Lemon Ricotta Pancakes are super light and fluffy ricotta pancakes. These pillowy pancakes have a hint of lemon for the perfect bit of zing in your pancakes!
Light and fluffy pancakes are the holy grail of pancakes. These lemon ricotta pancakes are pillowy pancakes that practically melt in your mouth!
The pancakes are made with a little bit of lemon juice and lemon zest to help brighten up the flavor and add a bit of tang. The pancakes are made with a unique technique to help give them their super fluffy texture. Check out the step-by-step photos and tips below so you can make perfect pancakes!
“These were delicious!” – Caroline
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Flour: To keep the pancakes light and fluffy, it’s important to properly measure the flour. To measure either weigh or stir or sift to break the flour up. Lightly spoon into the measuring cup and level. Avoid packing flour in.
- Buttermilk: Regular or low-fat will work. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make an easy substitute with this recipe.
- Lemon juice and lemon zest: You should only need 1 lemon for the juice and the zest.
- Ricotta cheese: You can use full-fat or part-skim. I don’t recommend using fat-free in this recipe.
How to make lemon ricotta pancakes
Here you’ll find step-by-step photos showing how to make this recipe. The full recipe is given below.
Step 1: In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
Step 2: Add the buttermilk, egg yolks, lemon juice, and lemon peel. Mix until evenly moistened.
Step 3: Gently stir in ricotta cheese.
Step 4: In a separate bowl, with a mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
Step 5: With a flexible spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter just until they are incorporated.
Step 6: Place a large, nonstick frying pan over medium heat; when hot, coat lightly with oil or butter and adjust heat to maintain temperature. Drop batter onto the pan and cook until pancakes are browned on the bottom and edges begin to look dry, about 2 minutes.
Step 7: Flip pancakes with a wide spatula and brown other sides, 1 and 1/2 to 2 minutes longer. Coat pan with more oil as necessary to cook remaining pancakes.
Recipe Tips!
- Blueberries: You can add fresh or frozen blueberries to the pancakes just before cooking. If you’re using frozen blueberries, don’t thaw them before use. Thawing them can give you mushy blueberries that bleed into the pancakes and turn the pancakes an ugly gray.
- Serving suggestions: I serve the pancakes with powdered sugar and fresh berries like strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries. Feel free to use your favorite fruit syrup, maple syrup, or buttermilk syrup.
Recipe FAQs
These pancakes start off like most pancakes with the dry ingredients mixed together in one bowl and the wet ingredients mixed together in another bowl.
One big difference is that the egg whites are whipped to soft peaks and then folded in. The beaten egg white, along with the buttermilk and ricotta, gives the pancakes a lighter, fluffier texture.
Soft peaks is the stage when the egg whites just begin to hold their shape when the mixer is lifted out of the mixing bowl.
Storage
The pancakes are best eaten fresh. If you have leftover pancakes, I recommend freezing them. However, you can also store any leftover pancakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Freezing
To freeze the pancakes, cook the pancakes as directed. Let the pancakes cool to room temperature on a wire cooling rack. This helps to avoid soggy pancakes.
Once the pancakes have cooled, place them in a single layer in a freezer-safe baggie. If you want to place more than one layer in a bag, separate the layers with a piece of waxed paper.
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Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk
- 2 large eggs separated
- 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ⅓ cup ricotta cheese
- Oil or butter
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.1½ cups all-purpose flour, 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- Add the buttermilk, egg yolks, lemon juice, and lemon peel. Mix until evenly moistened.1 ½ cups buttermilk, 2 large eggs, 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Gently stir in ricotta cheese.⅓ cup ricotta cheese
- In a separate bowl, with a mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
- With a flexible spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter just until they are incorporated.
- Place a large, nonstick frying pan over medium heat; when hot, coat lightly with oil or butter and adjust heat to maintain temperature.Oil or butter
- Drop batter onto the pan and cook until pancakes are browned on the bottom and edges begin to look dry, about 2 minutes.
- Flip pancakes with a wide spatula and brown other sides, 1 ½ to 2 minutes longer. Coat pan with more oil as necessary to cook remaining pancakes.
Notes
- Flour: To keep the pancakes light and fluffy, it’s important to properly measure the flour. To measure either weigh or stir or sift to break the flour up. Lightly spoon into the measuring cup and level. Avoid packing flour in.
- Buttermilk: Regular or low-fat will work. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make an easy substitute with this recipe.
- Lemon juice/zest: You should only need 1 lemon for the juice and the zest.
- Ricotta cheese: You can use full-fat or part-skim. I don’t recommend using fat-free in this recipe.
- Nutrition values are estimates.
Nutrition
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Originally published
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Comments & Reviews
Wallace says
Can I use a gluten-free flour?
Kate says
Hi – I haven’t tried using gluten-free flour in this recipe to say for certain.
Caroline says
These were delicious!
Kate says
Thank you! So glad you liked them! =)
Becca says
Hi Kate
These look delicious! My girls love love love pancakes! But my oldest is allergic to ricotta cheese… Can I substitute cottage cheese in its place? :)
Kate says
Hi Becca,
I am not sure! I’ve substituted cottage cheese for ricotta in pasta recipes, but I’m not sure how the texture would be. I wish I had a better answer!
Amy @ Chew Out Loud says
Love the combo of lemon and ricotta…and blueberries…and buttermilk! YUMMO! These are my idea of a perfect breakfast :)
Kate says
Thank you! =)