Ricotta Pancakes with Maple-Bourbon Whipped Cream

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Cinnamon-Ricotta-Pancakes-with-Maple-Bourbon-Whipped-Cream I’m going to be uncomfortably honest with you right now.

Yesterday, I ate approximately 10 pancakes between the hours of 12pm and 2pm. In the madness, I spilled flour all over the kitchen floor, got a shocking amount of whipped cream in my hair and on the living room rug, and managed to douse one pant leg in maple syrup. The latter sticky situation necessitated taking my pants off, but let’s be real, they would have had to come off anyway. The threat of death by skinny jeans was imminent.

I then proceeded to lie on the couch in the fetal position for 5-55 minutes (time was moving very slowly, so I’m not sure how long I was actually down), groaning occasionally and wondering what one does when they overeat at a more traditional work lunch. I imagine pants-less midday dirt napping is not embraced by most corporate cultures? (Domesticate Me LLC is uniquely non-judgmental. Come work for me!)

Don’t get me wrong here, friends, I am definitely NOT promoting a weekday pancake freakfest. (Such behavior is best limited to Sundays.) My point in disclosing yesterday’s shameless binge is to highlight the truly epic nature of Ricotta Pancakes with Maple-Bourbon Whipped Cream.

I pride myself on my self-control, but these bad boys broke me.

Clearly, my intense feelings of love and excitement for these pancakes are absurd and Logan-esque. I even saved extra batter so that my roommate could experience the magic, but he politely declined my pancakes for dinner offer. I didn’t push it, as I was quite proud of his Dude Diet decision making, but I was a little disappointed. I feel like Logan’s reaction to lemon and cinnamon-laced cakes topped with boozy whipped cream would be similar to this. And I was really looking forward to an in-depth discussion of pancake fluffiness.

Let’s talk about ricotta pancake details for a hot sec. If you’re familiar with ricotta pancakes, you know that they are the most moist (SORRY) and fluffy breed of pancake. You also know that they don’t taste “cheesy,” and that lemon zest and cinnamon are festive additions to their mild, slightly creamy flavor profile. If this is your first ricotta pancake experience, you too will soon know these things. (They are good things to know.)

Just FYI, many ricotta pancake recipes call for separating the eggs, whipping the whites to stiff peaks, and then folding them into the batter at the end. While this technique does make for a particularly airy pancake, it’s also annoying and labor-intensive, and I figured that you probably wouldn’t be psyched to break out the hand-mixer for two egg whites (especially on a Sunday morning). So, I eliminated that step in this recipe, and honestly, I didn’t notice a difference. These pancakes are supa dupa light and fluffy without any extra egg work, and they can be made from start to finish in 15-20 minutes. Boom.

Ricotta pancakes are absolutely fabulous on their own with maple syrup, or maybe some lemon or fruit jam/coulis. That said, I strongly suggest you to go hard and make the Maple-Bourbon Whipped Cream. It will take all of 5 minutes and you don’t even need any fancy equipment because you can whip it in a MASON JAR.

I know that mason jar whipped cream may sound crazy, but you need to trust me on this one. I too was skeptical when I read about the technique on The Kitchn, but it turned out to be an absolutely foolproof hack. I poured some heavy cream (NOT whipping cream, people! I know it won’t work because I tried) into a chilled mason jar with a splash of bourbon and a drizzle of maple syrup, shook it like a Polaroid picture for 4-5 minutes, and when I took the lid off, I was greeted by perfectly sweet, luscious whipped cream. I felt like a magician. A very sweaty and exhausted magician, but a magician nonetheless.

Long story short, warm ricotta pancakes topped with freshly whipped cream and maple syrup are the epitome of happiness, and I wish them for all of you. I recommend getting friends, a complementary cocktail, and some crumbled bacon involved…

Cinnamon Ricotta Pancakes with Bourbon Whipped Cream: (Serves 2 on a Sunday, 4 on a normal day)

Ingredients:
¾ cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup whole milk ricotta
½ teaspoon lemon zest
Juice of ½ lemon
2 large eggs
2/3 cup whole milk
Butter or coconut oil for cooking the pancakes
Maple-Bourbon Whipped Cream:
¾ cup heavy cream, chilled
1 teaspoon good quality maple syrup (If you like a really sweet whipped cream, add an extra ½ teaspoon syrup)
1 teaspoon bourbon
Preparing your Cinnamon Ricotta Pancakes with Bourbon Whipped Cream:

-Let’s start with the whipped cream. Place a mason jar (with the lid on) in the freezer. When cold, add the heavy cream, maple syrup and bourbon.

-Screw the lid on your mason jar tightly and shake VIGOROUSLY for about 5 minutes until the cream gets gloriously fluffy. When it’s ready, it will stop making a sloshing sound in the jar. If you’re not sure whether it’s done (or you need a break), feel free to open the jar and take a look. Refrigerate your whipped cream until ready to use.

-Moving on to the pancakes! In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the sugar. (You can also just stir all the dry ingredients together if you don’t have a sifter/mesh strainer. No biggie.)

-In a separate bowl, whisk the ricotta, lemon zest, lemon juice, eggs and milk until well combined.

-Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until just combined. Please don’t over-mix, people.

-Pre-heat a a griddle or large skillet over medium heat. When hot, melt a tablespoon or so of butter or coconut oil so that the surface is well coated. For each pancake, pour about ¼ cup of batter onto the griddle/skillet. (Right after pouring the batter, I like to use the back of a spoon to smooth the batter into a nice circular shape.) Cook for about a minute until small bubbles appear on the surface and the underside is golden brown.

-Flip and cook for another minute or so until the second side is golden brown. (Try not to overcook these bad boys.)

-Serve pancakes warm.

Please don’t forget the Maple-Bourbon Whipped Cream and maple syrup.