Melt-in-your-mouth mascarpone pancakes brightened up with lemon, and topped with a sweet strawberry sauce! You’ll love this unique breakfast recipe.
Where are my pancake lovers at?!
I’m an absolute pancake lover. Fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth pancakes, slightly sweet, and stacked a mile-high. And when they’re filled with mascarpone and bright lemon zest, you can especially count me in. You too?! They’re the perfect option when you’re looking for an impressive vegetarian breakfast recipe everyone will love.
By the way… you can read all about my pancake obsession over on the Pineapple Coconut Pancake post (and see what I called them as a child…haha…).
Back to these Lemon Mascarpone Pancakes. I don’t think I will ever make another pancake – especially to brighten up snowy days, celebrate with a spring brunch, or indulge on a summer morning. Or VALENTINE’S DAY – yes, breakfast in bed please!
My mom makes some delectable Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, so when I had some leftover mascarpone from testing Cannoli Brownies, I had ONE thing in mind.
PANCAKES!
And here we are, the recipe in hand because it turned out SO AMAZING.
What is Mascarpone?
The question you might be wondering before we get too far into it…
Mascarpone Cheese is simply put, similar to the Italian cream cheese. Although creamier and more rich. So basically it’s sinful.
Naturally adding it to pancake batter results in THE most melt-in-your-mouth pancakes.
And the lemon… both lemon zest and lemon juice… adds such a brightness to the pancakes that balances out the richness of the mascarpone pancakes. And hello, lemon is just too good.
ESPECIALLY when paired with strawberries. Speaking of…
How to Make Strawberry Sauce
Team maple syrup is strong. We all know the joy of pouring thick maple syrup onto a super-sized stack of pancakes, but strawberry syrup? With Lemon? With mascarpone pancakes?
Get outta here.
It’s amazing.
I mean, I’m a huge strawberry fan regardless, sooooo, that could make me bias, but c’mon strawberries, and lemon, and creamy mascarpone? WIN.
This strawberry sauce is so dang easy to make, too. Worried about it not being strawberry season (me TOO!)? Frozen strawberries work perfectly.
The strawberries, lemon juice, a little water, and sugar just simmer together over a burner while you make the pancakes.
Bada-bing, bada-boom. Seriously, that easy.
And there’s no reason to not make them for your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day. Even if that sweetheart is you. Self-love is beautiful!
Get the Recipe Lemon Mascarpone Pancakes with Strawberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 lemon, zested, and juiced (~2 TBSP), divided
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup mascarpone, room temperature
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 2 Tablespoon water
- 4 Tablespoon sugar
- 16 oz. frozen whole strawberries
Instructions
- Combine 1 TBSP sugar with lemon zest and rub between fingers to release the oil from the zest and infuse the sugar. Add flour, baking powder, and salt; stir to combine.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together egg, room temerapture mascarpone, milk, cooled melted butter, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
- Mix the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined. Let sit while the pan heats up over medium-high. Place approximately 1/4 cup of batter on a buttered griddle; wait until bubbles appear on the batter’s surface, and pop, then flip. You’ll want to lower the heat to medium, or medium-low as the pan continues to heat.
- Strawberry Sauce: before beginning the pancakes, or as the pancakes cook, add 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 tablespoons water, 4 tablespoons sugar, and the strawberries to a medium-high saucepan over medium heat. Simmer for approximately 10 minutes until strawberries soften. Mash the strawberries gently with the back of a spoon to desired consistency. The longer you simmer, and once the sauce cools, it will thicken.
- Once pancakes are cooked, serve with warm strawberry sauce. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
Love love love ricotta in pancakes but the mascarpone is an EVEN BETTER call! So yummy with all that strawberry goodness!
Absolutely! I thought, ricotta works, why woudn’t mascarpone be amazing – and it is!!! Thanks for commenting, Sara! 🙂
So genius putting mascarpone in pancakes!! I can only imagine how light and fluffy these babies are <3
I couldn’t believe I hadn’t tried it until this year – they just melt in your mouth!
This was pretty freaking amazing. Because we have a child with celiacs, we use gluten free flour. They weren’t so fluffy after they came off the griddle but the flavour was definitely there. I will be making these again in the future.
So glad you enjoyed the flavors! Also good to know about using GF flour! Thanks so much for commenting!
This was fantastic!!!! Perfectly fluffy, light and lemony and just enough velvety mascarpone !!! This recipe is a keeper !!!! Thank you Becca !!!
Yay! I’m so glad to hear you loved them. Thanks so much, Bri!
Fluffy, buttery pancakes that melt in your mouth! Very happy with how they turned out!!
I’m so glad to hear! Thanks so much, Monica!
Disappointing …sad, flat pancakes with runny sauce despite following the recipe to the letter:-(
Sorry to hear they didn’t turn out for you, Julie. Thanks for your feedback. Since it sounds like they didn’t rise, the first thing I’d recommend is checking your baking powder. If you try the sauce again, I’d recommend simmering a bit longer. It isn’t intended to be a thick sauce, but will thicken more as it simmers then cools.