Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

I think I mention this every time, but my husband and I really love living in San Francisco. There is so much to do, see, taste, smell, and experience here. Although we've lived here for almost a year, there are still so many places to explore. One of our favorite things to do on the weekends are walking tours around the city. The public library puts on FREE walking tours for various tourist attractions, neighborhoods, and buildings every day. We've joined tours at the Japanese Tea Gardens, Ferry Building, Coit Tour, and last week we joined a tour around one of the neighborhoods in the heart of SF. It was called, "The Mansions of Pacific Heights."

We crossed a few streets, turned many corners, and looked at lots and lots of houses - er - mansions to be more exact, most of which were owned by celebrities! (And waaaaayyy out of my price range!)

As we were walking down the street, my husband noticed a large bag of lemons. What a nice neighbor to share some home grown goodies!

Of course, I wasn't going to pass up a perfectly good lemon, so we found the best one in the bag and hurried home to make something delicious out of it.

It was the perfect day for lemon ricotta pancakes. I'd been holding on to this recipe for a while - I wanted to make sure to use fresh lemons (I'm sure it doesn't make a difference, but mentally, it does). The recipe is pretty straightforward and is A-MAZ-ING. You'll go through a few bowls cuz making the batter is a process, but it's totally worth it.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

*Makes 15 pancakes

1 1/2 cups flour

3 1/2 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup milk

3/4 cup ricotta

3 large eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp lemon zest (about 1 lemon)

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 Tbsp butter, melted

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center of the mixture and set bowl aside.

2. In a separate bowl, mix together milk, ricotta, eggs, and vanilla until ingredients are blended completely. In a third bowl, mix lemon zest with lemon juice. Add lemon mixture and melted butter to milk mixture and whisk until well combined (warning: it will curdle a little but that's normal. Just mix it quick and move on to the next step).

3. Pour milk/lemon mixture into the center of the flour mixture. Whisk until just combined. 

4. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto heated griddle surface and cook until bubbles form on top. Flip and cook other side till golden brown.

5. Serve warm dusted with powder sugar, whipped cream, and a maple or berry syrup.

*Recipe adapted from Cooking Classy

Can't wait to hear what you guys think of these pancakes. Seriously, they changed my life. Next time I make them, I want to try them with a berry syrup. Doesn't that sound delicious??