Strawberry Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. In another bowl, combine the egg yolks, milk, ricotta, lemon juice and lemon zest. Whisk them together thoroughly until smooth. Make a well in the bowl of dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it. Gently whisk the batter together until just combined—you don’t want to over mix it.

2. The egg whites should be reserved in another clean bowl. With a hand mixer, or a whisk, whip up the egg whites until they start to form stiff peaks. (I have no patience and a lack of upper body strength for hand whisking egg whites, so a mixer is best for me.) Be careful that everything is clean when you do this. Egg whites can be temperamental and won’t stiffen up if there is any yolk or other little bits in them. Using a spatula, gently fold the egg whites and the strawberries into the lemon ricotta pancake batter.

3. The key to this batter is folding in those whipped up egg whites separately from the yolks. They make the strawberry lemon ricotta pancakes so incredibly fluffy that you will think you are eating clouds. Now, heat up your griddle over medium heat and when it’s hot, grease it with a pat of butter. Spoon the pancake batter onto the griddle in whatever sized pancakes you like. Cook until golden on one side, then flip those flapjacks! Let them get golden on the other side, then plate them up. Repeat with the rest of the batter. With the size hubby and I did, we yielded 16.

4. Dust the top of the strawberry lemon ricotta pancakes with powdered sugar, and dig in! I made pretty little fanned out strawberries for the very top as garnish to just make them look extra special for serving. We didn’t even need syrup, that’s how moist and fluffy they were. The texture of these strawberry lemon ricotta pancakes was just incredible. Whip them up for your next Sunday brunch and they will be a hit for sure!