Add Cottage Cheese to the Pancake Batter
It worries me more and more – even worries – that my favorite food is cottage cheese. This is a great light breakfast , it makes a great sauce when whipped , and as I just discovered, this is the secret to the fluffiest, biscuit-like pancakes.
They are similar to ricotta pancakes, except for the spicier ones (and tend to be slightly cheaper). You can make them from scratch, like Food 52 does here , or you can just scoop the cheese in a batter mixing box, giving the Wrong Homemade thing the taste and texture of something very homemade.
Cheese has its own moisture, so you need to cut back a little. If you are using a box mix, take the amount of water you would normally add and halve it. Add as much cottage cheese, then add half that amount of water (that is, a quarter of your original amount). Stir, rate, then drizzle on the last quarter serving until you have a batter. For example: my box of Krusteaz requires two-thirds of a glass of water per glass of the mixture, so I added one-third of a glass of cottage cheese, followed by about one-sixth of a glass of water. I mixed this, saw that the dough came out too thick, then added a spray as needed until it was a thick but still flowing dough.
I let the dough sit for a few minutes and then cooked the pancakes in sizzling oil over medium heat according to the instructions on the package. The resulting pancakes were tender, sweet, thick and fluffy, with an indefinite pancake flavor. Any small curd that came out would become fried and crunchy, creating a salty and sweet, tender and crunchy hue of contrasts. Served with quick-soaked strawberries – just toss the chopped berries with enough sugar to coat and let them hang while you fry – they were perfect.