Chocolate Pancakes

These aren’t regular breakfast pancakes. They’re little eggy chocolate disks somewhere between a flat brownie and a pancake, small enough to eat in two bites and rich enough that a few feel like dessert. The clever turn is the second life: cool them, freeze them, sandwich them with buttercream, and you have homemade chocolate sandwich cookies.

The batter has no leavening, so what you’re really making is a thin chocolate omelet-cake hybrid. Eggs do all the lifting, and the cocoa and melted fat give the disks their fudgy bite. Cook them low and slow, about a minute and a half on the first side, thirty seconds on the second, then a final flash flip. Cooking too fast burns the cocoa and turns the disks bitter. Drop the batter small (about a tablespoon at a time), since these don’t spread, and you’ll end up with uniform sandwich-ready rounds.

Pro Tips

• Use butter instead of margarine if you can. Butter gives richer flavor and better texture, especially since the recipe stays simple.
• Cook on a non-stick or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. Anything hotter and the cocoa scorches before the inside sets.
• Freeze the pancakes flat on a sheet pan for 15 minutes before sandwiching. The frosting won’t squish out and the cookies stay shapely.
• Sift the cocoa into the melted fat if you see any lumps. Cocoa is notorious for clumping.

Variations

• Sandwich pairs with vanilla buttercream, peanut butter frosting, or softened ice cream for ice cream sandwiches.
• Serve warm with sliced strawberries and whipped cream as a dessert pancake.
• Add a teaspoon of espresso powder to the batter for deeper, mocha-leaning flavor.