Fluffy Ricotta Pancakes With Homemade Strawberry Syrup

Unlike the majority of our weekly breakfasts, we go all out for Saturday morning breakfast here in the Visser home.

Sunday through Friday, breakfasts tend to be quick and simple as we’re either running out the door to go somewhere or trying to get our day off to a good start here at home.

Speaking of good starts. I’m fully aware of the importance of breakfast, and it’s something I want to prioritize in our home. Unfortunately, I’m lazy, and if I had my lazy breakfast way, I’d let the kids feed themselves crap box cereal from the store. But seeing how I’ve decided that I needed to get over my laziness and be a good mother to my children, I choose to get up off my backside and make my kids a healthy breakfast… even on busy mornings.

Saturday’s Are The Exception

Saturday morning breakfast, however, is another story. Most Saturday’s are laid-back. We sleep in, we’re not in a hurry to get somewhere, and we eat breakfast at a later time. We also make bigger breakfasts and spend more time cooking too.

Weekday breakfasts often consist of scrambled eggs, stovetop or baked oatmeal, granola cereal or parfaits, and sometimes muffins, but Saturday breakfasts can be anything from bacon, eggs, and toast, to homemade cinnamon rolls, to loaded veggie omelets, to pancakes, waffles, or crepes, to homemade biscuits and gravy with country ham, etc. Most of these things take a little more prep and cooking time in the kitchen which is why they’re saved for Saturdays.

The Boy’s Breakfast Of Choice

This past Saturday, the boys were begging me to make them pancakes because it’s been a while since we had some. I had tried to make some gluten-free pancakes a couple of weeks ago, but they turned out a disgusting disaster. So, this Saturday, we resorted back to our favorite pancakes… fluffy ricotta pancakes, only this time, I wanted to make them extra special.

We were snowed in up on the mountain with our first big snow of the season, and I was in the mood to make these pancakes even healthier than they already were.

A Twist On Traditional Pancake Syrup

Now, normally, we top our pancakes with pure maple syrup (and sometimes elderberry syrup), but good quality maple syrup can be a bit pricey in our area. It also contributes to a bit more sugar intake than my kids typically get in one meal. But, we’re talking about pancakes here. You can’t eat pancakes without syrup! So, I decided to try to cut costs and sugar intake by using a different kind of syrup on our pancakes.

My friend and fellow blogger, Renea from Raising Generation Nourished, just released a cookbook (you can find it here) called Nourished Beginnings Baby Food, but don’t let the name fool you. Sure, her cookbook has real food recipes for babies who are ready for food, but many of those recipes can be used for family meals as well. This is where the homemade strawberry syrup we used on our pancakes came from, and oh, was it delicious! It was a huge hit with everyone, and I knew I just had to share it with you, mama.