Whole Wheat Ricotta Pancakes

Posted on February 6, 2015 in Cooking

What better way to start the weekend than with a brunch dish? This recipe for whole wheat ricotta pancakes was a hit in our house. I served them with crushed pecans and fresh strawberries with a drizzle (OK, maybe more than a drizzle!) of pure maple syrup. Homemade blueberry chia jam would be amazing on them as well.

Ingredients for 10 small pancakes:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
3/4 cup buttermilk (plus more if your batter is very thick, which it might be depending on your ricotta cheese)
2 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla
Butter to cook the pancakes
Optional: berries, nuts, zest, chocoalate chips, syrup

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon
3. In a medium bowl, whisk sugar, ricotta cheese, milk, eggs and vanilla
4. Add dry ingredients to wet and stir until just combined, do not over mix
5. Heat a large non stick skillet or griddle over medium heat, melt butter and spoon batter on skillet to cook pancakes
6. When pancakes are bubbling, and golden brown, flip once, and cook on the second side
7. Place pancakes in warmed oven to keep warm while you cook the remaining batter, serve immediately

Most recipes call for whipping egg whites to a stiff peak, but I didn’t do that, and these turned out just fine! Pancakes (and other recipes) with whipped egg whites tend to be lighter and fluffier. Since whole wheat flour can lead to denser finished products, I used the combination of buttermilk and ricotta in the hopes of really lightening the dish.

Have you ever made whole wheat pancakes? What’s your favorite pancake topper? Hope you enjoy…

-MW.