While you don’t need a reason to enjoy these Gluten-Free Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, Mother’s Day is coming up, and your Mom might like you more if you made her this 🙂 You’re welcome.
I used to hate breakfast. I can’t believe I even just typed those words. Yes, you heard me, I used to hate breakfast. Looking back it probably had to do with the fact that what I was eating at breakfast (gluten everything) made me feel like complete crap. I’ll go out on a limb and say that if something made me feel like crap, it probably also mentally/emotionally didn’t make me want to eat breakfast. So sad that it made me not like breakfast, what a dark time in my life. Â I’m sure it may have also been that I was in high school and sometimes you hate everything at that age, who knows.
Fast forward 10-15+ years later (who’s counting at this point, really) and breakfast is one of my favorite meals. I love breakfast foods and IÂ would (and do) eat it for every meal. I mean, if you check out my Instagram feed you’ll see that I eat ALOT of eggs. *Gasp* how could I! (Read more here if you’re concerned), so you shouldn’t be too surprised.
Ricotta Cheese Please
Besides breakfast, I also love ricotta cheese (and a lot of food that is irrelevant). I’m Italian so can you blame me? One of my favorite appetizers to bring to parties is ricotta + honey + black pepper. I don’t know what amounts I use as I just mix and taste until it’s to my liking. The issue is that a lot of times when I need ricotta cheese I don’t need the entire container. So I end up just eating it as-is. I guess this isn’t really an issue but  I wanted to find a way to use the leftover ricotta cheese so others could also benefit.
Ricotta cheese is an underutilized food, in my honest opinion. So many people love cottage cheese (don’t get me wrong, so do i), but what about my good friend ricotta? It is sweeter than cottage cheese and goes well with both sweet and savory dishes. Not to mention, there is 7g of protein per 1/4 cup serving, which is pretty great.
Fun fact: When milk is separated into it’s “curds” and “whey”, cottage cheese is formed from the “curds” and ricotta cheese is formed from the “whey”. #themoreyouknow
Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
Alright, the pancakes are really why you’re here, am I right? Who doesn’t love a delicious pancake after all? The nice thing about these is that they aren’t loaded with added sugar (because, hello, I’m a dietitian) and the ricotta helps add a bit to the sweetness.
The pancakes also have 11g of protein per serving, which if you ask me, is a pretty good amount for such a traditionally sweet (usually empty calorie) breakfast item. Add these pancakes to your weekly meal prep for some added protein but more importantly added taste! I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.
Pro Tip: Allow the batter to sit for 5 minutes or so before cooking so that the oats have time to absorb the liquid a bit!
Mix oat flour, baking powder & salt in a large bowl, set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together ricotta cheese, milk, egg yolks, maple syrup & vanilla extract.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and whisk until combined, allow to sit for 3 minutes to thicken.
In a small bowl, beat egg whites with hand mixer (can also whisk by hand) to form soft peaks.
Carefully fold egg whites into batter. (Note: if you don’t have time/feel lazy, feel free to mix whole egg into batter without separating, it won’t be as fluffy but will still taste delicious)
Spray a pan or skillet with avocado/coconut oil spray (or use butter) and once hot drop about 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake. Allow to set ~2-3 minutes and flip until cooked through.
For Strawberry Syrup
In a small pot over medium heat, bring all ingredients to a low boil, stir and continue to boil for 4-5 minutes. Turn heat to low and allow to simmer for another 5 minutes. If desired, mash strawberries with potato masher, otherwise enjoy as is!
Notes
Macros per 2 pancakes (6 total servings per recipe)
11g Protein
18g Carbohydrate
8 g Fat
Syrup Macros (6 servings per recipe)
1 g Protein
8 g Carb
0 g Fat
