These healthy Chocolate Orange Pancakes are gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and still taste like a treat for breakfast!
Pancakes are always a great way to start the day but when you also add chocolate, you know it’s going to be a great day! Not only are these Chocolate Orange Pancakes a delicious way to start your morning off right, but they are healthy too.
Chocolate and orange are a lovely combo (think of Terry’s Chocolate Oranges). The orange flavor in these pancakes, however, is more subtle. I add just a little orange juice to the pancake mix but if you want to replace some of the milk in the recipe with more orange juice, you certainly can.
These Chocolate Orange Pancakes are gluten-free because they are made with oat flour. They are also refined-sugar free, and can be made vegan as well.
If you are not a fan of orange with chocolate, feel free to omit the orange juice altogether and replace it with milk for a healthy chocolate pancake without the citrus notes.
Ingredients in Chocolate Orange Pancakes
- Oats and oat flour: Oat flour is used in place of a traditional white flour in this pancake recipe since it offers more nutrients. If you do not have oat flour on hand, you can easily make your own by tossing rolled oats into a food processor or blender and pulsing until you are left with a flour. Alternatively, you can replace the oat flour with an all purpose flour.
- Baking powder: leavener.
- Cocoa powder: unsweetened cocoa powder provides the chocolate flavor in these pancakes.
- Seasoning , spice, and extract. Salt, cinnamon, and vanilla extract all enhance the flavor of the pancakes.
- Eggs: Eggs can be replaced by flax eggs for a vegan substitution. To make flax eggs, see the notes in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Milk: any type of milk can be used.
- Orange juice: adds a hint of orange flavor to the pancakes. For a stronger orange flavor, replace some of the milk with more juice.
- Maple syrup: sweetener. If you are not looking to make a vegan pancake, you can replace this with honey as well.
- Butter or coconut oil
- Orange slices: to top pancakes.
**Note: Ingredient quantities and full instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post.**
How to make Chocolate Orange Pancakes
- Make the batter. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the wet ingredients and mix until well combined. Let the batter sit for 5 minutes to thicken.
- Cook the pancakes. Heat a griddle or pan at medium heat and add a bit of coconut oil or butter to coat it and prevent sticking. Pour about 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake. Cook for a couple of minutes until bubbles begin to form. Flip the pancakes and cook for another couple minutes.
- Serve. To serve, add sliced oranges on top of pancake stacks and drizzle with maple syrup.
Storing leftovers and reheating
Once the pancakes have cooled completely, they can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
To reheat the pancakes, place them on a baking sheet and warm them through in the oven at 325F. Alternatively, you can warm them on the stove top over low heat to prevent them from burning before heating through.
Looking for more pancake recipes? Check out:
Healthy Pumpkin Pancakes
Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes Recipe
Sheet Pan Pancakes
Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Strawberry Syrup
Chocolate Chip Ricotta Pancakes
Chocolate Orange Pancakes
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 3/4 cups oats
- 1 1/2 cups oat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Wet ingredients
- 2 large eggs (or 2 flax eggs* for a vegan option)
- 3/4 cup milk of choice
- 1/3 cup orange juice
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/3 cup butter or coconut oil + more to coat griddle, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
To serve
- 1 orange peeled and sliced
- maple syrup
Instructions
- Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the wet ingredients and mix until well combined. Let the batter sit for 5 minutes to thicken.
- Heat a griddle or pan at medium heat and add a bit of coconut oil or butter to coat it and prevent sticking. Pour about 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake. Cook for a couple of minutes until bubbles begin to form. Flip the pancakes and cook for another couple minutes.
- To serve, add sliced oranges on top of pancake stacks and drizzle with maple syrup.
Notes
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
