When I asked my husband what his ideal breakfast-in-bed for Father’s Day would be he took a moment to think, and then his eyes lit up: a pancake wrap. Our local diner in Jersey City–the Brownstone Diner (just a dangerous few blocks from our apartment)–is famous for their perfect fluffy pancakes and their pancake wraps, which they stuff with eggs, cheese, potatoes, bacon, and an array of other delicious items. They were even featured on The Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives”! I knew this was going to be a fun dish to try and recreate.
I will warn you, making the large pancake to stuff might be daunting, but it is far from impossible. So here’s a few tips. If you have one of those nice, flat top griddles, pull it out of the closet and use it for this. I used a large pan and it worked fine, but a nice flat top griddle would have been more ideal.
Remember that time I made a frittata, then dropped it and had to put it back together but it still tasted delicious? This is sort of like that. If the pancake doesn’t flip perfectly, don’t scar your children and start throwing things and cursing. (Not that I’ve ever done that.) Just kind of piece it back together–it will still taste awesome when you put serve it.
Whether you are actually bringing breakfast in bed to your husband (um, I am definitely not) or making a breakfast for the whole family to enjoy, this dish is one-of-a-kind and totally different. It’s a little salty, and a little sweet, and 100 percent delicious.
INGREDIENTS
Servings: 2 large pancake wraps, 4-6 servings
For the pancakes:
2 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk, shaken
2 cups whole milk ricotta
2 large eggs
For the eggs:
6 large eggs
½ cup milk or half-n-half
Salt and pepper
¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese
For serving:
Additional butter (optional)
Maple syrup
DIRECTIONS
To make the pancakes, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In another large bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, ricotta, and eggs.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until batter is just blended but still lumpy. Don’t overmix.
In another large bowl, whisk together eggs and milk.
Heat butter on a griddle or large pan over medium heat.
Pour half the batter to form one large pancake. Cook until bubbles begin to break on the surface, about 3 minutes, but make sure to watch as you do this. Using two large spatulas, turn the pancake over to cook on the other side.
While pancake finishes cooking, cook eggs as you would scrambled eggs on low-medium heat. As eggs are finishing cooking, add shredded cheese on top. Season with salt and pepper.
Remove pancake from the griddle and place on a platter. When eggs are finished cooking, split into two servings and place half into the first wrap. Carefully and gently roll the pancake to form a wrap around the eggs.
Repeat with second pancake and place other half of eggs inside the wrap.
Serve with additional butter if desired and maple syrup.
