Marion Cunningham’s Lemon Pancakes

Marion Cunningham’s Lemon Pancakes

These spectacular pancakes, adapted from a Marion Cunningham recipe, are made with cottage cheese, lemon peel and beaten egg whites, which makes them puff up like a soufflé. You have to whip the egg whites using an electric mixer, so this is definitely a weekend or holiday affair, but goodness, are they ever worth it. Serve with blueberries or raspberries and a dollop of plain yogurt.

Yield: 12 three-inch pancakes

3 eggs, separated

¼ cup all-purpose flour

¾ cup cottage cheese

¼ cup (half a stick) butter, melted, plus more butter for greasing skillet

2 tablespoons sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

In a bowl, stir together the egg yolks, flour, cottage cheese, butter, sugar, salt and lemon zest until well mixed. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks.

With large spoon or spatula, fold whites into yolk mixture, stirring gently until there are no yellow or white streaks.

Heat skillet or griddle over medium heat. Grease lightly and spoon out about three large tablespoons of batter for each pancake. Cook slowly for about 1½ minutes, then turn pancake over and cook for about 30 seconds. Keep pancakes warm in 250-degree oven until ready to serve.

TIP: Use ricotta in lieu of cottage cheese. Beat egg whites with immersion blender. Marinate equal amounts of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries with I T. sugar and 1 T. honey and I T. triple sec overnight. Spoon over pancakes with a dollop of sour cream.

I also liked the idea of reducing the sugar by half for bringing out the lemon flavor. Had this with pear slices and a plain Greek yogurt. I even juiced the lemon (post-zesting) and added some honey to it for a light, thin drizzle, Scrumptious!

This is the best pancake recipe in the world. I reduced the sugar by half as we love tart, lemon flavoring in this house. These pancakes did not let us down. The garnish of fresh berries and plain, Greek yogurt was perfect.