Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce

Breakfast foods are really starting to grow on me.  Remember way back, several months ago, where my New Year's resolutions were to get back in shape and eat breakfast everyday?  I'm happy to say that both of these resolutions have been kept!  Exercise and breakfast are still a part of my daily routine, which is a really, really good thing.  Especially when my breakfast food changes a bit from my normal everyday breakfast of scrambled eggs and fruit, to something a bit more exciting, like Belgian Waffles or pancakes.  Regular buttermilk pancakes are good and all, but they can become a routine choice.  I mean, if the idea is to diverge from the normal and everyday breakfast menu, I'm definitely going to get a little more creative when whipping up stack of pancakes, that's for sure!



It's at moments like these when lemon-ricotta pancakes seem like the just the right thing to make.  They require no more work than a regular batch of pancakes, and are made with everyday ingredients that I usually have in my fridge anyway.  Maybe not the ricotta, but that's no big deal, as ricotta can be easily substituted for sour cream or plain yogurt.  Easy enough!  

As good as these pancakes are, my favorite part is the blueberry sauce (obviously).  It just takes the pancakes to a whole new level, elevating them from just regular breakfast pancakes to something more special.  The blueberry sauce is tart and sweet at the same time, and it always makes me feel like I'm eating candy.  Maybe that's why I enjoy this so much for breakfast...I feel like I'm eating candy, but I know that I'm not, so it's ok.  It's just fruit, right?  No worries.  

Lemon and blueberry is one of my favorite flavor combinations, so the blueberry sauce is the perfect sauce to top off these pancakes.  I'm sure that another fruit sauce, like a simple homemade strawberry sauce, or even plain old syrup would be delicious over these pancakes, but I really think blueberry is the winner here.  Fresh or frozen blueberries work in the sauce; I used blueberries that I froze myself, and the sauce still came out perfectly.  Once you have your blueberry sauce, if for some reason you have any left after you finish breakfast (which I highly doubt, as the sauce is just so good), I imagine that it would be delicious served over ice cream, waffles, or cheesecake.  

Lemon ricotta pancakes with blueberry sauce is a delicious breakfast option; whip up a stack of pancakes for Sunday breakfast!

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce
Pancake and Blueberry Sauce recipes from Williams Sonoma

Ingredients

For the Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup milk
3 eggs, at room temperature, separated
1/4 cup sugar
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Blueberry Sauce

2 cups fresh blueberries (frozen works just as well; it's what I used!)
5 tablespoons sugar
zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Directions

Begin by preparing the pancakes.  In a large bowl, whisk together the ricotta, milk, egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice until smooth.  Sift the flour, baking powder, and half the salt into the same bowl with the ricotta mixture, and stir with a wooden spoon, just until everything has combined. 

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a wire whisk or hand mixer until they become frothy.  Add the remaining salt, and continue to beat the egg whites until they begin to form soft peaks.  With a rubber spatula, fold in a third of the egg whites into the ricotta-flour mixture, and then gently fold in the remaining egg whites. 

Preheat a griddle or large skillet over medium heat.  Spray the griddle with nonstick cooking spray, or melt a little butter on it.  Ladle about 1/3 cup of the pancake batter onto the griddle for each pancake.  Allow the pancakes to cook until bubbles begin to form on the top of the pancakes, and they begin to turn golden brown underneath, about 1-2 minutes.  Carefully flip the pancakes over, and cook through, about another minute.  Transfer to a warm plate, and repeat with the remaining batter. 

To prepare the blueberry sauce, begin by combining the blueberries, sugar, lemon zest and 1/2 cup of water in a saucepan over medium high heat.  Stir to dissolve the sugar, and bring the berries to a simmer.  In a separate bowl, stir together the cornstarch, remaining tablespoon of water, and lemon juice.  Add the cornstarch mixture to the berries, and stir until the sauce has thickened, about 5-10 minutes.  Remove from the heat, and serve the blueberry sauce over the pancakes while still warm. 

Makes 12-14 pancakes