Pancake breakfast recipes: hearty morning and light and fluffy lemon

What's better than a stack of sweet pancakes to start the morning? That's right: nothing. Try these two tasty recipes for breakfast.

Most people limit their add-ins for flapjacks to blueberries. These amazing pancakes ­contain apple and sausage. They're perfect for cool fall mornings.

Prep time: 10 min

Cook time: 15 min

Serves 2

• 250 g (1/2 lb) bulk pork sausage
• 1 egg
• 150 ml (2/3 c) milk
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) vegetable oil
• 250 ml (1 c) pancake mix
• 2 g (1/2 tsp) ground cinnamon
• 125 g (1/2 c) peeled, shredded apple1. In a medium nonstick skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat until no longer pink, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon. Drain and set aside.
  2. Preheat the oven to 400°C (200°F).
  3. In a medium bowl, beat the egg, milk and oil. Stir in pancake mix and cinnamon until just moistened. Fold in the apple and sausage.
  4. Pour batter by quarter-cupfuls onto a lightly greased hot griddle and cook until the top of each pancake has tiny bubbles, about three minutes. Turn the pancakes and cook until the bottoms are golden brown, one and a half minutes longer. Transfer to a plate and keep warm in the oven. Repeat with the remaining batter.

To take the flavour of these pancakes over the top, use pumpkin pie spice in place of the cinnamon. This commercial spice mix usually includes the flavours of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice.

Pancakes are typically a combination of flour, eggs and milk. This one has ricotta cheese and whipped egg whites to give the pancakes an airy, light texture. Lemon juice and lemon peel lend refreshingly bright flavour.

Prep time: 20 min

Cook time: 15 min

Serves 4

• 4 large eggs, separated
• 60 g (4 tbsp) sugar, divided
• 250 ml (1 c) part-skim ricotta cheese
• 45 g (3 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp grated lemon peel
• 65 g (1/2 c) all-purpose flour
• 10 to 15 ml (2 to 3 tsp) canola oil
• 250 ml (1 c) vanilla low-fat yogurt

1. Beat the egg whites in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks begin to form. Beat in 30 grams (two tablespoons) of the sugar until the egg whites hold stiff peaks, being sure not to overbeat them.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, the remaining 30 grams (two tablespoons) sugar, ricotta cheese, butter, lemon juice and lemon peel. Gently fold in the flour until just combined. Fold the beaten egg whites into the ricotta mixture in three additions until just incorporated.
3. Preheat the oven to 400°C (200°F).
4. Lightly oil a large nonstick skillet or griddle with one teaspoon of the oil and heat over medium heat. When the skillet is hot, add the batter in quarter-cupfuls and cook until lightly browned and puffed, two and a half to three minutes. Turn the pancakes and cook until the bottoms are golden brown, one to two minutes longer. Transfer to a plate and keep warm in the oven. Repeat with remaining batter and oil.
5. Serve the pancakes topped with 50 millilitres (1/4 cup) of yogurt; bananas and pecans are optional.

If you want to vary this recipe, you can leave out the lemon and substitute in equal amounts of orange juice and orange peel. For a more tropical flavour, try lime but cut the juice back to 10 millilitres (two teaspoons).

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