How to make Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Lemon ricotta pancakes are one of our favorite weekend treats. Banana pancakes are another. You don’t need a box mix to make pancakes at home. With a handful of pantry ingredients, you can whip up a delicious breakfast from scratch in no time.

Light and fluffy, lemony and slightly sweet, these pancakes are easy to whip up for any occasion. Whether it’s a lazy Saturday or a celebratory breakfast, they are always the perfect choice.

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Ricotta pancakes

Brunch is by far my favorite indulgence. These days, I make it at home, but that doesn’t mean we don’t go all out.

Sometimes it’s a breakfast casserole with a Bloody Mary. Or it might be bacon and eggs with crispy hash browns.

Pancakes are always a good idea in my book, and these are not only simple to make, but they are good enough to eat plain.

I’m sure we’ve all had pancakes that needed butter, blueberry syrup or some kind of jam to give them flavor, right? Rest easy, friends. You can eat these straight out of the pan.

How to make lemon ricotta pancakes

I make my lemon ricotta pancakes with a little almond flour. It gives it just a touch of texture and extra flavor. I’ve been making them this way for over a decade, well before almond flour was readily available.

If you live in a nut-free house, you don’t have almond flour or you just don’t want to use it, feel free to omit it and replace with all-purpose flour.

Ingredients

• Almond flour – made from ground almonds, you can make your own by grinding blanched almonds into a flour or you can buy it, like I did.
• Eggs – recipe uses large eggs.
• All purpose flour – King Arthur or Gold Medal are favorites.
• Sugar, salt, baking powder & baking soda – give our pancakes flavor & rise.
• Milk – I used whole milk, you can sub 2%, but I wouldn’t recommend skim.
• Vanilla – use pure extract, if possible.
• Ricotta – whole milk, not fat free.
• Lemons – we’re using the zest and the juice. A microplane makes quick work of this.

Procedure

1. Combine dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
2. Add lemon zest and give it a good whisk to coat zest with flour.
3. Combine wet ingredients, then add to dry.
4. Cook pancakes in butter for a few minutes on each side.

You’ll know when it’s time to flip the pancakes when you see bubbles around the edges. The edge of the pancake will also start to look dry.

That’s your cue to gently flip them over and cook the other side.

If you look closely, you can see tiny bursts of yellow in the pancakes. That’s the lemon zest giving the pancakes little pockets of zing!

Blueberries complement these pancakes really well. To make a quick topping, grab some blueberry jam and warm it in a pot with a splash of water to loosen it up. Then generously pile on your stack of pancakes and dig in.

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Originally published 4/2/12, most recent update 1/15/21.