I crave pancakes about once a week, maybe more. I usually reserve Sunday mornings for making them because I like to devote my full time and attention to it. There’s nothing worse than half-assed pancakes, except, maybe, no pancakes at all.

This morning I decided to make pancakes based on a picture I saw on Instagram. A food blogger made gluten-free, vegan pancakes with cacao nibs and blood orange. I’m all in favor of gluten-free and vegan, but when it comes to pancakes, I like to indulge. So I used dark chocolate chips, milk, eggs and flour for my version.

I’m usually not a big fan of orange and chocolate together. It all dates back to when my Italian neighbors gave me one of those break-apart milk chocolate oranges for Halloween when I was eight. I don’t think I was expecting the orange-shaped chocolate to taste like an orange, so I was traumatized when it did. It’s haunted me a little to this day.

These pancakes helped me move on. The blood orange is more subtle than regular oranges, and it pairs well with the slightly sweet dark chocolate. The perfect bite is a part of the pancake laden with chocolate chips and a little blood orange triangle.

In other news, spring has arrived in St. Louis a month early. I went on a run yesterday and I saw this tree in the park. It’s nice to see blossoms, even though it’s weird because it’s still February.

Here’s a song I’ve been jamming out to recently. It’s good for long walks on days when it feels like spring but it really isn’t, yet.

Blood Orange Chocolate Chip Pancakes (from me, to you)

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp pure cane sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp baking powder
2 eggs, beat separately before each addition
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 3/4 cups 2% milk
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (I used Guittard extra dark chocolate)
3 blood oranges, peeled and sliced into rounds
canola oil for frying

Directions

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Melt the butter and let it cool slightly.

Beat each egg and then mix them into the milk. Add the butter to the egg-milk mixture.

Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix until the batter is smooth and not lumpy. Then, add the chocolate chips.

Heat canola oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Pour about 1/4 cup batter into the frying pan. Cook until the pancakes are done on one side and then flip. Serve the pancakes with the blood orange rounds. Enjoy!