OH MY GOSH. At my house, we are SO glad it’s Friday. I have the day off work, Tanner’s 104 fever has finally been gone for 24 hours, and all the crazy sicknesses I was personally trying to battle the last few weeks have finally lightened up [knock on wood.] So last night before bed, I told Tanner we were going to have a lazy fun morning that involved cooking chocolate chip pancakes together. He’s not only my wingman, but the perfect Sous Chef as well.

We woke up, had a snuggle marathon you can view via Snapchat, @shellebelle87, then headed into the kitchen to whip up a new pancake recipe. Dealing with a messy divorce, custody battle, and debilitating anxiety last year, I haven’t made a new recipe in what feels like a year. and might just be [how sad is that?!]. So making these not only meant the world to Tanny, but it meant the world to me to be getting back to things I love, including cooking.

Hope you love these healthy(er) chocolate chip pancakes as much as we do! I may or may not have already eaten 3…and they are dense and fluffy and DELISH! Enjoy!

• 1 C gluten free baking flour [I used Pamela’s]
• 3/4 C coconut sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2-3 tablespoons ground flax seed
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1-2 tablespoons avocado oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 C oats
• 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, unsweetened coconut milk, coconut cream, or dairy-free milk of choice [or whole milk for toddler version]
• 2 organic, free-range eggs [or make vegan by substituting for 1/2 C applesauce]
• 2 tablespoons Enjoy Life chocolate chips [dairy free + gluten free]
• optional: 2 tablespoons peanut butter or cashews, soaked overnight
• optional: 1/2 banana, mashed
• what you need: electric skillet or skillet for stovetop cooking

1. Turn on electric skillet to 300 degrees F
2. Add dry ingredients into a medium-sized mixing bowl and mix together
3. Add wet ingredients + eggs
4. At this point, you should have all ingredients in bowl. Mix together until batter-like consistency forms.
5. Add chocolate chips; mix everything one more time
6. Let batter sit for 5 minutes to thicken a bit
7. Add coconut oil to skillet [I use the kind made into spray that can tolerate high heat temperatures]
8. Scoop about 1/4 C sized scoops onto skillet, making into pancake rounds
9. Flip pancakes when they begin to bubble, or about 3 minutes
10. Cook next side about 2 minutes, then flip again, being careful not to burn. Adjust heat as needed
11. Remove from heat and serve immediately, or place on a paper towel if serving a few minutes after removing from heat [helps them not get wet and mushy from the condensation when placing a hot pancake on a plate!]
12. Top with peanut butter, fruit, maple syrup, yogurt, more chocolate chips, or anything your heart desires!
13. E N J O Y !
14. PS – I love that this is whole-fam friendly + approved,  common allergy friendly, and they LITERALLY TASTE LIKE COOKIES FOR BREAKFAST. win-win-win-win!