I am a huge breakfast person and believe that I could survive solely on breakfast foods. Any time the opportunity presents itself, whether on the weekends or the rare weekday morning occasion, I take full advantage of making a big breakfast. Breakfast staples can usually be found in my kitchen at anytime, especially the ingredients for this week’s recipe. Dedicated to the griddle cake lover, these pancakes are for those searching for that little extra something. Because I am not one to drench my pancakes in syrup (although syrup soakers are totally acceptable), I was interested in finding a pancake recipe that was rich, flavorful, and fluffy. Being a fan of stuffed French toast I decided to incorporate cream cheese into the batter. Lemon juice and zest add great flavor and freshness to the pancake. To make an extra fluffy texture, I folded whipped egg whites into the batter. When these babies are cooked on a hot and buttery griddle, the cakes are perfectly golden brown on the outside and cloud-like on the inside. And don’t forget the custardy chunks of cream cheese. Breakfast, here we come.

Lemon Cream Cheese Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch of salt
2 large eggs, separated
1 cup buttermilk
8 oz cream cheese, diced
3 teaspoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoons lemon juice
1 lemon zested
Fresh blueberries

Instructions:

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a separate large bowl, whisk egg yolks, buttermilk, and cream cheese. Mix until cream cheese is broken up into mixture (should look like cottage cheese curds). Stir in melted butter, vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
Add dry ingredients to mixture and stir to combine (don’t over mix). Whisk egg whites until stiff but not dry and gently fold into batter.
Heat a cast iron griddle over medium high heat. When hot, liberally butter the pan and drop 1/3 cup full of batter onto the pan (batter should shizzle!). Flip when the edges are golden brown and the top is bubbling. Each cake will take 2-3 minutes to cook. Serve with syrup, blueberries, whipped cream, mascarpone cheese, etc. Enjoy!

Baker’s notes: The trick to perfectly cooks pancakes is temperature control. Turning the heat up and down is necessary to get each side golden brown. Also, lots of butter. Be careful not to let the butter burn, though a little brown butter never hurt nobody, it can add flavor.

Post Written by Kayla V.