Dinner tonight! Olive oil pancakes

Pancakes are a natural for breakfast, but what about dinner? Go ahead, indulge yourself. Light and fluffy, these pancakes have that perfect buttermilk tang. But what sets them apart is a touch of olive oil -- rich and fruity, a good olive oil adds wonderful fragrant notes. And chopped dark chocolate adds pure magic to every bite (doesn’t chopped dark chocolate add a little magic to just about anything?).

Douse the pancakes with a little honey and fresh mint -- or garnish however you’d like -- and dig in. The whole dish comes together in half an hour.

For more quick-fix dinner ideas, check out our video recipe gallery here. Food editor Russ Parsons and Test Kitchen manager Noelle Carter show you how to fix a dozen dishes in an hour or less.

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You can find Noelle Carter on Facebook, Google+, Twitter and Pinterest. Email Noelle at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

Olive oil pancakes

Total time: 30 minutes

Servings: 4

Note: To make lemon honey, combine one-fourth cup honey with one-half teaspoon lemon zest in a small saucepan. Steep the honey for several minutes over low heat and strain before using. Spanish chocolate is available at select Ralphs stores and specialty markets.

1 3/4 cups flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

4 tablespoons best-quality olive oil, preferably Spanish, plus more for frying

1/3 cup chopped dark chocolate, preferably Spanish

1/4 cup honey, preferably lemon

Fresh mint leaves

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk in the egg, buttermilk and 2 tablespoons olive oil until the batter is smooth, then stir in the chocolate pieces.

2. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium sauté pan over medium-low heat. Ladle one-fourth cup of the pancake batter into the pan and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Flip the pancake with a spatula and cook until golden brown on the second side, 1 to 2 more minutes. Place the pancakes in a warm oven until all are cooked and ready to serve. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more olive oil to the pan as needed.

3. To serve, drizzle the pancakes with honey and garnish with mint.

Each of 4 servings: 540 calories; 11 grams protein; 79 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams fiber; 21 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 58 mg. cholesterol; 663 mg. sodium.