These pancakes are great when you want something that's a little different for breakfast or even for dinner. You can mix the batter up in minutes without any special equipment (i.e., you don't need a blender or food processor), and the pancakes are fairly inexpensive to make. The pancakes are protein-rich, tangy, light, and great topped with fresh fruit--like strawberries or blueberries--and a dollop of yogurt. As well as the obvious cottage cheese, the pancakes have eggs in them, and, with a significant amount of protein, they'll keep you full. The sugar in the batter helps the pancakes brown a bit and cuts some of the tang, but you can leave the sugar out, use a sugar substitute, or, my preference, use a little date paste (1-2 tablespoons) instead of the sugar. The little pancakes reheat well in the toaster, so you can have any leftovers later in the week for breakfast or for a quick, healthy snack. Enjoy!
Low-Fat Cottage Cheese Pancakes -- Serves 3-4
16 ounces of low-fat cottage cheese
3 large eggs
Zest of a medium orange
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2-3 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
Strawberry Topping (optional, but good)
Heat a large, non-stick skillet over medium heat and spritz it with olive oil spray. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together well the cottage cheese, eggs, orange zest, vanilla, and sugar. Stir in the flour and baking powder until combined (don't whisk the batter). When the skillet is hot, add several dollops (about 1/4 cup each) of pancake batter and spread each dollop out a bit with the back of a spoon. Let the pancakes cook 3-4 minutes until the edges are firm and bubbles appear on the tops. Flip the pancakes and let them cook another minute or two until done. The pancakes will be a little delicate, so flip them carefully. If you tear any, don't worry. Just eat them or spread yogurt and strawberries on less-than-perfect parts later. Remove the first batch of pancakes, keep them warm, and repeat the process with the remainder of the batter. Serve the pancakes with fresh fruit (like the strawberry topping below), jam, yogurt, or whatever you'd like.
Strawberry Topping
8 ounces of fresh strawberries
2-3 tablespoons of sugar or date paste
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
Slice the strawberries into a bowl, add the sugar and lemon juice, and stir everything together. Let the strawberries sit for 5-10 minutes, stir them again, and serve them with their juices on top of the pancakes.
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