There’s nothing like throwing an uncommon ingredient into a common recipe to make it get a new shine. If you think that ricotta cheese in your pancake batter seems like something on the eww side, just try making these golden brown ricotta pancakes for breakfast. In addition, it doesn’t take much time to make these simply the best pancakes with perfect taste, flavor and texture.
Ricotta is creamy, light but buttery Italian cheese we’re more used to seeing in savory dishes or maybe in cheesecake, and those are still more like a mascarpone kind of recipes. But these ricotta pancakes will prove you otherwise.
And, a cherry on top or, rather, a lemon, we will add lemon zest and juice to the batter in this recipe for a fresh and lovely citrus flavor. Yum.
I do recommend making those from scratch rather than using a box mix so that all the rations are good and well. If you are aiming for an extra fluffy texture, it’s best to make the batter the evening before, let it rest and keep in the fridge overnight. This way the dry ingredients will blend very well with the wet ones and the pancakes will turn out extra smooth and fluffy.
These soft pancakes are best served garnished with maple syrup, melted chocolate, powdered sugar or berry jam. You can also add fresh berries (like blueberries, strawberries or raspberries) on top if they are in season, or chopped bananas or even lemon zest, if desired. I find that pouring Hershey’s chocolate syrup somewhat dulls the cheese and lemon flavor, but hey, tastes differ, so just go ahead and use your favorite pancake topping.
I hope you enjoy this recipe!