Nutella Pancakes are the perfect treat for any weekend breakfast or brunch. Made with just a handful of pantry ingredients and a few refrigerated ones, these homemade pancakes are tender, fluffy, light and taste like everyone’s favorite chocolate-hazelnut spread!
Who doesn’t love Nutella? I know I do! These pancakes were inspired by the strawberry-Nutella crepes I ate and adored in Italy a long time ago. While I love sweet breakfast crepes, let’s be real: pancakes are way easier to make for the average home cook. I’m all about pancakes.
These Nutella Pancakes are light and fluffy with amazing chocolate hazelnut flavor. The crumb of the pancakes is tender, and these beauties tastes delicious warm or cold.
I like to serve them with an extra Nutella drizzle, chopped hazelnuts for some crunch and some sliced strawberries, for both color and sweetness.
You can switch it up and do whatever works best for you, but let me go ahead and urge you to make these ASAP, especially if you love Nutella.
Nutella Pancakes Ingredients
Nutella pancakes are made from a handful of ingredients you probably already have in your pantry and refrigerator.
You’ll need…
- All-purpose flour—this is sometimes referred to as AP flour. It serves as the base for our recipe, and I have not tested this recipe using other flours in place o it.
- Granulated sugar—also known as white sugar, this provides some sweetness to our pancakes. We also get some sweetness from the Nutella, so we’re not using too much.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder—not to be confused with Dutch process cocoa powder, this provides a little chocolate flavor without becoming overwhelming.
- Leaveners—baking soda and baking powder are both used in this recipe to create light, fluffy pancakes. Make sure yours are fresh so that your pancakes rise to become super fluffy.
- Salt—I like to use a fine grain sea or kosher salt for this recipe. A medium-grain salt has a harder time dissolving in the batter and can result in some saltier bites.
- Whole milk—you can use another milk if that’s what you’ve got on hand! We’ve made this recipe with cashew milk before, and they were equally delightful.
- Nutella—you can also use another chocolate-hazelnut spread, though we prefer Nutella in our household for the texture, flavor and creaminess.
- Coffee—a lot of times, you’ll see coffee added to recipes to enhance chocolate flavor, and that’s exactly what this does here, too. It also makes for a smoother batter since the coffee is hot when we add it.
- Eggs—these provide structure, as well as a bit of lift for our pancakes.
- Vanilla extract—a little goes a long way here! Be sure to use the real deal, not the imitation kind.
- Unflavored oil—we have used vegetable, canola or avocado oil in this recipe, and all three work. You could also substitute this with melted, unsalted butter if you don’t have oil.
- Garnishes—chopped hazelnuts, fresh fruit (like strawberries) and extra Nutella. These aren’t necessary, but they sure look beautiful!
How to Make Nutella Pancakes
- Mix the dry ingredients for the pancakes. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk together until combined, and set aside.
- In a smaller bowl, heat the milk in the microwave for 30-45 seconds. Measure in the Nutella and coffee, stirring with a fork until the mixture is smooth. This might take a little while, depending on the temperature of the milk, but I’ve found that heating it up helps make the Nutella easier to stir into the liquid ingredients.
- Next, break the eggs, and add those to the wet ingredients along with the vanilla extract, and oil into a smaller bowl. Use a fork to stir until combined.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold them together until just combined. The batter doesn’t need to be smooth, and be careful not to overmix.
- Once the Nutella pancakes batter has been mixed, heat a nonstick skillet or a griddle over medium heat. Brush the pan with melted butter or unflavored cooking spray, and let it warm up.
- Use a cookie scoop or a measuring cup to dollop the pancakes onto the preheated skillet when ready.
- When several bubbles form on the surface, flip the pancakes, and cook through for another 1-2 minutes.
- Repeat until all of the batter has been made into pancakes.
- Stack the cooked pancakes onto plates. Serve with toasted chopped hazelnuts, a drizzle of Nutella or Nutella Sauce and some fresh fruit. Enjoy immediately.
Pro tip: Make sure the egg yolks and white are mixed well because you don’t want stray pieces of egg white in your pancakes.
Tips for the Perfect Pancakes
- Make sure the Nutella actually mixes in. We heat up the milk to ensure that the Nutella can melt into it and stir it with the coffee until those three are all combined. I’ve found using cold milk will make the Nutella become stiffer, not easier to combine, and will lead to Nutella patches in the batter, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but we want the Nutella to be consistent throughout the batter so every bite tastes of it.
- Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately. Get the eggs incorporated into the other wet ingredients so you don’t have stray bits of egg white in your final pancakes.
- Don’t overmix the pancake batter! Lumps are OK in the batter—we just want the ingredients incorporated. Overmixing can also cause tougher pancakes and also cause them not to rise as much when cooking.
- Don’t press down on the pancakes after flipping! This will push the air out of them, making them flatter, and if you want extra fluffy pancakes, you need to avoid this.
Storage and Freezing
If you’ve got leftover Nutella pancakes, no problem! They’re super easy to freeze. Line a baking sheet with wax paper, and pop them in the freezer for 4-6 hours. When the pancakes are fully frozen, transfer them to a freezer baggie.
When you’re ready to enjoy them again, they’re easy to reheat too. You can do this in the toaster oven, toaster or the oven and just reheat until warm.
More delicious pancake recipes:
- Pumpkin Pancakes
- White Chocolate Raspberry Pancakes
- Blueberry Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup
- Oatmeal Pancakes
Funfetti Pancakes
Banana Pancake Recipe
Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
Nutella Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- ½ cup Nutella
- 3 tablespoons coffee (regular or decaf OK)
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons neutral oil , like vegetable or canola oil
Garnishes
- Nutella
- Chopped hazelnuts
- Fresh fruit , like strawberries
Instructions
- Measure the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. Whisk together until incorporated, and set aside.
- In a smaller bowl, measure in the milk. Heat for 30-45 seconds, or until warm to the touch.
- Measure in the Nutella and coffee to the milk. Stir until combined and smooth. This might take a few moments, depending on the temperature. (I’ve found that warmer milk helps make the Nutella easier to stir and incorporate into the batter.)
- Next, break the eggs, and stir those into the milk mixture with the vanilla extract and oil.
- Use a fork to stir together until combined. Make sure the egg yolk and white are incorporated.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined with a rubber spatula. Be careful not to overmix, as this will affect the texture of the pancakes. Don’t fret about lumps—they’re OK.
- Once the batter has been mixed, heat a nonstick skillet or a griddle over medium heat. Brush the pan with melted butter or unflavored cooking spray.
- Dollop the pancakes onto the preheated skillet when ready using a cookie scoop or a measuring cup.
- When several bubbles have formed on the surface, flip the pancakes, and cook through.
- Repeat until all of the pancakes have been made.
- Stack the pancakes onto plates and serve with additional Nutella, chopped hazelnuts and fresh fruit. Enjoy immediately!
- If you've tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or star ratings.
Notes
Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately. Get the eggs incorporated into the other wet ingredients so you don’t have stray bits of egg white in your final pancakes.
Don’t overmix the batter! Lumps are OK in the batter—we just want the ingredients incorporated so you can pour them onto the griddle. To freeze these pancakes, simply line a baking sheet with wax paper, and pop them in the freezer for 4-6 hours. When the pancakes are frozen solid, transfer them to a freezer baggie. Reheat in the toaster oven, toaster or the oven until warm.
Big fans of this recipe we have made it twice now and the family loves it and cant get enough of it!
Well, now I know what I’m having with my Sunday morning coffee this weekend! I also hope to have leftovers to freeze as you suggested. Thanks for the fun recipe!
What an absolutely divine (and slightly decadent) recipe! My family loves Nutella, and these pancakes are going to have a permanent rotation on our weekend breakfast circuit. Love the hint of coffee that you added, too. Another winner from Savory Experiments!
Nutella and pancakes… Is there a ebtter combo than this? Absolutely love it!
OMG, my kids went crazy for these! They are nutella obsessed! So glad I found this recipe–it’s a keeper! xo