With creamy ricotta and bright specs of lemon zest folded into the batter, these lemon ricotta pancakes are the perfect weekend breakfast.
We have a New Year’s resolution in my house: spend less money and produce less waste. And what better way to do that than by making sure you consume each and every piece of food in your fridge? It’s actually a resolution that I have done my best to practice for my whole life. I speak about it often on here; my dad has always been a firm believer in eating pretty much anything that’s edible, and using each and every part of an ingredient. That’s how recipes like this panettone French toast and these kitchen sink scrambled eggs were born. So when we found ourselves with an extra tub of ricotta cheese left over from Christmas (since we always do lasagna for Christmas) we knew we had to use it somehow, and I came up with these lemon ricotta pancakes.
These lemon ricotta pancakes actually worked double duty to help us clear out our fridge. Because not only did we have leftover ricotta in there, but we also had a blueberry puree and a strawberry puree. Those were courtesy of my nephew Theo (who turned one yesterday!), who often eats fresh fruit purees. And the combo of these lemony and creamy ricotta pancakes and a fresh, bright fruit puree turned out to be a perfect one. But you could also serve your pancakes with traditional maple syrup, or even with a side of fresh berries.
MAKING LEMON RICOTTA PANCAKES
These lemon ricotta pancakes really couldn’t be easier to make, and they’re the perfect weekend breakfast or brunch. The batter whips up like any pancake batter, with flour, baking powder, milk and eggs, and of course a sugar and vanilla for flavor. But the addition of ricotta makes these pancakes extra fluffy and creamy (and allows you to use a little less of the wet ingredients in the batter). And since ricotta goes so well with lemon (as evidenced by this lemon ricotta fig cake), I couldn’t help but throw both lemon juice and zest into the batter, to bring a really bright, fresh flavor to these pancakes.
Once your batter is made, these pancakes also cook up like any other pancakes. Use a griddle or a large pan to cook them (in lots of butter) until they just begin to form bubble around the edges of the pancake; the ultimate indicator of when its time to flip. Flip them and cook until golden brown, and repeat with all the batter. I like to keep my already cooked pancakes in the oven set on “warm” while I finish cooking all the batter. That way, when its time to serve, all of them are nice and hot.
A NEW HOUSEHOLD FAVORITE
As I’ve mentioned many times on this blog, I have a tradition of making all my housemates a birthday breakfast on the weekend closest to their birthday. As soon as my sister-in-law Julie took a bite of these lemon ricotta pancakes she said “this is what I want for my birthday breakfast.” Julie is a notorious lemon lover, and I actually made her waffles with a lemon drizzle (the one I used in this berry pancakes with lemon drizzle recipe) for her birthday a few years ago. So I knew these pancakes would be right up her alley, and I’m definitely looking forward to making them again when her birthday rolls around in February.
But, in fact, everyone in my house agreed: these were some of the best pancakes we’ve ever had. And I think from now on, this will be our go-to pancake recipe for weekend brunches.
Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1+1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 4 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp lemon zest
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- more butter, for the pan
- maple syrup or fruit puree, for serving
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, sugar and salt).
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, melted butter, vanilla extract, lemon juice and zest. Fold in the ricotta cheese and mix until just combined.
- Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold until just combined and there are no bits of dry flour left (it's okay if the batter is lumpy). Depending on the amount of moisture in your ricotta, you may need to add a bit more milk to make the batter a bit thinner; it should be the consistency of a thin yogurt.
- Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium heat with about 1 tbsp of butter. Once hot, use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop the batter into the pan. Cook until the pancakes are beginning to form bubbles on the top and are golden brown on the bottom, 3-5 minutes. Then flip and cook another 2-4 minutes until the other side is golden.
- Repeat with remaining batter, adding more butter to the pan between batches as needed, until all your pancakes are done. You can keep the pancakes you've already cooked warm in the oven set to "warm" until all of the are done. Serve warm with maple syrup or fruit puree.
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