Lemon Ricotta Raspberry Pancakes

Plus, you'll finally understand the difference between baking powder and baking soda.

Colorful chefs - happy Thursday ♥️

This is where we cook easy, delicious, saucy, colorful meals made from whole, unprocessed foods, and we make it fun, easy, and learn important stuff about metabolic health and home cooking while doing it.

This week, we are making pancakes 🙌🏻.

I will say, even “average” pancakes are always great IMO, but these Lemon Ricotta Raspberry pancakes are much, much better than average.

For the weekends or really special occasion (👋🏼 hi, Valentine’s Day!), pancakes are simply the best. Last year, Dr. Casey Means and I made Pink Almond Flour Pancakes with beet powder and the same magical raspberry compote I’m using again this year. It’s become a staple, and I now plan to make some version of pink pancakes every year for Valentine’s Day.

So, let’s chat about these Lemon Ricotta Raspberry pancakes. They are grain free and sweetened with only a little maple syrup. There are tons of ways you can serve them (ideas here), and you can swap in raspberries for blueberries if you are a blueberry pancake loyalist (I understand).

Home cooking through science fun fact of the week:

If you’ve been following along on my Substack for the last few weeks, you’ll know I’ve been obsessed with the book The Food Lab, by J. Kenji López-Alt, which is all about better home cooking through science and understanding the science behind the ingredients.

Let’s talk about baking powder vs. baking soda:

If you are like me, you always double check recipes “wait did it say I need baking powder or baking soda?!”

In the pancake chapter, he explains that baking powder is a complete leavening agent, meaning it contains both an acid and a base, so it can create lift without needing additional acidic ingredients (like a ton of lemon juice for example). Unlike baking soda, which reacts immediately upon mixing with acid, baking powder is often double-acting, meaning it produces gas in two stages—once when mixed with liquid and again when heated (like when you add the pancake to the skillet) — leading to more controlled and sustained rising.

This is what helps pancakes develop their light and fluffy texture — which, YES, is possible, even with almond flour!

When to use baking powder: Use baking powder when the recipe doesn’t have an acidic ingredient. Baking powder contains both an acid (cream of tartar) and a base (baking soda), so it works on its own.

• Why: Baking powder provides a controlled, steady rise - great for cakes, muffins, pancakes etc.

When to use baking soda: Baking soda needs an acid in order to react and create carbon dioxide bubbles for lift. If the recipe has an acidic ingredient, baking soda neutralizes it while providing leavening. Soda beverages have bubbles, and then think about 7th grade science class when you combined acids and created bubbles, so any recipe with an acid = baking soda use case.

• Why: Without an acid, baking soda won't react properly, and your baked goods might taste bitter or soapy.

For example, if the baked good recipe includes any of these ingredients, you’ll want to use some baking soda:

• Vinegar

• Lemon juice

• Buttermilk

• Yogurt

• Molasses

• Honey

• Cocoa powder

When to use both: If a recipe has an acidic ingredient but still needs more rise, it may call for both. Here’s why:

• The baking soda neutralizes the acid and enhances browning.

• The baking powder provides additional leavening.

Ultimately, this means that to create FLUFFY pancakes, you should use both baking powder and baking soda. That’s why this recipe, which use lemon zest, calls for a little bit of both!

Hopefully now you have a better understanding of when to use which!

Lemon Ricotta Raspberry Pancakes

Many of my Color Club recipes (especially the ones in the last 3 months) come with videos to share more about the why behind the recipe, show you how to make it, and talk through tips. Pending the complexity of the recipe, sometimes the videos are longer (6-10 minutes) and sometimes they are shorter (2-3 minutes) like this one! ☝🏻

If you’ve been impacted by the LA fires, or if you like my recipes but the price of joining the Color Club is a barrier at the moment, simply respond to this email saying “I’d like to be a Color Club member” and I’ll happily set you up with a
free year membership, no questions asked!

Otherwise, the recipe below is part of my Color Club - $5/month or $50/year.

Any metabolic health information, or home chef learnings that I share on my Substack is and will always remain free. However, to avoid ads I’ve decided to charge a small fee for my recipes themselves.

RECIPE LINK HERE

If you make this recipe (or ANY of my recipes!), I’d love nothing more than to hear how it turned out and any feedback you have! Comment below or on the recipe in the Color Club, and if you are on IG, tag me @sonjakmanning.

Lastly, if you heart or re-stack this post, you’ll help me and these pancakes reach more people! 🙏🏼

Chefs kisses,

Sonja