Banana Cottage Cheese Pancakes

If you grew up in the 70's then you have probably eaten cottage cheese pancakes. Long before Greek and other designer yogurts came on the scene, cottage cheese was the creamy dairy product of choice. In fact, per the U.S. Department of Agriculture, cottage cheese peaked in the early 1970s, when the average American ate about 5 pounds of it per year! I was never a fan of the stuff plain, but when my mother put it in pancakes it was delicious. For many years, we ate cottage cheese pancakes at least once a week. 

I always wondered where her recipe came from but then found it in the book of family recipes she passed down to me. It appears it came from my dad's mom, whom we called Meena. Meena, a nickname bestowed upon her by a dear friend, was born Sarah (Sally) Elizabeth. My middle name is Elizabeth after her. I don't remember her being much of a cook but apparently, she at least had a good pancake recipe.

With some ripe bananas on hand, I decided to ramp up her original recipe a bit. I stuck with the same ratio of cottage cheese and sour cream but also added a few tablespoons of sugar and some spice. Once you have all the ingredients blended together, these take just a few minutes on each side. They are delicious as is or topped with your favorite jam, syrup, or powdered sugar.

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Banana Cottage Cheese Pancakes

A 70's classic amped up with sweet bananas and spices.

Course Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine American

Keyword Banana Pancakes, Bananas, Cottage Cheese, Cottage Cheese Pancakes, Pancakes, Quick breakfast

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 4 (12-13 pancakes)

Equipment

• 1 fork or mashing utensil
• 1 Sifter or sieve for the dry ingredients
• 1 Large Bowl
• 1 hand mixer you could use a large whisk and do by hand if you don't have a mixer
• 1 non-stick pancake pan or large skillet you definitely want non-stick here as these are pretty wet
• 1 large spatchula

Ingredients

• 1 large ripe banana
• ½ c. low fat cottage cheese
• ½ c. low fat or full fat sour cream
• 3 eggs
• ¾ c. flour
• ½ t. baking soda
• ½ t. pumpkin pie spice
• ¼ t. salt
• 2 T. sugar
• Butter for cooking

Instructions

• Mash the banana and combine it with the cottage cheese, sour cream, and eggs. Blend on low until smooth. Sift the dry ingredients into the bowl or blender and blend to combine everything. The batter should be smooth with no lumps.
• Heat a pancake skillet to medium and spread with enough butter just to cover the surface evenly. Fill a fourth cup measure just below full and pour onto the skillet. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until small bubbles start to form. Carefully, flip the pancakes and cook for 1-2 more minutes checking for doneness before removing. The pancakes should be nice and golden on both sides.

Notes

Tip: To make great pancakes, quickly force your spatula under them when you flip them. Going too slow on this step gives them an excuse to bleed out and get messy.