There are certain foods that I never eat prepared in a certain way, but truly enjoy when prepared in another. Tomatoes for instance– I avoid them sliced in a sandwich, but savor them roasted as a side dish. I am certainly particular about eggs– never scrambled or fried, but poached or soft-boiled is quite alright with me. And cottage cheese I cannot do served plain, or worse yet, garnished with a pineapple ring– but blended into batter for morning flapjacks, sounds perfect to me.

Saturday morning I was watching cooking shows on PBS, when Everyday Food came on. A cheery, dark haired woman in a solid-colored, red t-shirt (because each member of the cast always wears, coordinating, solid-colors shirts– no patterns here!) was frying up a batch of these Cottage Cheese Pancakes, as a healthy alternative to the typical, dense buttermilk sort. And the pancakes actually looked good to me, light, yet crisp around the edges, drizzled with pure maple syrup, and served with fresh, ripe strawberries, I knew that this would be on the menu for Sunday brunch.

I changed the recipe a tad, making the pancakes a little less dietetic by using whole eggs rather than egg whites, and using a cottage cheese that was slightly higher in fat content. The pancakes were superb, spongy and airy, not too heavy and dense like I find in the traditional buttermilk varieties. Subtly sweet, kissed with both a modicum of sugar, and some pure vanilla extract, these flapjacks were quickly gobbled up in no time.

And the cottage cheese was a welcome addition, adding body to the dish. Now you won’t catch me inhaling those milky curds by themselves, but mix up a batch of Cottage Cheese Pancakes, and I will gladly partake.