Start your day off right with this Chocolate Orange Pancakes Recipe. They’re loaded with semi sweet chocolate chips and taste just like a Mocha Valencia!
A billion or so years ago, Starbucks made an awesome drink called the Mocha Valencia. We used to live right across the street from a Starbucks, and I’m slightly embarrassed to say that I stopped by almost daily to get my chocolate-orange fix. This was back when I worked full time and before we had five kids, so I could kind of, sort of justify the expense!
If you’ve never heard of a Mocha Valencia, it tastes like an orange-chocolate truffle or one of those chocolate oranges that are popular around Christmas. It’s a classic flavor combo that I absolutely love!
The kids and I have been making these chocolate orange pancakes off and on for a few years now. I have an older, similar recipe on the blog, but I recently updated it, so I’m sharing the new version now.
This recipe for chocolate orange pancakes is super easy, but it’s perfect for special occasions. Mother’s Day is coming up, and I for one, would love to wake up to these delicious pancakes! They would be perfect for Mother’s Day breakfast or brunch, but you can definitely enjoy them anytime at all.
The pancakes get their amazing flavor from a combination of orange juice and orange zest. They also have plenty of cocoa powder and a healthy helping of semi sweet chocolate chips to make them extra chocolaty. If you like chocolate, you’ll love these orange chocolate pancakes!
I used butter in place of oil, but if you want to make these dairy free, just use your favorite oil, instead. I used a combination of fresh-squeezed orange juice and store bought juice in place of milk. The store bought juice is slightly thick, so I used a whole cup. If you’re using nothing but fresh-squeezed juice, you might want to start out with 3/4 cup and add more if you need to.
Easy Chocolate Orange Pancakes Recipe
Chocolate Orange Pancakes Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons melted butter or oil
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 cup orange juice
- ½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add egg, and beat slightly
- Add remaining ingredients, and mix until mostly smooth
- Preheat a griddle and grease with butter or cooking spray
- Drop scant 1/4 cup batter on griddle to form 2 to 3-inch circles. Flip when bubbles form, pop and edges are slightly firm.
- Remove from griddle when second side is done and slightly brown, and keep warm or serve immediately
- Top with syrup, honey, butter, additional chocolate chips and extra zest, if desired
Nutrition
If you like the classic combo of chocolate and orange, I hope you’ll give this chocolate orange pancakes recipe a try. My family loved these pancakes, and I think you will, too!
Happy Cooking,
Whoa, those look amazing, I can’t wait to try them!
YUM! I love that you took a favorite coffee drink and turned it into a pancake. I’d love a stack of these beauties this morning!
Chocolate and orange are so wonderful together. Love that you threw some chocolate chips in there too. Sounds so good.
I’ll take the whole stack! These look delicious!
These chocolate orange pancakes look and sound divine!
Love chocolate and orange together! These pancakes are right up my alley!
It’s one of the best combos ever! 🙂
Sounds like a explosion of flavor! I’ll have to try these this weekend.