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Plow’s Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

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 The best pancakes you will ever eat – the secret Lemon Ricotta Pancakes recipe from Plow Restaurant in San Francisco, CA.AMAZING Lemon Ricotta Pancakes Recipe from San Francisco's Plow Restaurant

Editor Note: This recipe and post were originally posted January 5th, 2015. This is an updated post with new photos, but the text is the same. Want to see what my photos were like three years ago this time? Check out the end of the post!

The new year is upon us and my blog feed is blowing up with new year’s resolutions! Sometimes I get a little frustrated with the idea of setting resolutions. So often it feels like setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. Even so, I always like to set a few goals for blogging and things that I want to make more of a priority this year. I’m still working on the list and it’s not quite ready for primetime yet. I can’t wait to share it though. I always value the feedback and accountability all of you bring!

Outside of blogging, I also want to do little things to make myself feel healthier. I’m a firm believer in making small changes. It’s so much more realistic and sustainable. That’s how I counsel my patients when they are working on improving their diet and making healthy lifestyle changes. It’s all about small steps – be it drinking more water or adding one more workout per week to your routine.

AMAZING Lemon Ricotta Pancakes Recipe from San Francisco's Plow RestaurantAMAZING Lemon Ricotta Pancake Recipe from San Francisco's Plow Restaurant

The recipe comes from Plow, a famous San Francisco brunch institution. Plow is so popular people wait in line over an hour just to snag a table! I’ve been several times and every time I get the Plow Platter. You just can’t go wrong with their perfectly crispy breakfast potatoes and their soft scrambled eggs. The highlight though, is their Lemon Ricotta Pancakes. So amazing.

 

My #1 brunch spot, this time shared with my insta–>real life friend @ashortblonde. You MUST eat the Plow Platter. ????

A photo posted by Kelly – A Side of Sweet (@asideofsweet) on

AMAZING Lemon Ricotta Pancakes Recipe from San Francisco's Plow Restaurant

Thank you so much for reading A Side of Sweet! For more Sweet in your life, you can find me on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, Bloglovin‘, Snapchat (@asideofsweet), or Twitter. You can also subscribe to receive a weekly email with new posts.

Plow’s Lemon Ricotta Pancakes Recipe

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Plow’s Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

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5 from 4 reviews

The best pancakes you will ever eat – the secret Lemon Ricotta Pancakes recipe from Plow Restaurant in San Francisco, CA.

  • Author: Kelly Egan - A Side of Sweet
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 3 minutes
  • Total Time: 13 minutes
  • Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 1/4 pounds good-quality or homemade ricotta cheese
  • 5 eggs, separated
  • 2 tablespoons organic cane sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 1/3 cups flour
  • 1/4 pound butter, melted

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
  2. Add melted butter and flour and mix until just incorporated.
  3. Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer or clean hand whisk until firm peaks form. Add 1/4 to the ricotta mixture, then fold in the rest.
  4. Heat a small amount of butter in a large skillet or griddle over medium heat. Drop 1/4 cup scoops of batter onto pan. Pancakes will not bubble, so cook until golden brown, 1-2 minutes per side.

Notes

Tip: Place the pancakes on a platter in a 200ºF oven to keep them warm while you cook the rest of the pancakes, adding a small pat of butter to coat the bottom of the pan between batches. Extra pancakes reheat well in a pan or warm oven after being refrigerated.

AMAZING Lemon Ricotta Pancake Recipe from San Francisco's Plow RestaurantOh, one more thing – I know I’m probably giving off the impression that I’ve got this food photography thing all figured out (hey there, stop laughing!), but I’m always striving to improve (2015 blog goal?).

I’ve been working on action food photography, thanks to some tips from my friend Alanna, the very same one who gave me the recipe for these amazing pancakes. That’s why I thought I would share this photo with you even though it’s far from perfect. It definitely has too much noise – I think I had the ISO up too high. I spent longer than I care to admit trying to edit out the noise and I’ve just give up. Hopefully someday I can link back to this post and we can all have a nice guffaw about how I used to be such a cute little food blogger. #thestruggleisreal folks.

Oh, and a promised, here is one of the original photos from this post! See, the ISO is pretty high and overall the picture is very grainy just like I (originally) thought.

AMAZING Lemon Ricotta Pancake Recipe from San Francisco's Plow Restaurant
Tell me, have you set any new year’s resolutions?

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Comments

  12. Lynn @ theroadtohoney says

    The hubby loves pancakes so I am definitely going to plan on making these as a surprise Sunday breakfast. Improving my photography is tops on my New Years resolution list. I have a long way to go but photography classes start this week. . .so we shall see. BTW – I think your action shot looks pretty good for a first go at it.

    Reply

  14. Kyla Currier says

    These look amazing, my boyfriend loves pancakes I’m definitely going to have to make these for him!
    xo, Kyla
    kymariec.com

    Reply

  18. Anita says

    Love this Kelly – delicious and healthy! And I think your food photography is beautiful, don’t sell yourself short!

    Reply

  19. Nichole says

    Those look delicious! I love your photos! I always end up taking at least 1,000 pictures before finding the one that works!

    Reply

  22. Sarah @ Snixy Kitchen says

    Mmmm – these pancakes look amazing! I’m totally into the lemon and blueberry combo. I’ve only had ricotta pancakes once and I agree – they’re pretty darn delicious!

    Reply

  27. Lana LeFevre says

    These look SOOOO GOOOD. I should’ve eaten breakfast before reading this, now I”m sitting at work, drooling.

    Reply

  29. Cyndi says

    What did I do wrong? The flavor was great. Perfect amount of lemon and sweetness working together, but the texture was something very different from what I expected. The batter was super super thick. I had to take a break during the folding in the egg whites part, and then the pancakes took forever to brown and ended up being mushy inside. Is that right? I double checked all my measurements and weighed my ricotta on a kitchen scale.

    Reply

    • Kelly Egan - A Side of Sweet says

      Hi Cyndi – The batter is definitely thick for these pancakes, although if your arm was tired that would be thicker than it is for me. I usually dollop the batter onto the hot griddle and spread it out with a spoon until it is as thick as you see in the photos. The result is a pancake that is slightly crisped on the outside and cooked in the middle. I’m so sorry the recipe didn’t work for you!

      Reply

  30. Tim says

    This is AP flour, not self-rising? And no baking powder in the recipe?… guess that’s why no bubbles when you cook them; perhaps the ricotta keeps them from being too dense. Thanks.

    Reply

  31. Melissa says

    Hi Kelly! I miss ordering this at Plow! I’ve had this particular dish maybe 5x? Haha! Since I moved away from San Francisco during the pandemic (exodus is real haha), I would love to make this. Do you also have a recipe for the potatoes that go with it? I’ve always loved theirs but couldn’t figure it out! I would love to eat the whole dish again! ❤️

    Reply

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