Pride & Pancakes brings you Hot Cocoa Pancakes
People always start these recipe blog posts with a meandering story no one reads, so here goes:
One December 25th, I was trapped in a cave as a wild Yeti prowled the mountainside. He’d snapped my climbing gear, leaving me stranded with only a snuggie to wrap around my shoulders. Starving, I ripped into the stack of presents I’d been trying to leave for all the good little mountain gnomes and winter fairies. But seeing as how I faced being dinner for an abominable snowman (who did much less singing than cartoons had led me to believe) I needed them more.
All I found was a wrapped skillet, in no way a passive-aggressive gift, a pancake mix stuffed inside an oven mitt, and three packets of hot cocoa without the marshmallows. While, as everyone knows, that is the worst kind of hot cocoa, I instantly had an idea on how to survive the freezing Yeti attacks.
Hot Cocoa…you already know what I’m making. You read the headline.
As the delectable scent of pancakes frying on the skillet combined with the rich chocolate from the hot cocoa danced through the air, I heard a deadly growl. The Yeti began to paw at the rocks that I’d once thought were unmovable. Apparently, Yetis didn’t know the meaning of the word impossible. Or the meaning of any other word because they don’t speak English.
Grabbing the delectable pancakes, I leaped deeper into the cave when a massive head poked in. Snow drenched its scraggly white fur, horns of an undead gray scratching along the rocks as two eyes of coal hunted through the darkness. In that moment, pity for this massive creature overtook me. Here he was, his hair matted with ice and snow, his poor horns scraped on the ends, wasting his Christmas night hunting for what he saw as an invader of his mountain.
With my heart in my throat, I extended the plate of pancakes. Hot steam snorted from his nostrils smoking so thick through the air I lost sight of him. A giant paw with two-inch claws picked at the pancakes. Impaling them deeply upon his nails, he hoisted the fluffy chocolate griddlecakes up into the air and inhaled them in one big gulp.
I held my breath, terrified that once he finished with dessert, he’d turn on me.
The Yeti’s massive black tongue lolled around his mouth, licking down giant fangs before the turned to me. Pulling the lips back in a terrifying rictus he said, “Damn, that’s good.”
If this holiday season, you find yourself trapped in a cave (or a house thanks to a blizzard), and have a packet of hot cocoa and pancakes at hand, why not give hot cocoa pancakes a try?
Hot Cocoa Pancakes
Fluffy pancakes with a hot cocoa twist. Perfect for Christmas morning.
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 packets hot cocoa
- 1 1/4 cup milk
- 1 egg
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
- Whipped cream for topping
Directions
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and cocoa mix in a bowl.
- In another bowl, whisk together butter, milk, and the egg. Add a little vanilla if you wish.
- Stir the flour mixture into the milk until both are wet with some lumps.
- Heat skillet to medium. Pour batter and cook until some bubbles appear on the top, usually about two minutes. Flip to cook for another two minutes.
- Top with whipped cream and enjoy!
Ellen Mint 
Great story, Ellen! Probably won’t do the recipe, because husband never likes when I do pancake “variations”–like the pumpkin pancakes I tried for Thanksgiving one year only. But I do love me some hot dark chocolate–but no marshmallows for me. I dislike those nasty little sugary things. My family thinks it’s a genetic defect that only I have, and the kids are glad they didn’t inherit from mom! LOL.
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