Chocolate Pancake Syrup Recipe

stack of pancakes with chocolate syrup being poured over the top

Servings: 12

Prep Time: 2

Cook Time: 5

This homemade chocolate pancake syrup is rich, just sweet enough, and perfectly pourable. It's exactly what you need to take your pancake stack to the next level.

5 from 5 votes

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Ingredients

1 cup sugar, regular or brown
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
⅓ cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter
Pinch salt

Instructions

Cook:

In a small 2-quart saucepan, add the sugar, cocoa powder, and water. Heat the ingredients over medium heat, and stir with a whisk to combine the chocolate mixture as it heats up, until it comes to a boil, letting it simmer no longer than 1 minute. If you simmer it too long, the syrup will thicken, and you'll need to add water to adjust the viscosity (pourable texture). If this happens, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time, while whisking with the heat off.
Turn off the heat, add the vanilla extract and butter, and whisk to incorporate them into the hot chocolate syrup.

Serve:

Serve warm over pancakes or waffles. The syrup will thicken as it cools, so simply whisk it to restore the smooth texture in the pot.

Notes

The molasses in brown sugar will give the syrup a richer taste (think maple syrup vs regular pancake syrup). Of course, regular sugar works too.
Dutch-processed cocoa is less bitter. If you have it, this is a great recipe to use it in.
The vanilla is added at the very end, with the butter, to preserve its flavor in the syrup.
Add-ins: add ½ teaspoon peppermint extract, ⅛ of a teaspoon cayenne pepper for heat, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, and even the zest of an orange for extra flavor.

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