After making French toast challah and some variation on an egg scramble for brunch for the last few weekends, and after finding some ricotta leftover from making a blood orange ricotta cake, I decided to try this recipe for lemon ricotta pancakes.  We’re usually always whole wheat pancake types of people, but the preface for this recipe claimed that these would result in very fluffy pancakes, or more elegantly put, “ricotta cheese lends a delicate, airy texture.”  They turned out so fluffy and just melted in our mouths.  Plus they were mini sized so it felt fine to eat them all!

Ingredients

• 3 cups blackberries (or raspberries)
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 7 oz ricotta cheese (or 15 oz – I halved the ricotta only because I only had 7 oz lying around my fridge, but I’m pretty sure these would turn out better with all 15 oz)
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• canola oil or butter for cooking.

Directions

1. Combine the berries and maple syrup in a saucepan over medium heat.  Cook, sitrring occasionally, just until the berries begin to release some juices, about 3 minutes.  Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the ricotta, flour, egg *yolks*, sugar, melted butter, lemon zest and vanilla.  In another bowl, using a clean whisk or handheld mixer (I use a standing mixer) on high speed, beat the egg whites until soft peaks begin to form.  Scoop the whites onto the batter, and using the whisk or a spatula, fold them in evenly.

3. Place a griddle over medium heat until hot.  Lightly oil the griddle and pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle.  Cook until bubbles form on the surface, about 1 1/2 minutes.  Flip the pancakes and cook until the other sides are golden, about another minute.  Repeat until all the batter is used.

4. Serve with the warm berry compote poured on top.

(Note on servings – the recipe claims it makes enough for 4 servings, but Matt ate them all in one sitting… so if you have a big eater, make sure to scale the recipe accordingly.)

From Breakfast Comforts, Williams Sonoma.