Oh how I love a tall stack of pancakes! They get me going. Honestly, I’ve come to realize in the past year or so that pancakes are one of my favorite foods. Something about them – about the whole pancake process, in fact – just makes me happy. And these strawberry and chocolate chunk studded ricotta pancakes, with a hearty drizzle of syrup, are destined to make any morning just a little better. Oooooh yes, they are that good.

My decision to make these thick, rich, and absolutely amazing pancakes was based solely upon that fact that we had no milk left in the fridge (except for a 1/4 cup of the almond variety, which I did use), and I really – really – wanted pancakes. I mindlessly rummaged through our fridge as I usually do when trying to “develop” a recipe, and found a pint of less than perfect strawberries and a half eaten GIANT hershey’s bar. Well, well, well…! What could be better in a ricotta pancake than chocolate and berries? I do believe it was fate. At this point I began to worry just how many I would be inhaling hot off the skillet…

The exact number was 3. It could have been worse.

I want to take a quick moment to say that even if you don’t like ricotta cheese (…?), I highly believe you’ll still love these pancakes. Truly, they are some of the best we’ve ever consumed! And C is a bit of a snob about pancakes, so his praise means a lot on this one. The cheese also doesn’t translate into a flavor as much as it adds texture and almost a – dare I say – cheesecake quality to these flapjacks. Just trust me on this.

Now, about the strawberries. In the days of high Summer, fresh, plump, vivacious berries are easy to come by. However, if you’re currently experiencing this Spring-that-still-feels-like-WINTER thing that has pretty much swallowed up the entire East Coast, you’re probably not finding them at the market just yet. So feel free to use frozen berries! They’re much more affordable that way. Or you can be like me and use fresh but less than amazing ones that will still be luscious and tasty once they’ve been cooked up in the center of a pancake. Basically, you have a lot of strawberry options 😉

As you may have noticed I chose to top this tall stack of pancakes with MORE strawberries, chocolate, and tons of syrup. Aren’t you intrigued? I mean, what could be better than chocolate and strawberries on chocolate and strawberries? I call this living large.

In conclusion to my mad pancake rambling, I will just say this… go ahead and make these pancakes for someone you love. Pile them high, silently slide them across the table, and watch the wonder set in. Just be prepared for the googly eyes that will inevitably come shining your way, friend. These pancakes are like a chocolate and strawberry laced love spell.

So be careful you serve them to the right mate 😉 xoxo