It’s already been a month since I returned from Japan, but I still have daydreams about the small pleasures I experienced there like strolling through the peaceful gardens, soaking in the quietness of the beautiful temples, using the seat-heating feature on the toilets, and the abundance extra tall fluffy pancakes. Apparently these pancakes are a total thing in Japan, and what I don’t understand is that why they are a thing only in Japan. I spent quite some time waiting in lines to try some of the more famous ones, and I can’t say it wasn’t worth it. I enjoyed the first pancakes I tried but they kept getting better and better.
On my last day there, which I spent in Osaka, I had a list of 3 pancake shops I wanted to try. Unfortunately, I only had time for one so I had a tough choice to make. The first shop was closed that day so that was easy to rule out. The second one seemed the most recommended so we went there and found out it was recently closed. Erez saw I was upset, so although time was pressing, he suggested taking a taxi to the third place. I couldn’t say no to that. Once we arrived we had 30 minutes. 5 were spent deciding between regular pancakes or ricotta pancakes, 15 waiting for the pancakes, and 10 on indulging on every bite. They were the best pancakes I had tried. Ever. And that’s a really big statement for me to make. It was the perfect ending to a perfect trip.
But… we’re not making those pancakes today because I haven’t figured out the recipe yet. Sorry about that. But these are some really good pancakes, and they became a favorite of mine about a year ago when I had to figure out what to do with my ricotta cheese. The ricotta does make them very fluffy, rich, thick, and creamy with the most wonderful flavor. They’re tastier than traditional pancakes, if you ask me. Don’t worry, though—the pancakes don’t feel cheesy at all and you won’t be able to taste the ricotta in there. Since it’s so good on its own, I like to serve it just with a piece of butter on top and maple syrup. Ok, and maybe some ice cream.
- 3/4 cup (100 g/3.5 oz) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (240 ml) ricotta cheese
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) whole milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Grated zest of 1/2 lemon , optional
- In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. In a larger bowl, combine ricotta, milk, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Add the flour mixture to the ricotta mixture and mix gently just until combined.
- Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat. Coat with cooking spray, oil, or butter, just enough to coat the surface. For each pancake, drop ¼ cup of batter onto skillet. Cook 2-3 minutes, until surface of pancakes have some bubbles and the bottom appears golden brown. Flip carefully and cook another 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a plate and cover loosely with aluminum foil to keep warm. Make sure to coat the skillet before every pancake or batch of pancakes to prevent sticking.
- Serve pancakes immediately with maple syrup, fruit jam, lemon curd, or powdered sugar.
If you love these yummy pancakes, you should try out fluffy banana pancake recipe!
19 Comments
Irene McMorland
July 23, 2017 at 10:20 pmEasiest ricotta pancakes recipe I’ve tried yet – and so fluffy. It was like eating a cashmere sweater, but in a good way!
Dana Benfield
June 18, 2018 at 8:13 pmWhat kind of ricotta? dry? fresh?
Shiran
June 20, 2018 at 9:32 amHi Dana, I’m not sure what is dry ricotta. I’m using different brands of ricotta cheese. They are slightly different in consistency, but they all work ok.
Monica
September 27, 2018 at 7:59 pmIs there supposed to be more flour or maybe less milk? I tried making these tonight, and I ended up having to add nearly twice as much flour to get them to pancake batter consistency. It was liquid like for making crepes with what is called for. Haven’t had them yet, but I’m sure they’ll be delicious, just didn’t seem to work out right as written.
Shiran
September 30, 2018 at 9:36 amHi Monica, maybe it’s the ricotta cheese, every brand makes it different and I use one that is quite thick. You can add 1/4 cup more flour if it happens again, and it shouldn’t be liquid then.
christie
July 22, 2020 at 12:33 pmThe type of ricotta matters as does the brand. Some are more drained of whey then others and a simple “cheese” is made by draining most of the whey out in a basket. Whole milk ricotta is tastier, cheaper versions are made with just or mostly whey. One can get it from Italy from Water buffalo Milk and it is best also available, sometimes, cheeses made from Sheep’s milk.
when you make cannoli filling you use a type that is more dry, or take what you have put in a cheese cloth and hang in fridge over a bowl. Reserve it as you can over dry the filling. You could blend in some very soft IMPORTED marscapone cheese.
The filling is not overly sweet and a few bits of chocolate and pistachios are nice at the ends. And make them small. Some people make the filling so sweet it would make great white icing but very poor cannoli.
Here in NYC are believe it or not I buy 2 kinds Shop Rite store brand or Polly-O. Now that is a big swing, but the SR brand is drier and for somethings , for me better. The taste is fine, and seldom has it needed draining. It was exceptional in eggplant rollatini, (ok I used zukes and made them flay for Zucchini Flatinni.
Monica
October 1, 2018 at 5:57 pmThat makes sense, it could definitely be that. I ended up just adding a little flour then mixing until they seemed like the consistency they should be, and we liked them as something different than a regular pancake. Thanks!
Amie
October 6, 2018 at 10:26 amHoly cow these were great! We will be making them again.
Lisa
January 20, 2019 at 11:31 amLove these – I used 1 1/3 cups of gluten-free King Arthur Flour Co. mix instead of the dry ingredients (was out of sugar), 1/4 c melted butter, and added in 1/2 mashed banana – light, fluffy but also dense and rich – heavenly!!
Babs
November 1, 2019 at 9:18 amThese were delicious but I would use 1 1/4 cup of flour because the pancakes were more like a crepe and very difficult to flip, but YUM delicious,
Joy
November 16, 2019 at 3:52 pmCan you use almond milk?
Shiran
November 17, 2019 at 2:27 amYou can use almond milk instead of the milk.
Mister B
January 9, 2020 at 6:42 pmI picked this recipe over some others I found because I didn’t feel like separating eggs and beating egg whites. It was super easy and the results were really delicious. I used a whole milk “double cream” ricotta I had from Publix, and didn’t have to add any extra flour. I would suggest letting the batter sit for about 5 minutes before pouring onto your cooking surface.
Mavis
April 26, 2020 at 12:18 pmI came across this recipe lately and have made these pancakes twice. They are delicious- light, sweet, and fluffy!
Perhaps the consistency isn’t to the liking of some people because they didn’t use whole milk and whole milk ricotta. Ricotta is similar to cottage cheese in that you can buy whole, 2 percent, fat free, etc. Whole is always my preference for baking because it makes your dish all the richer.
Thanks for a great recipe! I can’t wait to someday have guests again, and I for sure will make these pancakes!
bev
May 25, 2020 at 2:30 pmHi –
I just discovered your blog today.
I accidentally purchased a 16 ounce and 32 ounce container of ricotta cheese. Looking for recipes to use up the 32 oz container, I made your ricotta pancakes this morning, cutting the recipe in half because there are only two of us.
They were delicious – my husband agreed.
I am going to make your recipe for the ricotta cheesecake next.
Your blog is absolutely elegant!! I have a few favorite bloggers and am adding you to that list.
Could you kindly inform me what digestive biscuits are.
Shiran
June 3, 2020 at 5:51 amThank you so much for the kind words! You can use graham crackers instead. Digestive biscuits are more common in Europe.
Joe
November 1, 2020 at 10:43 amEasy and excellent. I used whole milk ricotta.
Tracy
January 23, 2021 at 2:54 pmThese were delicious!!! I didn’t add the lemon because my daughter doesn’t like it and they were still fabulous! Served with sausage links and fruit it was an excellent brunch 🙂 thank you for the wonderful recipe
Rachelle Lemay
February 16, 2021 at 11:28 amThese are the best pancakes ever! I just sprinkled them with powdered sugar and enjoyed them immensely.