Don’t give me that look.  It’s perfectly acceptable to have chocolate for breakfast!  Especially when you realize that the slice of powdered sugar dusted cake on my plate is actually a PANCAKE. It’s a chocolate pancake, PEOPLE! And it takes absolutely no time to make! I was able to execute this recipe whilst getting ready for work, feeding Cooper, quieting an incessantly mewing cat, wrangling a diaper bag, taking pictures, sneaking in a few morning kisses with my husband, and cleaning up my kitchen on a weekday. Let me say that again- A WEEKDAY!!  If that doesn’t give you a hint of how easy it was, then I don’t know what will!

All you need is a small group of ingredients, a blender, a medium sized cast iron skillet & a hot oven and you’re just 20 minutes away from digging into a chocolate pancake for breakfast.  Do you need syrup for this pancake? Heck NO! It’s perfectly sweet with the combo of the powdered sugar & the strawberries. Isn’t that fantastic? No syrup means you have one less thing to deal with in the morning!  And yes…it does taste like a piece of really thin chocolate cake!

And we’re off!

Get your ingredients together.

Toss them all in a blender!

BLEND for a minute. Hello frothy foam! It took a few minutes to convince Cooper I wasn’t making a smoothie!

Melt butter in a skillet.

Pour the batter in the skillet. Bake it!

Say hello to a PANCAKE that looks like cake. Actually it kinda looks like this one.

Dust it with powdered sugar. Add a few slices of fresh strawberries.

One plate for me. One plate for you…Now who gets that yummy cappuccino?

Wasn’t that super simple?

Don’t forget that it’s really just a PANCAKE.

And if you’re not really in the chocolate mood, check out Nicolle’s Dutch Baby!!

Chocolate Dutch Baby

Serves 8 (or 4)

(recipe adapted from Everyday Food Magazine)

• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour, spooned & leveled
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted (I didn’t sift)
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar, for dusting
• 1/2 pint strawberries, hulled & quartered

Preheat oven to 425 F. In a blender, combine milk, eggs, flour, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla and sugar. Blend for 1 minute. The mixture will be foamy. In a large cast-iron skillet melt butter over medium heat. Pour the batter into the skillet and immediately transfer to the oven. Bake until puffed and set, about 20 minutes. Dust with confectioner’s sugar, top with strawberries and serve immediately.