Fluffy Pancakes

Pancakes and my daughters have a great love affair. They could eat pancakes all day, everyday. Unfortunately, I don't have the time on weekdays to make pancakes as much as they would like. But on weekends our family is more relaxed. Like most families, schools are closed, we don't have to rush through breakfast, we're off from work so running around the house looking for a missing shoe, sock or car keys is avoided.  We have more time to sit down to a nice luxurious breakfast. We normally have pancakes or waffles with turkey bacon or pork bacon and grits with butter and cheese. Usually, my husband David makes breakfast on the weekends. Today, I woke up and decided I wanted to make pancakes from scratch not from a boxed mixed. Allow me to explain, my parents immigrated to NYC in the late 1960's from Puerto Rico, when women were starting to work outside the home. Convenience was welcomed and appreciated. Pancake mix in the box was the easiest way to get breakfast on the table and to this day it still is. But I wanted to try something different and this is the result.

Light, Fluffy and Rich Pancakes

Yield: I made 10 pancakes, recipes says 4

Ingredients:

1 cup ricotta or cottage cheese

1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
3 eggs, separated
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup all-purpose flour
Dash salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 tsp or more of cinnamon
Butter as needed


Directions:
Beat together the ricotta or cottage cheese, sour cream or yogurt and egg yolks. Combine baking soda, flour, salt and sugar. Beat egg whites until fairly stiff but not dry.

Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium-low heat while you finish batter. Stir flour mixture into cheese mixture, blending well but not beating. Stir in lemon juice and zest, then gently fold in beaten egg whites; they should remain somewhat distinct in batter.

Add about 1 tablespoon butter or oil to griddle or skillet and coat surface. When it is hot, add batter by the heaping tablespoon, making sure to include some egg white in each spoonful. Cook until lightly browned on bottom, 3 to 5 minutes, then turn and cook second side. Serve immediately.

Notes:
These definitely were fluffy and tasty but I thought they could have had a stronger flavor. The lemon flavor did nothing for me.  The true test: My daughters said the pancakes tasted okay but preferred the boxed mix!