My insomnia won last night, and sleep evaded me once again. I found myself lying in bed staring up at the octagonal window at the peak of our bedroom, watching the tree branches sway, ever-so-slightly in the light morning breeze as the sun slowly rose. It was the sound of our cat barfing, or coughing up a hairball that finally propelled me up and out of my exhausted recline. My husband and I are convinced that our sweet feline does this at will to get us moving and herself fed. What a way to start the day.

Such is our glamorous life. The phones began to ring, I ignored my first call – my tank was still low at least one cup of caffeine, my brain was in a fog and I knew the synapses needed to send the words from my brain to my mouth for even the simplest of conversations just wasn’t there yet. I heard Ric speaking to someone in a familiar happy-to-hear-from-you tone. He was talking life, kids and music so I knew it was a musician friend that he hadn’t heard from in a while. It perked me up to hear that liveliness and warmth in his voice.

Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes

It was a warm morning with dappled sunshine breaking through the tall pine trees that surround our home, the place the neighbors call, “the Birdhouse”. I made my way to the kitchen to survey the situation in the “larder” as Ric likes to call it, in other words, the tiny pantry in our little kitchen. We’ve been on a healthy diet and exercise bender, nothing too extreme, but we’ve definitely been trying to keep our eating clean and unprocessed. But when I took a look in the fridge and saw those beautiful blueberries staring back at me, I heard a little voice call out to me. In the softest whisper it said, ”lemon, blueberry, ricotta pancakes” and I caved.

By the time Ric returned home from his morning run, I was sitting there with a pile of light and fluffy pancakes in front of me, and feeling very little guilt as I stuffed a forkful in my mouth. Soon he joined me in the carb-fest and our day felt just a little happier.

Note: This recipe can be made without the ricotta if you don’t have any. Add little extra milk, a few tablespoons of some sour or plain yogurt.

Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes
Author: 
Recipe type: Breakfast
 
Ingredients
  • 1 ½ cups self-rising flour
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 4 eggs, separated
  • 1 ½ cups buttermilk ( make buttermilk by adding a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to the milk and letting it sit for 5 minutes)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
  • ½ cup ricotta cheese
  • 1 heaping tablespoon lemon zest
  • 1½ cups fresh or frozen blueberries
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
Instructions
  1. Place the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl and give them a quick stir.
  2. Add the egg yolks, buttermilk, ricotta, vanilla, lemon zest and mix just until combined (don’t worry about the lumps).
  3. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric beater until stiff peaks form.
  4. Add the blueberries and egg whites to the batter and fold the mixture together.
  5. Cook on a medium/high griddle or pan that has been lightly coated with butter.
  6. Ladle the batter onto the hot griddle or pan (I use approximately ⅓ cup of batter per pancake).
  7. Allow to cook long enough for bubbles to appear on the tops of the pancakes before flipping them. Cook until golden brown.
  8. Serve with warm maple syrup and a handful of fresh berries.

Enjoy!