Whipped Ricotta Pancakes with Bittersweet Chocolate and Lemon Glaze.
This breakfast leaves me at a complete loss for words.
Okay, maybe not a COMPLETE complete loss. But quite close. It’s my I’m-sorry breakfast.
You know when something slightly painful and possibly embarrassing happens to a friend or a sibling or your spouse (cough cough), and it’s like they trip and fall in public but they are totally okay, not hurt whatsoever, besides the giant bruise to their pride… and you can’t help but laugh? Like you try so so so so hard to not laugh, but it just bubbles up inside of you and explodes?
Yeah. That happened to me recently. The laughing part – not the tripping part. Ironically, it sort of happened again last night and I wanted to be an adult and have learned my lesson… but I didn’t.
My husband has this thing where he is adamant that all of the light switches be flipped in the same direction. I’ve mentioned it before. But he’s SO adamant about it that even if it’s completely dark, he won’t turn on the light if it means flipping the switch in a different direction than the other switches on the panel. It’s the one thing he is pretty OCD about it and even he laughs about it at times. Let me explain though.
Sometimes he falls asleep on the couch downstairs. Sometimes I wake him up, which is occasionally impossible to the point where I assume he was somehow drugged. Real life: sometimes I don’t even wake him up because I want the bed to myself and he loves a good couch-sleep. Either way, he might find himself waking up and wanting to come up to bed in the middle of the night. I always leave a light on for him downstairs since I know how dark it gets. Like really dark. But of course – he turns off that light before coming upstairs, and refuses to turn on any lights downstairs (that can be switched off upstairs of course) due to his light switch fascination. Therefore, he’s in the dark! In his sleepy stance which is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Total sleep drunk.
A few weeks ago, I woke up as soon as I heard him stumbling around downstairs in the middle of the night. He makes it half way up the stairs and then I hear a thud and a screaming slew of profanity. I jumped out of bed and yelled down to make sure he was okay (I am always concerned about this since at 5AM he stumbles down the stairs in the dark every day), turning on the light as I did so. I found him face down on the staircase clutching his foot, apparently after kicking something (a step? A chair? Something he could have seen WITH A LIGHT ON?) and I… just… started…laughing. Like hysterically. I actually had to go into the other room because I was laughing so hard. I had to throw myself on the floor and laugh into a sweatshirt.
I’m a terrible person.
It’s not funny. But it so is.
But to make me seem like less of a terrible person, I’ll tell you that he wasn’t hurt badly, but in his sleepy middle-of-the-night mess, he started to say that he broke his toe (he didn’t) and that just made me laugh harder. It was 3AM and here I was in a bizarre comical trap. When he finally made his way up to bed, he just tossed and turned and moaned that his foot hurt yet refused ice and advil and a pillow and for some reason I couldn’t stop the giggles. I tried to help. I swear.
Don’t worry though, the next morning he didn’t even remember that I was laughing, that’s how out of it he was in that moment. I mean – really out of it. Sleep drunk. You know?
Last night, he ran upstairs to grab something and slipped on the (carpeted) steps on his way up. This time he was totally fine as was his foot, but for some reason it set me off again. It’s like something out of America’s Funniest Home Videos, but only funny if you’re there. Why do we laugh? Or at least, why do I laugh? I’ve done it before and I’m sure I will do it again.
So anyway, this was my pancake apology. Which is even more outrageous because I don’t think I’ve ever seen Eddie consume one single thing with lemons except vodka or lemonade or vodka lemonade. So it’s like double (triple?) the insult here. Luckily, I somehow won on this one and he actually ate them. And liked them.
Which is huge. Because we don’t only have lemon… we have ricotta. If you’ve been reading along, you know ricotta is the one thing he loathed for a long time. I won’t bore you again with a random story, but yeah. Ricotta.
As for me, I’d like to consume my weight int these pancakes every morning.
The ricotta gives them a delicious little fluff, but the bittersweet chocolate and lemon are key. They are such an uncommon but fabulous combo. I want to stuff them inside of everything, like crepes and cookies and… and… all the things.
Whipped Ricotta Pancakes with Bittersweet Chocolate and Lemon Glaze
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup ricotta cheese
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 1 lemon, juiced and zested
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
lemon glaze
- 1 lemon, juiced and zested
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon brown butter
Instructions
- Add the ricotta to a food processor and blend until completely smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl when needed.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt. Whisk together until combined. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the ricotta, milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla extract and butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing until smooth and combined.
- Heat a large skillet or electric griddle over medium heat. Add a bit of butter if desired, then pour 1/4 cup of batter on the hot skillet and repeat, leaving an inch between pancakes. Cook until the pancakes bubble on the top and edges, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook for another minute or two until golden and set. Top the pancakes with some chopped bittersweet chocolate and the lemon glaze.
lemon glaze
- Whisk all ingredients together until smooth. If the glaze is too thick, add more liquid (lemon juice, water or milk) 1 teaspoon at a time. If it’s too runny, add more sugar (1 tablespoon at a time) until it reaches the desired consistency.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
What if we did chocolate covered candied lemon peel? Um yeah. That’s happening.
72 Comments on “Whipped Ricotta Pancakes with Bittersweet Chocolate and Lemon Glaze.”
Oh my gosh, poor hubby! But, girl, I would have done the same thing in my hubby did that. It’s ok to be a terrible wife as long as there is a pancake apology the next morning. Those are words to live by.
These pancakes though. Oh my gosh. I love ricotta cheese in pancakes….and with chocolate and lemon? Pretty sure that your serving size is off…I think it only serves 1 of me!
Pinned!
Wow your pancakes look amazing! I haven’t had pancakes in forever! Love the chocolate on top! Your poor Husband, lol! I would probably do the same thing as you!! But the only problem I have is my Husband would remember I was laughing at him!
I LOVE chocolate and lemon together. I’d always get a gelati with chocolate custard and lemon water ice. People thought it was so strange. I knew it was delicious.
Pancakes are also one of my favorite things so this is a win for me. I think these with coffee in our Christmas mugs and a little tv in front of the tree will be a perfect Saturday morning.
And lastly, I sometimes don’t wake up my husband either–sometimes the whole bed is just so great.
LOL loved this story! Maybe Mr How Sweet needs some night lights in his stocking? You’d just have to plug them in – no switches required! And these pancakes…. all I have to say is YUM! The pics look like they came out of a magazine!
These pancakes look lovely – and I’m intrigued by the lemon/choco combo goin’ on. I also can’t imagine having to have all the light switches going in the same direction…I just undiagnosed myself with the OCD I thought I had. Small win :)
Sounds like someone needs to download the iphone flashlight ap!
Oh YUM! What a great combination for pancakes!!
OMG I laughed at the expense of your hubs, too. Poor guy. That’s a great story! Plus, THESE PANCAKES! Oh my gosh, they look great. I love anything lemon, but my husband isn’t a huge fan. It’s (one of) the great food divide in our household. He often eats things he swears he dislikes, though (shhh). These might be the perfect trickster recipe to try on him. Also, the pictures in this post are GORG-E-OUS.
I always laugh when someone mildly injures themselves in a non-life-threatening way…I can’t help it. My brother dubbed me the “Mean Aunt” because of it. Also, I may have laughed my way through my (beloved) grandfather’s funeral…so, basically, I’m the worst.
Ps, they pancakes are totally happening for my husband’s BDay next month…these are some of his favorite flavors!
Yummy! I am hungry for breakfast all over again! And I love this story it reminds me of getting the giggles when I was a kid (forever a kid because this still happens) at the most inappropriate times! And the harder you try to stop laughing the harder you actually laugh! I just love this!
Yeah we have the exact same marriage.
I want those cakes. BAWD.
Wow! These sound amazing!
This sounds so so good and the photos look incredible!
Well, damn! Now, how do I get Eric to whip up a batch of these for me?
There is NOTHING I love more than ricotta pancakes. Plus, I never would have thought of pairing the lemon and chocolate together, so these are a must-make.
And yeah, I laugh at Connor all the time when he does things like this too. He has no peripheral vision when it comes to seeing whats on the ground in front of him (he claims it’s because he’s so tall, lumm…no)–and is always tripping over the sidewalk, etc. etc.
Maybe you should get those plugs for the lights that come with a little remote control?!? Then you can turn the light on/off, but without any actual switch action.
These pancakes…..I’ve got to try them.
It’s good that you could laugh about those moments! I think after eating apology pancakes, especially THESE, there is no way I could be angry. Love the flavor combo you used here. Especially that chopped chocolate on top. :)
Sorry, but I would have laughed my ass off right along with you. And kudos for getting him to eat ricotta while still getting credit for the apology. Maybe you can you make a vodka-lemon-ricotta cocktail? No, that just sounds nasty.
Daaaang this is such a neat pancake flavour!! Loving it!
Jessica, What is your cookbook called? I came to your site directly from Amazon. I’m over there looking for it and I’m entering Jessica and How Sweet and not coming up with anything. I know you must have a cookbook out, right?? If you don’t, please release an eCookbook yourself asap. You’re amazing!!!
The cookbook doesn’t come out until next year. :)
I was laughing so hard at this post. Does that make me a bag person? What about the time I died laughing when my husband slammed his hand in the car door? He was crying it hurt so bad and I was laughing…ooops. But it was funnyyyyy…
Awwww hahahaha poor Eddie. I do feel bad, but I think I would be laughing right along with you. it’s time to see a therapist when your OCD obsessions cause bodily harm, you know…. LOL
These pancakes are my new life blood.
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They are PERFECT pancakes! I am the worst pancake flipper. As in, mutilation city! Yours are just so nice and neat and tidy! Eddie – lemon and ricotta, oh boy, love those stories :)
Your photos are just gorgeous, too! Pinned
These are so beautiful! I love processing ricotta until it’s smooth and whippy. I also do it with cottage cheese, because otherwise I won’t put cottage cheese in…well, anything. Texture, you know.
I love that you apologized with pancakes. I apologize with beer and buffalo dip :)
Pancakes are actually my favorite food and for some reason, I have yet to master cooking them. I would happily eat these prepared for me though ;)
breakfast for dinner tonight!
I crack up hysterically when my husband trips and I feel terrible (sort of) and he glares at me as I’m laughing! Sorry! And being in a tired drunken state makes me laugh harder and longer!
These look amazing! I’d drown in them. Gladly.
This story just made my day! And, lemon ricotta???? Oh yes.
Pinning these gorgeous pancakes right now! My husband makes me breakfast every weekend- wonder if he could whip these up? Love your stories!
I’ve had so many of those “I shouldn’t be laughing but I can’t stop” moments in my life, so I completely understand :)
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Hysterical (but…GLAD he’s ok). I was just giggling out loud while reading this, to the point where my husband (who’s being the brains behind my blog as he stirs a roux) asks me in that “left-out-and-sad” voice what I’m laughing at.
I’m notorious for laughing at the LEAST appropriate times, so I feel you.
Oh, and these pancakes sound DELIGHTFUL! Lemon + ricotta = heaven. I’d forgive almost anything if a big stack of these babies was the apology I received!
Mmmm… chocolate covered candied lemon peel sounds AWESOME. as do these pancakes! Man, I am so wishing I didn’t have cheese allergies right now… *cries*
I was laughing at the light switch story. I can totally relate to getting all-out hysterical over something that isn’t even funny – something that everyone around me convinces me over and over again is not even funny.
Laughing traps can been some crazy horrible awesome things.
Pinning these gorgeous pancakes!!
Something about the middle of the night that makes EVERYTHING funny… but trust me, I would’ve laughed too! Ha
Pancakes look delish1! Great “I’m-sorry-for-laughing” breakfast!
I ALWAYS LAUGH AT THE WORST TIMES…in like 7th or 8th grade my teacher passed wind while writing on the bored, the whole class looked around like who was that and when we realized it was her we LOST it, then she lectured us and everyone was able to quit laughing, but not i…I literally had to bite my hand so hard so that I wouldn’t laugh too loudly! Also I get totally sleep drunk too, I have had whole conversations with people when I’m sleeping and I have no recollection the next day…
Now you are a sweet wife to make such delicious pancakes!!
I have to tell you that I just laughed out loud when reading this post, and that’s not the first time I’ve done that while reading your blog. Your writing is incredible and I hope one day my writing can be as fun as yours. And don’t even get me started on your recipes and pictures…MEGA fan here.
Lmao so picturing you cracking up now has me cracking up omg too funny
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what a great recipe!! this looks like the PERFECT breakfast :)
The other day I was grocery shopping with my kids in tow and my 9 year old walked into a produce scale. One of those big metal dangly ones. It made this giant echo-y “DOOONNNGGG” sound. It was as though the entire store went silent, except for the sound of my hyena-like laughter. I just couldn’t stop. I thought my daughter was going to put in for legal emancipation after that. It’s a personality quirk: people getting hurt+not dying= funny.
Great post. Funny husband. OCD? I think so. But what a lovely breakfast. Amazing.
priceless!! sharing!!!
Ha ha… great story. Can’t wait to try these pancakes!
Too funny. I’m all too often a victim of an uncontrollable laughing reflex – especially moments later after all the initial laughter has died down, and I think back to what had just happened, and I start laughing again. Anyway – these pancakes look fabulous! What great photos. I’m new to your blog but already loving it :)
Such a funny story! These pancakes look amazing! So fluffy, and all that chocolate – yum!
You are not alone! I burst into hysterical laughter at the worst times… ok, maybe not the *worst*. I haven’t actually burst into laughter at a funeral. Yet. *sigh*
I will also tell you that the favors at our wedding were lemon & dark chocolate truffles. Amazing stuff. Sadly, the place that I drove over an hour to get them doesn’t make them anymore. Which makes me want to cry….
BUT. When we went to a fondue restaurant a few months ago I took matters into my own hands. Tiny sections of lemon (which was for our water, but whatever) dipped in the chocolate dessert fondue. Heaven! No inappropriate laughter that night! :)
Just had these for dinner and they were a hit at our house. We did without the chocolate this time but the entire recipe served 2 adults and one 18 month old. Well done, as always!
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