Cottage Cheese Pancakes With Orange Butter Sauce

I fell in love with this dish from my friend Hilary C. at a breakfast recipe exchange several years ago. It is delicious and hearty. I get easily overwhelmed by traditional pancakes and usually start looking for the bacon and eggs after a few bites to counteract my sugar-headache; I can eat a dozen of these without feeling sugared out. The high-protein content of these pancakes combines very well with the sweetness of the orange sauce, or any syrup really. The pancakes have a beautiful texture and they do not taste "eggy".

Pancakes

6 eggs

2 cups of cottage cheese

1 or 1 and 1/2 cups flour

Mix together in a blender until smooth. You might have to stir a few times with the power off to make sure it is blending thoroughly. *Update: I now blend the eggs and cottage cheese in a blender -- without the flour. Then pour the mixture into a bowl. Add flour and use a handmixer to beat until smooth. Use a 1/4 cup scoop to make 15 pancakes. Drop onto the griddle and spread it out a little with a spoon. Makes 15 pancakes at 98 calories each.

Pour on griddle and cook on medium heat. These take a litte longer than normal pancakes. Cook till golden brown. Makes approximately 16 4-inch pancake medallions. They reheat just fine in the microwave! A nice make-ahead breakfast.

Orange Sauce*

2 eggs

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup orange juice (Simply Orange is kinda pricey, but it really does have the orangey-est result. I use any kind of oj and it tastes delicious!)

4 T grated orange peel (optional: I have never done this because I never have spare oranges on hand --and I'm lazy-- but it may add even more to the yummy orangeness and I plan to do it some day)

Melt butter and sugar in saucepan, being careful not to let it burn. Add orange juice and set mixture aside to cool for 5+ minutes. Add eggs. Bring to little bubbly boil and boil for one minute stirring constantly. Remove from heat, pour sauce through a strainer to catch any eggs you accidentally scrambled. I would add the orange peel here (if you are going to use it), since it will get strained out if you do it earlier. Then warm the sauce again for another minute or so. Serve over cottage cheese pancakes.

*Sauce can be frozen and scooped out of freezer bag in desired serving increments if you make this in large enough quantities that you want to save it for a later date. Just reheat on stove or in microwave.