Add a citrusy twist to your stack of flapjacks with a family favorite recipe for Orange Ricotta Chocolate Chip Pancakes.
With the whole family together at home, it’s easy to start feeling cooped up. To keep things interesting, we’re making a big effort to add variety to our meals, with recipes built around pantry staples.
It wouldn’t be a fun family brunch without a towering stack of pancakes, but these aren’t your ordinary flapjacks; they’re made with ricotta cheese and orange juice, which lends a creamy texture, tangy flavor, and a bit of sunshine to each chocolate chip-studded and maple syrup-topped bite.
This marks my fifth year as a member of the Florida’s Natural® Brunch Club, and I can think of no better way to celebrate than with the quintessential brunch dish: pancakes.
Speaking of celebrating…
You might remember in my Cheesecake Parfaits post that I referenced an upcoming trip to visit my in-laws in southern Florida over the winter holidays. As luck would have it, we were within miles of the Florida’s Natural Grove House visitor center, so of course we had to stop!
My two little guys, Julian and Evan, had such a blast exploring the museum, learning about the history behind the Florida’s Natural brand, and of course, sneaking endless samples of their favorite orange juice and lemonade.
That leads us here, to my recipe for the fluffiest-ever flapjacks flavored with orange juice. What I love about Florida’s Natural orange juice is that it’s made with one simple ingredient: oranges. There’s no added sugar, water or preservatives. The result? The purest-tasting orange juice to ever hit your lips.
When it comes to making these ricotta chocolate chip pancakes, there’s an added step that guarantees your end result will be light and fluffy, rather than dense and doughy: whipping the egg whites.
It’s absolutely worth the added time and effort to give those guys a quick buzz with a hand-blender before folding the soft peaks into the batter.
Ricotta, while amazing for flavor and creamy texture, can weigh down a batter, so the whipped egg whites lighten everybody up. Then all that’s left to do is get your batter onto a hot griddle and watch those ‘cakes rise.
Are you ready to put that orange juice to work and up your brunch game? Tune in to the video below!
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 Tablespoons white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup Florida's Natural Orange Juice
- 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
- Maple syrup, for serving
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Separate the egg yolks and egg whites into two bowls.
- Add the ricotta cheese to the bowl with the egg yolks and whisk until combined, then whisk in the orange juice.
- Using an electric mixer or whisk, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold the egg whites and chocolate chips into the batter. (Do not overmix the batter. It should be lumpy.)
- Preheat a griddle or grill pan over medium heat. Add 1/4-cup portions of the batter onto the griddle, spacing the pancakes at least 2 inches apart. Once bubbles form across the entire surface of each pancake, flip them once and continue cooking an additional 1 to 2 minutes.
- Transfer the pancakes on plates then top with maple syrup and serve.
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Recipe by Kelly Senyei of Just a Taste. Please do not reprint this recipe without my permission. If you'd like to feature this recipe on your site, please rewrite the method of preparation and link to this post as the original source.
Disclosure: I’ve partnered with Florida’s Natural for an exclusive endorsement of not-from-concentrate Florida’s Natural® Orange Juice. This blog post is sponsored by Florida’s Natural. All opinions are my own.
These were soo delicious and fluffy! Loved them! Thank you for the recipe.
You are so welcome, Rufina! I’m thrilled you enjoyed the pancakes!
WOW! These pancakes are so flavorful, light and fluffy. Thanks for the tasty twist to our Sunday brunch, Kelly!
You are so welcome, Whitney! I’m thrilled you enjoyed the recipe!
These look delicious, but it doesn’t indicate in the recipe when to add the orange juice. I see it in the video but it goes too fast for me. I’d like to save the corrected recipe to my computer. Thanks.
Thanks so much for catching that, Kathleen! I updated the recipe as to when to add the orange juice :) The video we’re seeing is for the pancakes… perhaps there’s another one playing after it?