Lemon-Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce

These pancakes are sooooo good- almost cake-like!!  And the blueberry sauce is to die for.  I would make this just by itself for other pancake/waffle recipes or to serve over ice cream.  Just slightly sweetened; the real flavor of blueberries is allowed to shine through.  I used frozen blueberries and they worked wonderfully.  The sauce only took a minute to put together.  I had some natural brown sugar (turbinado) on hand and used that for the sauce.  For the actual pancakes, I used vanilla sugar- yum.

This batter was super thick, and it's supposed to be, but it was sooo thick that I was having a hard time actually plopping it down onto my skillet, so I thinned it out with some milk (you can also use buttermilk).  You don't have to do that though; the pancakes taste great both ways.  This didn't make as much as I thought it would; my fam would have preferred more, but it was ok; we had fresh strawberries, turkey sausages, and eggs on the side.  Next time, I'd like to increase the recipe by 50% (but I'm too lazy to do all the math... lol).  I used low-fat ricotta for these.  They were tender, light, and fluffy. 

This recipe was so good that I'd buy ricotta just to make this.  But... this is also great to have on hand for using up leftover ricotta from other recipes!  Made Manicotti, Turkey-Ricotta Meatballs, this chicken dish, Lasagna, or Ricotta Pasta  lately?  Make these pancakes!!

(I made these again July 2016.  I increased the recipe by 50%.  I used fresh-made ricotta from our favorite cheese factory up in Asiago, Italy.  Still used frozen blueberries for the sauce and garnished with some fresh ones this time.  I also replaced the really bad pics.)

Lemon-Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce
adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod
Serves about 4

To make the blueberry sauce:

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (frozen works great!)
2-3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons water

1. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and cornstarch and set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine the blueberries, sugar, and water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer and stir in lemon juice and cornstarch mixture. Stir until the sauce thickens slightly. Cover to keep warm and set aside.

To make the pancakes:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour)
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 heaping cup ricotta cheese (low-fat is fine)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1-2 teaspoons fresh grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon canola oil

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together ricotta cheese, eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, and canola oil. Gently fold this mixture into the dry ingredients until flour disappears. Don't over mix. The batter will be thick.  Can add milk or buttermilk to thin if needed.

3. Heat a griddle or a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray. Drop about 1/3 cup of batter onto the hot griddle or skillet. Cook the pancakes until browned on the underside and beginning to set, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook the pancakes on the other side, about two minutes longer. Continue making pancakes until batter is gone. Serve warm with blueberry sauce.

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/**/