Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Pancakes

In our family, the love for breakfast foods is borderline ridiculous. (Scratch that: it is ridiculous.) We have breakfast for dinner at least once a week, and I am not above making emergency pancakes as a tantrum recuperation method. And since Forrest has a vegetable phobia but a pancake obsession, I was particularly excited to try out these sweet potato chocolate chip pancakes as a way to sneak a veggie into his system. And they.so.delivered.

The first time I made them, I tweeted into the void that this was probably my new favorite pancake recipe. And now that I’ve made them a few more times, they’re definitely my new favorite pancake recipe. They’re a bit of a denser pancake (which I loooove—light and fluffy pancakes are good, too, but I prefer it when they have some substance!), and the sweet potato adds a delicious unexpected twist. And of course: chocolate chips. Enough said.

Forrest has the unfortunate trait of always, always waking up from naps in a horrendous mood. He wakes up crying every time, mopes around, whining, for 10 or 20 minutes, then is (generally) pleasant the rest of the day. But those first 15ish minutes after he wakes up are misery. He’s needy and grouchy and awful. I present for your consideration exhibit A:

Not a pretty cryer.

This is what I meant earlier when I said I sometimes use pancakes as a tantrum recuperation method . . . he was unusually grumpy and miserable after waking up from this particular nap, so I made sweet potato pancakes while he sat at the table and cried.

Exhibit B: they cured him.

I’m convinced these pancakes have magical properties.

I got this recipe from my friend Preethi at Lace, Etc and made a few little changes. I can’t wait to try her Thin Mint Chocolate Tart and Smoky Sweet Corn Chowder, too.

Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Pancakes
adapted slightly from Lace, Etc.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
dash ground cloves
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/4 cup milk
4 eggs
1 medium cooked, peeled, and mashed sweet potato (roughly 1.5 cups) (any method of cooking your sweet potato will do, but my favorite [quickest!] way is to wash and dry it, stab a few times with a fork, and microwave for 5 minutes; flip it over and microwave 3-5 minutes more until soft. Let cool enough to peel; peel and mash.)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips

In a large bowl, combine flours, baking powder, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.

In a medium bowl, combine butter, milk, eggs, sweet potato, and vanilla; mix thoroughly.

Add sweet potato mixture to dry ingredients and mix just until moistened. Add chocolate chips.

Cook on a greased skillet over medium heat.