Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
with Cherry Maple Syrup, Walnuts, & Lemony Crème Fraîche | Serves 4
- Milk
- Eggs
- Wheat
- Tree Nuts
Over here, we think brunch is a food group—and a really important and scrumptious one. Today’s fix: decadent lemon ricotta pancakes and a dollop of zesty crème fraîche. Ready to take it to the next level? You’ll drizzle cherry maple syrup and sprinkle crunchy walnuts all over. Feel free to break out the special plates or just enjoy this meal in your PJs.
Ingredients
1 unit
Lemon
8 tablespoon
Crème Fraîche
(Contains: Milk)
4 unit
Cherry Jam
8 tablespoon
Maple Syrup
6.75 ounce
Milk
(Contains: Milk)
4 ounce
Ricotta Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
2 unit
Eggs
(Contains: Eggs)
246 g
Tempura Mix
(Contains: Eggs, Milk, Wheat)
1.5 ounce
Walnuts
(Contains: Tree Nuts)
Not included in your delivery
Salt
Pepper
5 tablespoon
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
¼ cup
Sugar
1 teaspoon
Vegetable Oil
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
Optional: Preheat oven to 200 degrees for warming pancakes later on. Wash and dry all produce. Zest and quarter lemon. Place 2 TBSP butter in a small microwave-safe bowl; microwave until melted, 30 seconds. Set aside for pancake batter in step 4. Set aside 1 packet crème fraîche for pancake batter.
In a second small bowl, combine remaining crème fraîche, ¼ tsp lemon zest, ½ tsp sugar, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a pinch of salt to taste.
Heat a medium pan over medium-high heat. Add jam and maple syrup. Cook until bubbling, 1-2 minutes. Turn off heat; stir in 3 TBSP solid butter until melted. Add a couple squeezes of lemon juice (save at least 1 wedge for pancake batter) and a big pinch of salt. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, ricotta, eggs*, melted butter, 1 tsp lemon zest, juice from 1 lemon wedge, and reserved crème fraîche. In a large bowl, combine tempura mix, ¼ cup sugar, and ½ tsp salt. Whisk in milk mixture until just combined.
Heat a drizzle of oil in a large, preferably nonstick, pan over medium heat. (TIP: Use butter instead of oil if desired.) Add a few ¼-cup scoops of batter to pan. Once bubbles form on tops of pancakes (about 1-2 minutes), flip and cook until golden, 30-60 seconds more. TIP: Lower heat if pancakes begin to brown too quickly. Transfer to a plate. TIP: If you want to keep your pancakes nice and warm, transfer to a baking sheet as you make them; place in preheated oven until ready to serve. Repeat process with remaining batter, adding more oil between batches if necessary. TIP: For quicker cooking, use 2 nonstick pans, or a griddle if you have one.
Warm syrup over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, 2-3 minutes. Divide pancakes between plates; top with syrup, walnuts, and a dollop of lemony crème fraîche. (Alternatively, set up a toppings bar: Serve the syrup, walnuts, and crème fraîche in individual bowls and let everyone assemble as they please. For pickier eaters, serve pancakes with butter or simply sprinkle with powdered sugar.)
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Sep 2026- Flavor: The lemon ricotta pancakes are light, fluffy, and subtly lemony — a genuine upgrade from standard pancakes 🎉. The cherry maple syrup is a fan favorite; some found it very sweet, so adjust the jam quantity to taste.
- Ease of prep: There are more steps than a typical pancake recipe, but most found the results well worth the extra effort. Using two pans or a griddle speeds things up considerably.
- Suggestions: Lower the heat if pancakes brown too quickly before cooking through. Use less lemon juice if you prefer a milder flavor, and note that only part of the crème fraîche goes into the batter — the rest is for topping. One reviewer found using butter instead of oil in the pan gave a better result.
- Leftovers: Pancakes don't reheat as well as the day they're made; the cherry syrup, however, keeps beautifully and is worth saving for future batches.
- Portions: The batter makes a generous batch — reviewers noted it easily fed more than four people, with plenty left over.
Reviews from our home cooks
Extremely gourmet and delicious enough to eat any time of day, especially if you add a side of sausage and/or bacon, with the latter probably being the better pairing. This has been one of our favorite HF meals ever, not just the creamy, lemony pancakes but also the homemade, cherry syrup. The syrup complements these pancakes perfectly and is way better than the syrup you usually use. We normally put a high-grade, Canadian maple syrup on our pancakes, but as great as that is, the subtly cherry syrup made for this recipe is better, at least for these gourmet lemon-n-ricotta pancakes.
These pancakes, crème fraiche and cherry maple syrup were so delicious. The teens making them for mom was even better. We had to supplement the maple syrup sent with our own to measure 1/2 cup. The teens missed adding the butter to the cherry maple syrup. It was an unnecessary decadent addition that we didn't miss. Personal preference would be to use all the lemon's juice versus only juice of one wedge stated in directions. I thought it was clever to use tempura batter mix as the base for pancakes and now that I know this I can use up the mix that's been in my pantry.
One of my favorite things from HelloFresh. The pancakes are so tasty, but the syrup just makes them. Then add the crème fraîche and they are to die for. An amazing blend of flavors, I love them!
I'd almost have to double this recipe because my husband loves pancakes and can eat four or more of them. It really doesn't need the walnuts just the syrup and Lemon topping was great enough and would love more of the Lemon Topping with the pancakes.
The cherry maple syrup and lemon creme fraiche were amazing, but the pancakes themselves were too dense. Something needs to change to get them lighter and fluffier.
Lite in flavor NOT over powering and then the lemon fluffy topping, wow! Froze the pancakes for the future, there was sooo many!
The only problem I had was putting the lemon juice in with the dairy, I didn't do it because I thought the ricotta would curdle. The cakes came out great thought. Mine just had a hint of lemon.
My husband said, "Lemon pancakes?" After we ate, he said, "We definitely need to get these again." So Yummy!
These were the best tasting pancakes I have ever eaten let alone make in my kitchen. Wow
Delicious! Using butter instead of oil in the pan to cook the pancakes made them perfect.
