Ricotta Pancakes

Recently my husband made his own ricotta cheese, and one afternoon I bought a container of ricotta cheese forgetting we had homemade in the fridge.  So now we had a lot of ricotta and what to do with it all.  After browsing a few different recipes on pinterest I decided to try and make ricotta pancakes.  It seemed like perfect timing for a Sunday morning, and a uneventful one also.  I have to say I love these pancakes.  They are very light and fluffy.  And perfect with fresh fruit on top.  We found too that no butter  was needed as they are cooked with some.  I was also amazed how easy they were to cook.  Nothing stuck and since they are so light they were very easy to flip.  And being that it is just the two of us We made all the batter and I am freezing them, hopefully they will taste just as good during the week!

1 1/3 cup ricotta (I threw whole 15 oz container in)
1 cup flour
4 eggs separated
1 tsp baking powder
1 pinch of salt
3/4 cup milk
zest of one lemon
Fresh fruit and maple syrup to serve

Mix together egg yolks and milk in a large bowl.  Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form, and fold into the batter. Add the lemon zest and ricotta cheese, mix.  Make sure not to over mix some lumps of cheese are good.  Heat a griddle with butter and using 2 tablespoons of batter for each pancake cook about 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden.


**I made all the batter then laid the extra pancakes on a sheet pan on top of a silicone mat. I placed the pan in the freezer and froze pancakes.  Separate each pancake with parchment paper and store in a container.  Reheat in the toaster.