Saturday, February 7, 2009

Chocolate and olive oil pancakes

Now that I've eaten at The Bazaar, I'm even more motivated to cook from my Jose Andres cookbooks. I turned to my Made in Spain book for these chocolate and olive oil pancakes. Chocolate and olive oil may seem like an odd flavor combination, but it's actually pretty common in the Catalonia region of Spain. It's also common to see a third ingredient thrown into the mix: sea salt.

I've had olive oil gelato on a couple of occasions; it tastes much better than it sounds. In fact, a few years ago I had a dessert at Manresa that combined olive oil ice cream, chocolate mousse and flaky sea salt, so I knew what to expect with these pancakes.

This recipe is pretty simple. It's the same ingredients you'd find in any other buttermilk pancake recipe, with the addition of dark chocolate pieces and the substitution of olive oil for butter. I used half white and half whole wheat flour with great results.

The pancakes are cooked in a little olive oil and drizzled with honey instead of syrup. The recipe doesn't call for any sea salt, but I decided to sprinkle a little bit on some of the pancakes. I preferred the pancakes with the sea salt on top to those without the salt.

These are great pancakes - the chocolate adds richness, and the olive oil flavor is quite subtle.

Chocolate and olive oil pancakes
Adapted from Made in Spain
Serves 4


1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour (I think King Arthur's white whole wheat flour produces the best results. Alternatively, you could just use 1 3/4 cups of all purpose flour)
2 T granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 egg
1 and 1/2 cups buttermilk
4 T extra virgin olive oil, divided
1/3 cup chopped dark chocolate
Coarse sea salt such as Maldon for serving (optional)
Honey for serving


Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Whisk in the egg, buttermilk and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, mix until the batter is mostly smooth (a few lumps are ok). Stir in the chocolate.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Pour 1/4 cup of batter into the pan and cook until golden. Flip the pancake and cook until golden on the other side. Transfer the pancake to a serving plate. Repeat with the rest of the batter.

Serve the pancakes topped with honey and a light sprinkling of sea salt.

65 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a very neat recipe! I love the idea of olive oil in the pancakes and the honey and sea salt sound great on top of these! How delicious!

Rosie Hawthorne said...

I might just have to cook outside of the box now. Olive oil. Pancake. Chocolate. Who'd a thunk?

Femin Susan said...

yum yum
I surely try to make it in a day or two and give the opinion how it taste.I am sure it will be delicious!

Anonymous said...

Ooh yes ! I tried an olive oil ice cream and it was really interesting. I've baked cakes with oil (eg carrot cake) so I can see how this would work! :)

Reeni said...

I made a chocolate cake using olive oil once and it had such a silky feel to it. These look fantastic!!! I like honey on my pancakes and the sea salt sounds like a delicious twist!

Hayley said...

Chocolate-chip banana pancakes have always been my favorite. These sound so much more gourmet, I'll have to try them out. Thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

Mmm, pancakes. And whaddya know, i've got some buttermilk, too... :)

Jessica@Foodmayhem said...

Wow, so interesting. I'd love to try that.

Cathy said...

Good to know you enjoyed them - I've seen recipes like this that call for olive oil and have always been hesitant.

Anonymous said...

the olive oil and sea salt are so interesting...sounds like a great recipe!

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

This is such an interesting recipe. I had oil in pancakes but not olive oil. I'll try next time.

Anonymous said...

Sara, Sara, Sara these pancakes look fantastic! I have a Peter Berley cookbook with a recipe for a really dense chocolate cake using quite a bit of olive oil, so it makes sense to me. But these are really a must try!

The Caked Crusader said...

Yum - they look so fluffy and plump - I could dive right in and eat about 8 (by 8, I of course mean 12)

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

They look really good! Interesting too!

Cheers,

Rosa

Vanessa said...

Thanks so much for the comments, Sara, and this recipe looks great! I've never tried olive oil and chocolate - I'll have to do so soon.
Thanks for the inspiration!

Unknown said...

this is very interesting combination... will have vto give it a try... tnx :)

Donna-FFW said...

What an interesting idea. Olive oil. And honey , sea salt, bet it certainly was delicious. And chocolate chunks, can't beat that! They look great!

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

Sara, I'm just beginning to appreciate food from Spain. A friend invited us to her home for an all Spanish Dinner (she is from Paris but lived in Spain for a long time) and I was surprised about what little I knew of their cuisine. Have you seen Mario Batali and Mark Bittman's Spain adventures on PBS? We don't get it here, but I've had a look at the companion cookbook. I hope you will feature more Spanish food. I've noticed that the Barefoot Contessa uses a pinch of salt in her chocolate recipes. I'm going to try these pancakes.
Sam

pigpigscorner said...

Sounds like a nice way to have pancakes! Looks really delicious!

Ana Powell said...

Hi Sarah
This is new to me and I really liked the idea.
For sure it will be delicious.
Ana x

vanillasugarblog said...

I would love to try this. And I have heard many great comments about The Bazaar. Lucky you!

Pam said...

I've never heard of these before, they look and sound delicious.

Nazarina A said...

Sara,
I think these pancakes are much more flavorful and healthy more so than the regular recipe!!!! The chocolate too is the "icing on the cake"

The Blonde Duck said...

That is such a cool combination!

CookiePie said...

Oh wow - those look really fabulous! Such an interesting-sounding recipe too - I have to try it!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

SCRUMPTIOUS!!

Unknown said...

What an interesting combination. :) This sounds like a neat one!

Jessica said...

Pancakes AND chocolate?!? I love it!

Selba said...

Nice pancakes! I love chocolate on my pancake but my mom prefer jams.

Cakelaw said...

Yum - anything with chocolate in has my vote. These would be super slathered in maple syrup - mmmmm.

Maris said...

As delicious as your pancakes sound, I'm totally stuck on olive oil gelato! I would never think to try that and I would never think it would be good! I usually like to keep sweet and savory as separate. Now I'm curious!

Srikitchen said...

recipe looks yum 'n' delicious!
join with us in the EFM -Microwave Oven Series!

Cakebrain said...

aw! that looks so yummy! and I'm still avoiding carbs, darn it! I'll have to lick my screen instead!

Elyse said...

Chocolate chip pancakes just happen to be one of my favorite eats! I can't wait to try them with a bit of olive oil...sounds like a fascinating yet scrumptious combination! Thanks for the great idea

What a Dish! said...

These look so good- I love whole wheat buttermilk pancakes and the olive oil and chocolate sound so good- I have everything on hand for these so maybe I'll make them soon. And, now I'm interested in that cookbook- I used to live in Spain.

Culinary Wannabe said...

I thought I had eaten every pancake combo out there - but I've never come close to this one! They look so delicious! Especially with the chunks of chocolate!

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

Sara this is so unique I have to try it. What a tasty and lovely treat.

Megan said...

This sounds like it's right up my alley. The sea salt would be an interesting addition. Bookmarked!

Alicia Foodycat said...

They sound really good! I had olive oil icecream with dried figs in it a few years ago, and it was so delicious!

Jennifer said...

Wow Sarah those look amazing, we love pancakes and will be making these. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

Deeba PAB said...

How heavenly those look & sound Sara. Great recipe & bookmarked!

Lori said...

These sound totally amazing. Very different but wow I can see the flavor would be so good.

Anonymous said...

Odd?Not for me,Olive oil goes well with most of my recipes.Pancakes are making me hungry:)

La Bella Cooks said...

This sounds like an interesting recipe, and they look like they turned out perfectly. I definitely need to give these a try.

cindy* said...

yum...i always love salt and chocolate together!

Anonymous said...

I love the idea of olive oil pancakes and you can't go wrong with chocolate.

Finla said...

Wowo those pancakes looks so yummy delicious.

Lori Lynn said...

Wow Sara, those look delicious, the food combinations sound interesting! Looking forward to getting my hands on that cookbook.
LL

Sara said...

Sam - I tried to watch that show, and I just couldn't get into it. But Jose Andres has a show on PBS called Made in Spain, it's usually on Saturday morning. It's part travel, part cooking.

Maris - I think the success of olive oil gelato is very dependent upon the type of olive oil used. It works with really fruity olive oils, but would not be as successful with a grassy olive oil.

Maria said...

These sound amazing!! I can't wait until Saturday to try them!!

stephchows said...

Hmmm very interesting flavor combination! I'll have to give these a try one night when I'm feeling adventurous!

Passionate Eater said...

Olive oil gelato does sound a little offputting to me, but I would definitely be willing to try this recipe of olive oil, honey, and chocolate pancakes. That sounds sweet, fruity, and heavenly. And I am sure the sea salt brings out a whole other dimension.

Annie said...

I'll take three please!

amycaseycooks said...

I have had an olive oil cake and it was delicious. The pancakes sound tasty.

Erica said...

Yummy these look awesome. I have had olive oil and chocolate chip muffins and they were just amazing!

BTW- I could live on pita chips and hummus too ;)

Anonymous said...

I love Jose's show, "Made in Spain.'' He's such a bigger-than-life personality. And he always dazzles with some new, simple technique I've never seen before. I can't wait to try his new restaurant in Los Angeles when I'm next in that city.

Sophie said...

Wow! Unique use of the olive oil, I've seen it done with cakes but not pancakes; I would love to try it, I usually use boring canola oil :).

The Duo Dishes said...

Great way to bring a taste Spain home with you. We're looking forward to experimenting with chocolate and salt now.

Diana said...

Oh my gosh -- those look incredible! I love how golden they look in the picture -- like a big plate of happiness! :)

Usha said...

Chocolates in pancakes...YUM :-)

grace said...

i'm pretty sure that the only pancake i wouldn't like is one that's been burnt to a crisp. even then, with enough maple syrup it might still be edible. :)

Bharti said...

I've seen olive oil chocolate brownies I think but yeah this is very unique. I'll try it out the next time I make pancakes.

Anonymous said...

This is a very interesting combination.

Kasey said...

I totally agree with you on the olive oil gelato! Every time I tell anyone about how amazing it is, they think I'm crazy. I'm planning on trying to recreate it with my ice cream maker sometime...

Ashley said...

These look fluffy and delicious - gorgeous recipe!