Ricotta Pancakes with Strawberry Maple Syrup

For the pancakes:
Heat a griddle or frying pan over medium heat Note: for pancakes I always like to use an un-greased non-stick pan, for that consistent all-over browning on the cakes as you see in the pictures. If using a pan that is not non-stick, be sure to butter it, but your pancakes will not look the same as pictured.

In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, gently whisk together the ricotta, milk, eggs, and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk until smooth and combined.

Using a 1/3 measuring cup, pour batter onto the hot griddle. You can fit multiples onto the griddle but make sure not to crowd it—you’ll need to do this in batches. Cook until golden brown underneath, then flip and continue cooking until golden on the other side and cooked through. Remove the cooked pancakes to a plate. Repeat until all the batter is used.

Serve with butter, strawberry maple syrup, and fresh strawberries.

For the syrup:
Add the syrup and strawberries to a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until the strawberries begin to break down and release their juices, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. At this point you can strain the syrup into a bowl through a fine mesh sieve as I did and serve with fresh strawberry slices, or you can leave the cooked strawberries in the syrup and serve that way, more like a syrup-compote. Serve syrup hot.

Notes:
For even fluffier, lighter-than-air pancakes, separate the eggs and beat the egg whites until stiff, then fold them into the batter at the end.

Pancakes adapted from The Kitchn. Syrup adapted from Ambitious Kitchen.