Maple Cottage Cheese Pancakes
Thick, soft & fluffy cottage cheese pancakes, flavoured with maple syrup! The cottage cheese gives them a subtle tanginess & the maple adds a caramelised, butterscotch flavour.
Is there a better breakfast dish than pancakes? Not that I can think of! They’re so easy to make & when done properly, have a perfectly soft & fluffy texture. Plus they’re the perfect base for a whole load of toppings, from crispy bacon & maple syrup, to yogurt & fresh fruit or nutella & ice cream.
So this batch of American style pancakes is made with cottage cheese. This might sound a bit odd but adding cottage cheese to pancake batter gives them a subtle tangy flavour & an extra soft, custardy texture. There’s also a generous amount of maple syrup in the batter which gives these pancakes a buttery, caramel, butterscotch like flavour. They’re pretty damn tasty! I served mine in a stack with a generous spoonful of mixed berry compote & a plenty of extra maple syrup…
For more breakfast inspiration, take a look at our ever growing breakfast recipe collection! Here you’ll find pancakes, waffles, breakfast burritos, muesli, Danish pastries & lots more.
What You’ll Need
- Cottage Cheese – Full fat cottage cheese works best for pancake batter. Cottage cheese is a creamy cheese made from cow’s milk & milk curds.
- Maple Syrup – Added to our pancake batter for sweetness & a caramelised, butterscotch flavour.
- Milk – I like to use whole milk for American style pancake batter but semi skimmed will work as well.
- Eggs – You’ll need large eggs for this pancake recipe. Each egg should weigh around 50 grams out of the shell.
- Sugar – We’re also adding a small amount of caster sugar to the batter, for sweetness without making the consistency too thin.
- Vanilla – A splash of good quality vanilla extract adds extra flavour!
- Flour – You’ll need plain flour (all purpose) for this pancake batter. This is key to making fluffy pancakes!
- Baking Powder – Added to make our pancakes rise & to give them a fluffy texture.
- Salt – We’re using sea salt to season our pancake batter. If you wanted to use table salt, you’ll need to use half the amount.
How To Make Maple Cottage Cheese Pancakes
These cottage cheese pancakes are made like a regular batch of thick, fluffy American pancakes. The only difference is that we need to blend the wet ingredients before using, as cottage cheese is full of cheese curds (we don’t want lumpy pancakes!).
Cottage Cheese Pancake Batter
To make our maple cottage cheese pancake batter, we add the cottage cheese, milk, eggs, maple syrup, sugar, vanilla & salt into a jug blender then give it all a quick blend to get rid all of the lumps, from the cottage cheese. Although a few small lumps are fine!
Next, we’re going to sift plain flour & baking powder into a mixing bowl, add in the blended cottage cheese then gently whisk by hand, until just combined. It’s important not to over mix the batter as this can make the pancakes dense. We’re also going to give the batter a 10 minute rest, to let the flour hydrate fully. This gives our pancakes the fluffiest texture once cooked!
Cooking The Pancakes
I chose to cook my pancakes in individual 5″ frying pans, to make them perfectly circular! However, you can cook them in a large frying pan instead. For thick pancakes, we’re using 2-3 tablespoons of batter per pancake.
So to cook a pancake, we add a small amount of butter into a pan set over a medium-low heat then once melted, we add in a generous spoonful of batter. Now, we need to cook the pancake for 4-6 minutes, until it has risen, the underneath is golden brown & there’s loads of small bubbles on top. Then it’s just a case of flipping the pancake over & cooking for another 2-3 minutes until the other side is golden brown & the pancake is cooked through.
As soon as your pancakes are cooked, you can serve them straight away or place them onto a wire cooling rack until you’ve cooked all of the batter. This stops the pancakes from going soggy.
Serving Suggestions
These cottage cheese pancakes can be served like regular American pancakes & can be served with both sweet & savoury toppings! I served mine at breakfast & topped them with some homemade mixed berry compote & a generous drizzle of maple syrup. They’d also be good with crispy bacon & a slice of salted butter or with fresh fruit, Nutella & ice cream as a dessert.
Tips & Tricks
- Use a good quality full fat cottage cheese & maple syrup, for the best flavour!
- Be careful not to over mix the pancake batter, to ensure that your pancakes have the fluffiest texture.
- Use fresh baking powder, to avoid dense, un risen pancakes!
- For perfectly round pancakes, cook each pancake in small, individual frying pans.
- Serve your pancakes whilst they’re still warm, with your favourite toppings!
Frequently Asked Questions
To cook cottage cheese pancakes on an Aga, use the simmering plate.
For this batch of pancakes, I wouldn’t recommend it. If you’d prefer a regular American pancake recipe or crepes, we have recipes for these on the blog!
No, cottage cheese pancakes don’t taste like cheese! They have a rich, slightly tangy flavour & have a fluffy, soft texture.
Cottage cheese pancakes can become dense if the batter was over mixed or if your baking powder has expired. To avoid this, mix the batter until the flour has just been incorporated & make sure to use fresh baking powder.
More Breakfast Recipes To Try!
- Chocolate & Peanut Butter Granola
- Pain Aux Raisin Danish Pastries
- Everything Bagel Avocado Toast
- Chorizo & Hash Brown Breakfast Burritos
- Classic French Crêpes
- Buttermilk Waffles With Strawberry Compote
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Maple Cottage Cheese Pancakes
Equipment
- Frying Pans (See Notes)
- Jug Blender
- Mixing Bowl
- Sieve
Ingredients
- 250 g Cottage Cheese
- 100 g Whole Milk
- 50 g Maple Syrup
- 25 g Caster Sugar
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- 175 g Plain Flour
- 2½ tsp Baking Powder
- Butter (For Cooking)
Instructions
Pancake Batter
- Add the cottage cheese, milk, maple syrup, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract & salt into a jug blender then blend until smooth.
- Sift the flour & baking powder into a large mixing bowl then whisk to combine.
- Next, pour the cottage cheese & milk mix into the flour then whisk by hand, until just combined & smooth. Then let the batter rest for 10 minutes before cooking.Make sure not to over mix the batter! It should be just combined.
Cooking
- There's 2 ways to cook these pancakes. In individual 5" frying pans or in 1 large frying pan. Whichever way you're using, set your pan (or pans) over a medium-low heat then leave to heat up for a couple of minutes.
- To cook a pancake, first grease your pan with a small amount of butter (or veg oil) then use a large spoon to scoop 2-3 tbsp of batter into the pan. If you're using a small pan, the batter should completely cover the bottom of the pan. If you're using a large pan, you should be able to fit 2-3 pancakes in per batch. Don't over crowd the pan though!
- Let the pancake cook for 4-6 minute, until it's risen, the underneath is golden brown & you can see small bubbles on the top side. The pancake should be solid enough to flip over.
- Next, use a small spatula to flip the pancake over then cook for another 2-3 minutes, until the other side is golden brown.If you're using a small pan, lift the pancake out of the pan then carefully flip over back into the pan, in one smooth motion. Be careful not to miss the pan, as it will make the pancake misshapen.
- Once cooked, transfer the pancake to a wire cooling rack then repeat the cooking process with the remaining batter. If you're using small pans, the amount of pancakes that you can cook at a time depends on your stove space & how many pans you have.
- Serve the pancakes whilst they're still warm with your choice of toppings!
