir it together lightly. Be sure to sift these ingredients well to keep the batter light and the pancakes fluffy. Chocolate pancakes are rich and won’t be as fluffy as traditional pancakes, but sifting will help keep them as fluffy as possible.

In a small, separate bowl, stir together the vanilla, milk, egg and melted butter until well combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just enough. Sifting the flour beforehand will help minimize lumps, but some lumps are a good sign. It means you didn’t over-mix the batter which will cause chewy pancakes.

Let the pancake batter rest in the refrigerator while you prepare your pancake griddle. During this resting time, the rest of the lumps will dissolve in the pancakes. 

When the pan is ready, remove the batter from the refrigerator and pour ¼ cup of batter onto the pan at a time to form pancakes. Do not mix the batter before pouring it on the pan. The batter may be a little thinner than regular pancakes. If it is too thin, try adding a tablespoon of flour. If you are concerned about thin pancakes, only add ¾ cups of milk from the start and add more later on, if necessary.