Everyone loves blueberry pancakes, right? At first bite, these pancakes will satisfy any blueberry pancake craving. But, then you hit a little pocket of warm, creamy ricotta cheese with a hint of honey and orange, and you know that these are not your ordinary blueberry pancakes!
For the past few days, I have been dreaming of ricotta cheese, orange zest, and blueberries. We’ve been pretty busy, so the idea had time to marinate in my brain for a while before I got around to acting on it. The idea started out with cheese blintzes, which I adore. They sounded like a lot of work, though (yes, that was lazy of me… I realize). I contemplated some scones, but I was afraid that the ricotta would get lost in the dough and wouldn’t satisfy my ricotta craving. Finally, it occurred to me that I had some of my whole wheat pancake mix left over, and I could use it to make ricotta filled pancakes with a blueberry sauce. The perfect pick-me-up for Monday morning!
I used frozen blueberries for my sauce, but you could certainly use fresh. Around here, we still have a while until there are fresh, local blueberries, and I’m not about to pay $5 for a half-pint of fresh berries when I can pay $2-3 for a whole pound of frozen. Plus, I find that the frozen blueberries work perfectly well in the sauce… Possibly even better than fresh, and you don’t even need to thaw them!
Ricotta Filled Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce
For the Sauce:
- 16 ounces frozen blueberries
- 1 orange – 1/2 zest and juice
(reserve the other half of the zest for the ricotta filling) - 2 tablespoons honey
For the Ricotta Filling:
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
(Jennifer Perillo’s homemade ricotta would be amazing, but I just had some storebought on hand) - 1/2 orange zest
(leftover from the sauce, above) - 1 tablespoon honey
For the Pancakes:
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pancake mix
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 scant cup milk
To make the sauce, combine the blueberries, orange zest, orange juice, and honey in a skillet or sauce pan. Cook over medium heat until the blueberries have thawed completely and the mixture starts to bubble. Reduce the heat and simmer while preparing the pancakes, until the sauce thickens and gets glossy.
Preheat a filled pancake (or aebleskiver) pan over medium heat, and spray lightly with cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the ricotta filling until smooth. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the pancake mix, oil, egg, vanilla, and milk, stirring just until all of the mix is incorporated.
Spoon some of the pancake batter into each well of the pancake pan. Top with about a teaspoon (or a little more) of the ricotta mixture. Top the ricotta mixture with some more pancake batter. Cook for a few minutes, and then use skewers to turn the filled pancakes, and cook for an additional minute or two.
Serve warm topped with warm blueberry sauce. Enjoy!
Your pancakes are glorious! Love the filling and the sauce makes them extra special!
Totally drooling over here. Those look incredible, Jen! :)
WOW. i don’t know if i even have words! those look absolutely heavenly :) makes me want some ricotta STAT!
You’re so good about using your aebleskiver pan – I have one that I’ve probably used once in the past year. It’s about time I broke it out :) These look awesome, especially the blueberry sauce!
Jen, these pancakes look like pure bliss. I’m imagining the creamy ricotta on the inside and the sweetness of the blueberry sauce on the outside…just sounds divine.
What a wonderful breakfast, or anytime in my case, treat! The combo of the lemon, ricotta and blueberries sounds so good and now I am craving it, too! :)
I need to get me one of those aebleskiver pans. This is a totally fun way to eat pancakes. Forget the fork and knife…eat with your hands. :)
Get the electric one. They are now half price at William sonoma’s. Call first to see what store has one left
YUM! What a phenomenal flavor combo!
Another ebelskiver recipe to try! This might just be added to my Easter breakfast menu.
wow this looks good! I love that pan that makes the pancake balls, I want one!
Jen, these look lovely. I also think the filling would be perfect for crepes (note to self). Thanks for also linking to my homemade ricotta recipe.
I would *love* one of those pans!!! So jealous! I always wondered if you could use regular pancake batter in them…you know how WS has the mixes. You answered my question. Look delicious!
Jennifer – Yes, I think it would be delicious in crepes (probably better than in the pancakes, even)! Love your ricotta recipe… I think I’ve made it 4 or 5 times now.
Bridget – I use regular pancake batter in my pan all of the time. The recipe that comes with the pan calls for folding in beaten egg whites, and I’ve done that a few times, but I don’t think it matters that much. They come out a bit fluffier, but I only bother with that on special occasions. :)
WOW! These look incredible!
I love ebelskivers (although my pan hasn’t seen any action lately). These little gems look and sound delicious!
Mm Mm Mm. That’s the only thing I can say about this! Have you ever tried Swedish Pancakes? I’m making them in an upcoming recipe! PLease check out my online cooking blog.
Hey Jen, these look delicious, especially with that dark, rich looking blueberry sauce-yum.
beautiful aebleskiver! I love those. they’ve become my favorite breakfast weekend treat.
Can’t get much better than these. I equally love blueberries and ricotta cheese …when combined, wow! A breakfast with this pancakes will surely make my day. I guess this can be as good for waffles too instead of pancakes as I’m thinking of something different to surprise my mom for her breakfast on Mother’s Day. Oh well, I will try that. Your idea is amazing! Thanks.
Jen, I am totally drooling at this recipe. What a wonderful combination of flavours and so pretty to boot. I don’t have one of those pans though – would it work without? I see a great big mess if I tried to do them freehand! ;-)
Mardi – Without the pan, I know that *I* would make a giant mess, but you might be able to pull it off. Another great option would be to make regular pancakes and simply put the filling in between two pancakes and top with the sauce. Or use the filling in crepes and top with the sauce!
Thank you for the recipe, Jen, especially the blueberry sauce! ;D Now, I’m thinking of using your recipe and try to change the taste pattern of the pancake (a bit salty and sweet kind of taste, perhaps!) :)
ricotta filled? hmmm mmm..looks tempting, thank you for the recipe share, should give it a try myself. Just love pancakes , with the add up, surely to taste great.
Wow! You had me with ricotta! Yummy!
Looks like some really yummy pancakes