I created a draft for this recipe over a year ago but I completely forgot about it until last week. So after more testing here it is: chocolate pancakes with a melty salted caramel center. They are soft, chocolatey, vegan and gluten-free!
There are a million pancake recipes out there so I figured I should make something a bit more decadent. If you have guests for breakfast and want to serve surprisingly delicious pancakes, this is it guys! We are talking about serious #foodporn.
Seriously, who doesn’t want to have pancakes + chocolate + caramel for breakfast? Yeah, that’s what I thought. And you know I have a thing for caramel as you can see here, here or here.
The trick to get a runny salted caramel heart without the mess is to freeze the caramel into discs. Let me explain a bit more, you combine almond butter (cashew butter works too!) with maple syrup, cocoa butter, vanilla and a good pinch of sea salt. Then you divide the caramel into 6 discs (about one tablespoon per disc) onto a baking sheet and freeze for at least 1 hour.
When it’s time to make the pancakes you simply spoon the batter into the hot skillet, press down a disc of frozen caramel and cover with more batter. The caramel will melt inside as the pancake cooks.
For the chocolate pancake batter I went with oat flour (hey breakfast food!), almond flour to add some moisture, cocoa powder, and some maple syrup. I also added some ground chia seeds for additional fiber and to keep the pancakes from crumbling too much.
These gluten-free, refined sugar-free pancakes really taste like a dessert. It makes the best Sunday breakfast, or brunch if you plan on eating the whole batch!
If you try this recipe please leave a comment and let me know how it turned out!
Salted Caramel Chocolate Pancakes
These vegan and gluten-free pancakes have a creamy and melty salted caramel center that melts in your mouth as soon as you take a bite!
- Yield: 6 Pancakes 1x
Ingredients
Salted Caramel Filling
- 1/4 cup almond butter (or cashew butter)
- 1 tbsp melted cocoa butter (or coconut oil)
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp salt
Pancakes
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 2 tbsp almond flour
- 1 tbsp ground flax seeds (or ground chia seeds)
- 1 and 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 2 tbsp mashed banana (about 1/4 of banana)
Instructions
Salted Caramel Filling
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth and well combined.
- Dollop about 1 tbsp of the salted caramel onto the baking sheet. Spread a little bit to make a disc. You should make about 6 discs.
- Place the baking sheet in the freezer for at least 1 hour. Always keep the frozen caramel discs in the freezer and remove from the freezer just before using.
Pancakes
- In a bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients.
- Add the wet ingredients and whisk until well combined. Let sit about 5 minutes, the batter will thicken due to the addition of ground chia seeds.
- Heat 1 teaspoon of coconut oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Remove excess oil using a paper towel.
- Take 2 discs of salted caramel out of the freezer. Dollop about 1 tablespoon of the pancake batter into the skillet, press down a disc of caramel in the center of the pancake and cover with more batter, starting from the edges to the center. Repeat with the other pancake. (I prefer to work with only two pancakes at a time. Always keep the remaining caramel discs in the freezer, otherwise, they will soften very quickly at room temperature.)
- Cook for about 2 minutes before carefully flipping. Cook the other side for around 1 minute.
- Repeat with the remaining batter and caramel discs. Serve warm, topped with banana and/or melted chocolate.
Notes
For a more stretchy caramel, you can add 2 teaspoons brown rice syrup to the caramel filling.
This recipe serves 2 people. Nutritional information includes the salted caramel filling.
Stuffed pancakes inspired by Recipe Tin Eats.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 3 Pancakes
- Calories: 369
- Sugar: 30.2g
- Fat: 15.1g
- Carbohydrates: 55.1g
- Fiber: 5.5g
- Protein: 6.5g
Again, Beautiful pictures! I’m in love with this recipe. It’s decadent and looks so YUMMY!
Thank you Carlos!
Could coconut butter be used instead?
Instead of cocoa butter? I would say use coconut oil, I never tried coconut butter.
Thomas your recipes are insane! You should enter Masterchef – seriously – you would change the way so many people think about food, proving that plant-based diets can be incredible. Well done, and thank you for sharing your recipes
Whoa, I didn’t know that people even made salted caramel chocolate pancakes. They look pretty good though, I’ll have to try it out sometime. I have been thinking about caramels though, they are my favorite candy. I’ll have to convince my husband to buy me some.
Your recipes look so AMAZING! You need to open a restaurant, for real! This is next level vegan cooking. I can’t wait to try these.
Thanks for the kind words Katy!
Hi Thomas, would it be possible to substitute oat flour, to a different type of flour for the pancakes? Thank you
Hi Jessica,
I guess teff or sorghum flour should work as well but you might have to adjust the amount of liquid ingredients.