Lemon Blueberry Pancakes with Lemon Ricotta and Balsamic

Breakfast for dinner, all grown up!

That would be a stack of blueberry pancakes topped with lemon ricotta and a generous drizzle of blueberry balsamic vinegar. Also known as dinner last night. :)

A few months ago during our day trip to New Hope, PA, Matt and I spotted a vinegar shop while wandering around town and just about died. They had every flavor thinkable, including an amazing blueberry flavored balsamic.

It's sweet, but not sickly sweet. It's a 10-year aged balsamic so is really thick (and you know how I feel about aged balsamic) and has a true fresh blueberry flavor. It's so good you can literally just eat it with a spoon. Most of the time we drizzle it on salads with fruit and nuts, but to be honest the first time I saw it, I thought pancakes. You can eat balsamic vinegar on strawberries, so why not pancakes?

Ok, I digress. You definitely don't need blueberry balsamic vinegar to enjoy these pancakes. They are juuuust fine with regular old maple syrup. Alternatively, you could take regular balsamic vinegar and cook it on the stovetop until it reduces down to a thick syrup. That would be really good too.

The batter is really simple, just a mixture of wet and dry ingredients that you let sit for a little while on the counter.

Then cook 'em up on a griddle until they're golden. Traditionally you're supposed to cook pancakes in butter so they get crispy edges, but I think they're perfectly tasty cooked with cooking spray.

While the pancakes are cooking, stir together some ricotta cheese with fresh lemon juice and lemon zest. Blueberries and lemon are a classic combination that I use a lot. The flavors taste so fresh and clean and the lemon really brightens up the berries.

Then just stack everything up!

We ate our 'cakes alongside some Morningstar veggie sausages, so the plate ended up being a great combination of sweet yet savory, warm yet fresh. They are the perfect rainy day breakfast/dinner!

Lemon Blueberry Pancakes with Lemon Ricotta 
& Blueberry Balsamic


Serves 4
Pancake recipe adapted from The Joy of Cooking's "Pancakes & Griddle Cakes"


Ingredients - Pancakes
1 1/2 cups flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 3/4 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups skim milk
2 1/2 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Ingredients - Lemon Ricotta
1 cup part-skim ricotta
Zest and juice of half a large lemon

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, butter, eggs, vanilla and lemon juice. Pour the wet mixture into the dry, and stir together quickly; do not overbeat. Batter will be lumpy. Add blueberries and gently stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, combine ricotta, lemon juice and lemon zest, and set aside.

Heat a griddle to 350 degrees (or use a skillet over medium heat). Once hot, spoon batter onto griddle using a 1/4 cup measure (each pancake should be 1/4 cup batter). When the pancakes start to bubble, flip over and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Top cooked pancakes with a dollop of lemon ricotta and drizzle with blueberry balsamic vinegar, a balsamic reduction, or maple syrup.