Reduced Carb Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes

     Hey y'all! Well I'm here today to give y'all your next recipe and let me tell you...this one was a hit with my family! My 3 year old (who is quite picky at times) even gobbled these up! About two weeks ago, I had some ricotta in my fridge that needed to be used soon or else it would go to waste.  I looked in my freezer to get an idea of what I had lying around and saw some frozen blueberries and thought...hmmmm, let's see what I can do with this. I started researching online and came up with so many recipes that involved using ricotta and blueberries in pancakes.  I know that most people don't think of ricotta when they think about pancakes, but the nice thing about ricotta is that it naturally has a somewhat bland taste and therefore can be used in so many dishes! However, while looking at all the recipes, I didn't see one that just caught my eye to the point that I wanted to use it....so, I decided that I would (with the help of looking at several of the recipes to get me started) devise my own from the ones that I saw online.  Yes, I knew that this was going to be a kind of a risk since I was in a way, putting it together myself, and had no idea of how it was going to turn out, but I figured I didn't have much to lose...except a few ingredients...so I proceeded ; )! Obviously, they came out great or otherwise I wouldn't be sharing this recipe ; )!
     If you haven't learned this so far about me, I am constantly looking for ways to alter recipes so they are healthier, but are not sacrificing taste.  With this recipe, I was able to make it a reduced carb (note: not low carb) version from how they would be made originally...and they still tasted fantastic! I substituted 25% of the flour with almond flour (1/4 cup of regular white flour has 23 grams of carbohydrates and less then 1 gram of fiber vs 1/4 cup of almond flour that has 6 grams of carbohydrates and 3 grams of fiber....almond flour does have more fat; however keep in mind that almonds are full of healthy fats) and instead of using milk or buttermilk, I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk (1 cup of 2% milk has 12 grams of carbohydrates and 0 grams of fiber vs 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk that has 2 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of fiber). Plus, I added 2 tbs of milled flax seed which gave it an additional nutritional boost!

Ingredients

• 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 cup finely ground almond flour (I found mine at Whole Foods)
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 2 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbs baking soda
• 4 tbs packed brown sugar
• 4 tbs yellow cornmeal
• 2 tbs milled flax seed
• 3 1/2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 4 eggs, well beaten
• 2 cups part skim ricotta (well drained)
• 2 2/3 cups frozen wild blueberries (I used organic...do not thaw!)

Directions

1. Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and using a wish attachment on your blender, whisk together to break up the chunks of brown sugar and to thoroughly mix the ingredients.
2. Add almond milk and eggs and with blender attachments, mix until blended. The mix should not be completely smooth...a lump here or there is desirable in pancake mix : )
3. Quickly add the ricotta and stir in briefly. Do not completely mix to the point it is smooth...you want to be able to see my pieces of ricotta in the final product.
4. Gently fold in the blueberries til they are distributed throughout the batter.
5. On a thick oiled (either with cooking oil or nonstick spray) non stick griddle heated to medium high, (I put batter in a measuring cup with a spout to pour the batter out of) pour some batter out on pan (these pancakes are denser due to the ricotta and will spread so be sure not to overcrowd them)
6. Flip the pancakes over when bubbles begin to rise  to the surface. These pancakes will take a bit longer then traditional pancakes to cook due to the ricotta in them (you want the ricotta to be heated too) so be sure to give them enough time to cook through once flipped over. The edges will be lightly browned and toasted.
7. Serve however you deem necessary  ( :  (we use a bit of sugar free syrup or simply by themselves as is!)

Hope y'all enjoy these as much as my family & I did! Let me know how it goes!!!