Desk for One is a column by Senior Editor Eric Kim, who loves cooking for himself—and solely himself—and seeks to rejoice the great thing about solitude in its many varieties.

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I’ve determined just lately to take breakfast extra critically (most necessary meal of the day and all that). Often I do a reasonably good job of the ritual: a single six-minute egg will get me began, Monday by Friday—although typically, sadly, I solely handle a cup of black espresso earlier than I rush out the door.

Weekends permit for a little bit extra leisure. I like a quiet Saturday or Sunday morning, getting up with out an alarm clock, placing on a pot of espresso, and pouring myself some orange juice. I lay out the Sunday crossword, too (as a result of studying supplies). Then, I flip to the range and make myself pancakes.

This pancake recipe happened one morning after I was rummaging by my fridge and located a small container of leftover cottage cheese, the remnants clinging to the corners for expensive life. Utilizing the container as a makeshift mixing bowl, I whisked an egg into it, together with flour, baking powder, salt, and a little bit sugar.

This last-minute batter yielded precisely two pancakes, which turned out to be the excellent variety of muffins to eat (particularly whenever you’ve bought different scrumptious accoutrements like bacon, eggs, and strawberries to go along with).

Now, I am right here to confess that the “proper” variety of pancakes to eat in a single sitting is a really subjective matter. To every their very own. I polled a whole lot of of us about this: Many stated 4 is the minimal for a very good stack (which is what the recipe above yields). Most stated three is the perfect quantity to really feel satiated. Some folks agreed with me and stated that two is simply proper, which is the variety of pancakes I are likely to eat earlier than I get uninterested in them.

This leads me to my foremost level: I am a waffle man. (Sorry.) In my e-book, pancakes ordinarily simply do not have that a lot going for them. And I am not speaking about chewy mochi pancakes, or savory scallion pancakes, and even rose-scented pancakes with saffron syrup. I am speaking about your run-of-the-mill Bisquick-style state of affairs.

Which is the place cottage cheese is available in. Due to that one opportune morning after I added these leftover curds to my batter (or reasonably, added my batter to these leftover curds), I now lastly have a pancake recipe that even I, a waffle individual, can get behind.

I am keen on what cottage cheese—which is, unfairly in my view, usually maligned—does for the standard griddle cake: It provides indelible lightness and air, because the cheese takes up literal quantity (you may see proof of this within the photograph of the pancake’s cross part above). The muffins, in flip, are fluffy and springy and addictive to eat. However the curds lend their very own tangy, tacky taste, as properly, albeit subtly.

What this implies is that these pancakes, particularly when paired with the maple syrup–macerated strawberries, style not not like the lovechild of strawberry cheesecake (in taste) and Japanese cheesecake (in texture).

These are, I am daring sufficient to assert, pancakes for individuals who do not love pancakes.

A Observe About Serving Dimension

The quantities you see within the recipe above prove 4 pancakes, every about Four to five inches in diameter—which, when coupled with the mapled strawberries, is a considerable breakfast by itself.

However must you need extra selection together with your meal (bacon, eggs, and all that jazz), this is the identical recipe halved, making precisely two pancakes:

Substances

• 1/Three cup cottage cheese
• 1 giant egg
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1 pinch kosher salt
• Three tablespoons all-purpose flour
• half of teaspoon baking powder
• Unsalted butter, for frying pancakes

Instructions

Whisk collectively the cottage cheese, egg, sugar, and salt till gentle and fluffy (a little bit air right here will really assist them leaven later as they prepare dinner). Stir within the flour and baking powder. Utilizing a 1/3-cup measure, ladle two pancakes right into a heated, butter-greased nonstick skillet. Allow them to prepare dinner 2 to three minutes on the primary aspect, then 1 to 2 minutes on the second aspect (these do not take lengthy in any respect).

Take pleasure in with maple syrup and a aspect order of bacon, soft-scrambled eggs, and strawberries.

What number of pancakes are you able to eat in a single sitting? Tell us within the feedback under.