Denny's Double Chocolate Pancake Puppies-Inspired Pancake Bites Recipe

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Denny's pancake puppies took hush puppies into breakfast territory — instead of a savory cornmeal batter, the sweet, deep-fried balls were made of pancake batter. They were a unique menu item and one that made for a rich breakfast, snack, or dessert. Though Denny's hasn't officially announced the discontinuation of pancake puppies, they're actually no longer on the menu, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy a similar treat in homemade form.

Recipe developer Michelle Bottalico has created a Denny's double chocolate pancake puppy-inspired recipe that gives you all the double chocolate flavor in baked form. These pancake bites feature a copycat Denny's double chocolate pancake batter and the same convenient bite-sized format. They couldn't be easier to make, and you don't have to worry about deep frying at home. Though they're not exactly like Denny's version, these baked pancake bites hone in on that double chocolatey goodness, making for a treat that you just might enjoy more than the old Denny's pancake puppies.

For this recipe, you will first need white vinegar and milk to make buttermilk. Grab some butter as well, and make sure it's melted and cooled by the time you're ready to use it. You'll also need an egg, vanilla extract, all-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Finally, have mini chocolate chips on hand. The mini ones are scaled down for these small bites, but you can use regular sized ones if desired.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Pour the vinegar into the milk and mix well with a fork. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Place the milk mixture, butter, egg, and vanilla in a mixing bowl and whisk to combine.

Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a separate mixing bowl until well combined.

Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not overmix. It's okay if the batter is lumpy.

Fold in the chocolate chips.

Grease a mini muffin tin.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tin, evenly dividing it between the recesses.

Bake for 8-10 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of a pancake bite comes out clean.

Let the bites cool in the pan for 5 minutes, and then remove them with the help of a thin spatula and place them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Serve at room temperature. Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days on the countertop.

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Buttermilk, in the purest sense, is the liquid that remains after cream is churned into butter. You can easily find buttermilk at most grocery stores in the dairy section, and you could make it yourself if you churn butter at home. Store-bought buttermilk differs from home-churned buttermilk because it's not created in the butter making process. It's a cultured milk product made with active bacteria, and it's heated and fermented. It's much thicker and more acidic than the traditional homemade version.

If you don't use buttermilk often and don't want to buy a whole carton for one recipe, you can make a quick version of buttermilk at home. All you need to do is add an acid to milk. Vinegar or lemon juice are the most common acids used for this purpose at home. Just add 1 tablespoon of the acid to 1 cup of milk, dairy or plant-based. If you do want to make buttermilk using a plant-based milk, we recommend soy milk because it thickens particularly well when mixed with an acid.

These double chocolate pancake bites are a fun bite-sized snack, but you can reverse engineer them back into pancakes if you want to mix it up. Follow the pancake bite recipe as written up to and including the step to fold the chocolate chips into the batter. Skip the first step for preheating the oven, unless you want to keep the pancakes warm as you cook (in that case preheat the oven to 200 F). You can choose to use regular sized chocolate chips instead of mini ones if desired, since pancakes are larger and can handle them.

Heat a skillet or griddle fully on medium before adding batter to the pan. Grease the pan with a little oil or butter, and then add the batter. Get perfectly shaped pancakes every time by using an ice cream scoop to pick up and deposit the batter to ensure round, evenly-sized pancakes. You could also use a condiment bottle with a wide tip or a turkey baster. Cook the pancakes for about 2 minutes until the tops are full of bubbles, and then flip and cook the other side until golden. You may need to make a test pancake to check the temperature or adjust it as you go if the pancakes are cooking too fast or too slowly. Serve with your favorite toppings and consider playing up the chocolate flavor with chocolate sauce and more chocolate chips.

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