Mint Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Mint Chocolate Chip can be divisive. Some people would tell you they don't want toothpaste in their food.

Personally, I love mint. I love the way it smells, and I love incorporating it into my food. It's a beautiful green color, the scent is soothing, and the taste is so refreshing. It's amazing with fruit, and it's not my favorite kind of chocolate, but I do enjoy mint chocolate when I happen to be in the mood for it.

Greg loves mint chocolate chip, so he was pretty excited for this one. We didn't actually need fresh mint for it, but like I said, I love the color and thought it would make a great garnish, even if we didn't need it. Plus, if I'm going to be blogging about these pancakes, I really need to get better at taking pictures and doing these pancakes justice.

The batter was very simple. In fact it was our regular base pancake with a teaspoon of mint extract, and mini chocolate chips!

It's one thing I've really come to love about pancakes, is how much one or two additional ingredients can really upgrade your breakfast. Sometimes even with things we have in our pantries. I was especially excited to top these pancakes with a chocolate ganache, like we did with the chocolate covered strawberry pancakes.

My guess with how much mint extract was based on all the baking I had done in the past. I have never had a recipe ask for more than a teaspoon of any extract, so I thought, let's go with that. I didn't want the mint to be too strong. Especially with this being a breakfast item, the toothpaste feeling might come on too strong for those already skeptical.

Ultimately the teaspoon seemed to be perfect! Lucky guess, but the pancakes smelled a little minty but it didn't feel like the mint and chocolate flavors were fighting each other in the pancake.

The recipe!!

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups flour

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp salt

• 3 Tbsp sugar

• 1 1/2 cups skim milk

• 1 tsp mint extract

• 2 Tbsp low fat butter

• 2 eggs, separated

• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl.

2. Add milk, butter, mint extract and egg yolks until combined.

3. Add egg whites, folding into batter until just mixed. There shouldn't be any weird snotty chunks of egg whites visible.

4. Mix in chocolate chips, folding in until evenly spread throughout batter. You do not want to over mix the batter.

5. In non stick skillet, add about 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake. Top with additional chocolate chips as desired. Cook until small bubbles form, and edges of pancake are firm. Flip, cooking on other side for about another minute.

6. Top with butter, syrup, or chocolate ganache (see below). Enjoy!

Chocolate Ganache!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of heavy cream

• 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. In a microwave safe bowl, add heavy cream and microwave on high for 1 minute.

2. Remove bowl from microwave and add chocolate chips. Make sure chocolate chips are not all in the centered and piled up. You want them spread evenly through the bowl so that they are mostly covered by the heavy cream.

3. Cover the bowl and let sit for five minutes.

4. Uncover and stir until smooth.

5. Pour over pancakes and enjoy!

We happened to be seeing some friends later that day, and were able to take over the rest of the pancakes and ganache. They confirmed the level of mint extract was good! I would recommend that if you want your pancakes on the minty side to add an additional half teaspoon of extract.