Ricotta Pancakes with Strawberries and Syrup

So I woke up bright and early this morning as seems to be my M.O. lately and pulled some bacon out of the freezer.  My thought was that I would make breakfast sandwiches when everyone woke up.  This was one of those lazy Sunday mornings that I NEVER seem to get and I was just planning on enjoying it.  The girl’s woke up and crawled into bed with us (I was reading and Tony was still sleeping).  Dogs climbed in and it got way too crowded for me so I got up to tackle breakfast…

That’s when the plans all changed.  I wanted something fresh and light.  After the requisite 5 minutes of standing in front of my fridge wondering what to do (I know you do it too…), my plan came to me!

Light and Fluffy Ricotta Pancakes with Strawberries and Strawberry Syrup (adapted recipe from the kitchn)

Fluffy Ricotta Pancakes
makes 8

1 cup ricotta cheese
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
pinch salt
3/4 cup milk
3 eggs, divided
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Set ricotta in a fine mesh strainer about 30 minutes before you start cooking, to drain off excess liquid. We used fresh ricotta from Whole Foods that was pretty dry. If you are using a commercial brand that's runny, you may want to drain it longer (or make your own).

Whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Combine ricotta, milk, egg yolks, and vanilla in a separate bowl.
Beat the egg whites in an electric mixer until stiff. Add the dry ingredients to the ricotta and milk mixture, stirring gently until just combined. Whisk in a small amount of the egg whites to lighten the batter, then fold in the remaining whites.

Heat a griddle over medium-high heat, and brush the surface with butter. Use a ladle or measuring scoop (we used a 1/3 cup measure) to pour batter onto the griddle. Cook pancakes for about 3 or 4 minutes, then flip, cooking until both sides are golden brown.

Changes I made: 

Less sugar. I was making syrup and strawberries for these so I reduced the sugar to 1 1/2 tsp.

Did not brush the griddle with butter.  I cooked them without any oil or fat and they turned out beautifully.

For the topping all I did was slice up some strawberries and add some sugar to them and let them sit.  How much sugar?  Not sure so just do it to taste (if you want them sweeter add more…).

The syrup I “made” was just a jar of Smucker’s Simply Fruit Seedless Strawberry micro waved for about 40 seconds until it was a syrup like consistency!

***The pancakes on their own are 6 Weight Watchers points add your topping to it and total it out for a total point value.

You may have noticed that it’s been a long while since I last posted.  I am really working hard to change this!  I spent an incredibly busy month doing things for BMX.  We travelled one weekend out of the past month but had another weekend of clinics and then the State Championship in which Kyra is now ranked 8th for 9 year old rookies in the state of FL.  I was just totally uninspired in my cooking through all of this and really didn’t think you would want to see the sandwiches that we were sometimes forced to eat for dinner!  Hopefully I am now back and feeling the inspiration!