Happy Friday friends! Has this been a long week for you? Because it definitely has been for me! Between Parks still waking up in his big boy bed during the night, the hubby working late a few nights this week, and my own work, I have been counting the days until the weekend and a lazy Saturday morning! To me there is nothing better than a weekend morning where you don’t have to rush out the door and can make a special breakfast that can be enjoyed by the whole family! My chocolate chip pancakes with a blood orange chia syrup are going to make your weekend just a little bit sweeter!

I originally made these pancakes for my hubby on his birthday because chocolate chip pancakes are his favorite! They ended up being such a hit with my family that I knew I had to share this recipe with you all! What makes these a little bit more special then your ordinary pancake is the fact that they have a homemade blood orange syrup that gets drizzled over top of them! The combo of citrus and chocolate is absolutely delicious and you have to make this recipe to see for yourself!

I “healthified” these pancakes a little by using whole wheat flour, no refined sugars, and added chia into the syrup for an extra nutritional boost! I like to make a big batch of these on the weekend and then freeze the leftovers for easy breakfasts throughout the week! Because these pancakes are made with better for you ingredients I can feel good about Parks eating them any morning of the week, and myself for that matter!

Don’t worry if you can’t find blood oranges, you can simply swap regular navel oranges, cara cara oranges, or mandarins instead! The key here is the citrus and the chocolate…it’s a match made in heaven!

You are going to love adding these pancakes into your weekend plans and I hope that your plans include taking a little time to relax, eat good pancakes, and enjoy your favorite cup of coffee or tea with people you love!

Ingredients:

For the Pancakes-

• 2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

• 1, 1/2 Cups Milk of Choice

• 1 Egg

• 2 Tbsp. Coconut Sugar

• 1 Tsp. Vanilla

• 1 Tbsp. Baking Powder

• 1/4 Tsp. Salt

• 1/4 Cup Melted Coconut Oil

• 1/2 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips

• Butter for cooking and topping

For the Blood Orange Chia Syrup-

• 1/2 Cup Fresh Squeezed Blood Orange Juice

• 2 Tbsp. Chia Seeds

• 1/4 Cup Maple Syrup or Honey

Directions:

• In a saucepan add blood orange juice and chia seeds and heat on low for 5-10 minutes until chia seeds expand and start to thicken the juice.

• Add in maple syrup or honey and continue to let thicken another 5 minutes. Store in the fridge.

• In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, coconut sugar, and salt and whisk to combine.

• In another bowl add milk, egg, vanilla, and coconut oil and whisk until combined.

• Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir to combine.

• Fold in chocolate chips into the batter.

• Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium heat and add a tbsp of butter to the pan.

• Add pancake batter (about 1/4 cup per pancake) to the pan and cook on the first side until bubbles appear and then flip to cook on the other side.

• Continue cooking the rest of the pancakes.

• Top with extra butter and drizzle blood orange syrup over top when ready to serve.

• Sprinkle with extra chopped chocolate chips if desired.

Notes: To keep pancakes warm, place onto a baking sheet into an oven that is heated at 175 degrees. They will stay warm until your family or guests are ready to eat! You can also sub all purpose flour and a flax egg if desired.

This would make a super special Valentine’s Day breakfast too, just sayin’! Happy Friday lovely people and happy breakfasting!