Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Light and fluffy, these cottage cheese pancakes are a great protein-packed recipe to add to your repertoire. They’re a little more satisfying than a regular pancake and sure to charm even those who don’t love cottage cheese. They’re made with the same ingredients you’d use for any pancakes—all-purpose flour, baking powder and soda, egg whites, and a little sugar. The only unusual ingredient is the cottage cheese. Serve them with sliced seasonal fruit, berries, applesauce, or jam. Alternatively, they make a great savory pairing with eggs and bacon or sausage, or sliced avocado.

Key Ingredients

Some cottage cheese pancakes are made with whole-wheat flour or use minced cauliflower in place of the flour. That’s not the vibe with our cottage cheese pancakes. They aren’t that different from our go-to pancakes, but they’re a little leaner and have more protein. They are made with the usual all-purpose flour, leavening ingredients (baking powder and baking soda), and dairy milk (not buttermilk). Where they differ is that they use egg whites only rather than whole eggs, and while they do include cottage cheese, they don’t include any butter.

What Is Cottage Cheese?

Cottage cheese has been around for centuries. It is created when an acid, like vinegar or lemon juice, is added to milk. The acidification separates the curd and the whey—proteins in milk clump together to make the curd, and the liquid is the whey. A cream and salt mixture is added to the curds for flavor and gives it a softer, creamier texture. Store-bought cottage cheese has added gums and emulsifiers to keep the cheese mixed together rather than have it separate.