Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

I know what you’re thinking… pancakes are just pancakes, right? Oh no, my friend. Oh. No. There are so many different variations and delicious pancake recipes out there! There are pancake concoctions I DREAM of… red velvet, apple pie and Nutella stuffed just to name a few.

Light and airy, these Lemon Ricotta Pancakes will make your mornings shine even on rainy days! Fresh lemon and ricotta cheese make these pancakes stand out from the ordinary.

I first had lemon ricotta pancakes while enjoying breakfast at a restaurants in NYC, Sarabeth's. So light and delicious with a delicate lemon flavor. At Sarabeth's you'll find these tasty morning treats are most often served with blackberries as a garnish and with butter and real maple syrup. They are just delightful!

Light and fluffy pancakes made with fresh lemon and ricotta cheese infused with great lemon zest flavor. And they are actually my husbands favorite kind to have.

There's no oil or butter in the batter. You could add a TBS or so of either if you like. I've done that before and it does decrease the rise a little. They really are perfectly fine without added fat though.

You can also substitute lower fat dairy products (milk, cheese) for the full fat ones and still have a good outcome! It's your choice.

I have actually used the same recipe from previous post of the pancakes except with ofcourse some adjustments.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup milk

1 large egg

1/3 cup RICOTTA CHEESE

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup sugar

1 pinch of salt

zest of one lemon or lime

juice of half a lemon

DIRECTIONS:

Mix the dry items first.

Combine the eggs, milk, lemon zest, juice and ricotta and slowly stir into the flour mixture.

The batter should be thick and a little lumpy, but without any visible streaks of flour. If it is too thick to work with, add a little milk. Be sure to not overwork the batter as this will result in tough, chewy pancakes. Set the batter aside for 5-10 minutes while heating the pan/ griddle – just a little time to let the ingredients in your batter get to know each other. This is completely optional, if you can’t bear to wait 10 extra minutes, go ahead and start cooking – you’ll still get pretty fluffy pancakes.

Heat a heavy-bottomed, non-stick pan/griddle over a low-medium heat and spray it with oil. We’re cooking these on low-medium as opposed to medium/medium-high for the simple reason that you run a good chance of burning them before they’re cooked through if you use too much heat. Use a 1/4 cup measure to scoop and drop the batter into the pan so that you get evenly-sized pancakes. This is a good time to add your topping of your choice. In my case I put bluberries. I personally think they go best with the lemon and ricotta combination.

Cook until the first side is golden brown, or until the top surface forms bubbles. Flip and repeat on the other side – be warned! The second side cooks very quickly! Adjust the heat accordingly. Stack them up and top with more blueberries, lemon/lime zest and a tiny scoop of ricotta....HEAVEN!!!

ENJOOOOYYYYYYYYYY.