For more than one reason, I've been longing to stay in bed all day. It doesn't help that the cold is starting to creep in. The only good reason to get out of bed is for a nice comforting breakfast. Pancakes, waffles, french toast, coffee and tea, I cannot ignore the delights of breakfast. In full disclosure, I whole-heartedly campaign for breakfast at all meals. I've gladly welcomed waffles to the dinner menu, enjoyed a pancake for lunch, and french toast bread pudding for dessert. Though I can indulge in a plain old pancake sans syrup; sometimes you need to fancy up your breakfast to feel fancy yourself. It encourages and uplifting to indulge - and quite frankly it helps me get out of bed on those down days.
RECIPE: Lemon & Rosemary Ricotta Pancakes (adapted from a Williams-Sonoma recipe)
INGREDIENTS:
- 1.5 cups of cake flour
- 1 tablespoon of baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1 lemon
- 1/3 cup of sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1 cup of skim milk
- 1 cup of ricotta cheese
DIRECTIONS:
- Separate the yoke and egg whites of your 3 eggs into 2 small bowls. Zest the lemon until you have 1 tablespoon of lemon zest. Then juice the lemon.
- With a whisk, mix together the ricotta, egg yolks, milk, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice until smooth.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix the cake flour, rosemary, baking powder, and salt. Then combine the dry mixture with the wet mixture. Using a wooden spoon, stir until combined.
- In a larger bowl, whisk the egg whites until frothy. Continue to beat until they begin to slightly peak.
- Add 1/3 of the egg whites to the batter, folding them in gently with a rubber spatula. Once combined, add the remaining egg whites by folding them into the batter until combined.
- Heat your griddle or pan to medium heat, spray with non-stick spray or drag butter across the surface. Pour 1/4 to 1/3 cup of batter onto the heated surface. Cook until bubbles start to collect on the top (1 to 2 minutes), then flip. Cook until golden brown. Repeat until batter is gone.
- Serve with syrup and hot tea with lemon!
