How to Make Blintzes That Are Absolutely Perfect
Updated: Dec. 14, 2022
Don't flip out! Learn how to make blintzes with this easy, step-by-step-guide.
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Pancakes, crepes and waffles get a lot of love. (Just like these top-rated breakfast recipes). However, if you’ve never tried blintzes before you’ve been missing out and need to get them in your life ASAP. Keep reading as we walk you through how to make blintzes that are filled with a luscious cream filling and topped with a sweet cherry sauce.
What Are Blintzes?
If you’ve never had (or heard of) a blintz before, they’re the Jewish cousin of the French crepe. Both crepes and blintzes resemble ultra-thin pancakes that can be made with either a sweet or savory filling. (Psst! These are the Jewish foods everyone should learn how to cook).
Where the two differ is that blintzes are typically smaller and fluffier than crepes. A higher egg and butter content makes blintzes a bit richer than crepes as well. Additionally, blintzes traditionally are cooked twice. First in a skillet to cook the blintz batter and then cooked again, by either baking or frying, once they’ve been filled and rolled.
How to Make Blintzes
Ingredients
For the Batter:
- 1-1/2 cups 2% milk
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the Filling:
- 1 cup 4% fat cottage cheese
- 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Cherry Sauce:
- 1 pound frozen pitted sweet cherries, thawed with their juices
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Tools You’ll Need
In terms of kitchen equipment, blintzes don’t require anything fancy. You likely have everything already in your cupboards. Mixing bowls, a whisk, measuring cups and spoons are the basic kitchen items you’ll need. From there, you really just need three other essential items to make perfect blintzes.
- To make the filling for traditional cheese blintzes, you’ll need a simple food processor to blend the ingredients into a silky, smooth filling. If you don’t own a food processor, you could also use an immersion blender or traditional blender to get the job done.
- A small, six- to eight-inch skillet is essential for making perfectly uniform blintzes. Using a skillet that’s too large will cause the blintzes to either vary in size or be thinner than desired. A nonstick or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet works best to ensure the blintzes can be easily flipped.
- After cooking the blintzes, they’ll need to cool before filling. For best results, we recommend transferring them to a wire cooling rack and separating stacks of cooked blintzes between layers of paper towel, waxed paper or parchment. The wire racks help ensure the blintzes cool properly without becoming soggy.
- Once the blintzes are filled and rolled, they can either be baked or fried. If you’re frying, you can simply reuse the small skillet you cooked them in initially. If you’re baking them, like in the recipe we’re sharing today, an oven-safe 15×10 or 13×9 casserole dish will be needed to finish the blintzes in the oven.
Step 1: Prepare the Batter
In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs and melted butter. Next, add the flour and salt; and mix well until smooth and no lumps remain. Cover and refrigerate for two hours.
Step 2: Make the Filling
While the batter chills, prepare the cheese filling. In a food processor, blend the cottage cheese until smooth. Then, add the softened cream cheese, sugar and vanilla and pulse until creamy. Cover and chill until ready to use. Use your food processor with these other delicious recipes, too.
Step 3: Cook the Blintzes
When the batter is ready, remove it from the fridge and heat a lightly greased eight-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Then quickly pour two tablespoons batter into the center of the hot skillet. Working quickly, lift and tilt pan to evenly coat the bottom of the skillet. Use a flexible spatula to shape the edges of the blintz into an even circle. Cook until the top appears set and almost dry.
Editor’s tip: Make sure to measure the batter (don’t eyeball it) as you add it to the pan. This will ensure the blintzes are the proper thickness. Too thin and blintzes will tear while folding or get too dark while cooking. Too thick and they won’t cook properly and will be hard to fill and fold. Learn how to measure ingredients for better baking, too.
Step 4: Flip
Next, carefully flip the blintz over. For best results use a thin, flexible silicone or rubber spatula. (See which spatula our Test Kitchen loves). Once flipped, gently reshape so the blintz is flat and then cook for 15-20 seconds longer.
Editor’s tip: In testing, we found using a single wooden or plastic chopstick to help lift and pull the blintz onto the spatula for flipping to be a great trick to prevent tearing and get enough blintz onto the spatula for easy, clean flipping every time.
Step 5: Allow Blintzes to Cool
Remove the cooked blintzes to a wire rack. Repeat step three with the remaining batter. When all the blintzes have been cooked, stack them with waxed paper, parchment or paper towels in between. Then gently wrap in foil and refrigerate until fully cooled.
Step 6: Fill and Fold
When the blintzes have fully cooled, take a single blintz and spread about a heaping tablespoonful of filling onto the lower third of each blintz. Fold the bottom edge up followed by opposite sides. Then fold the top edge down, over the filling to form a little bundle. Place the blintzes seam side down in a greased 15×10 baking pan (13×9 will work, too).
Step 7: Bake
When all the blintzes have been filled, bake, uncovered, at 350° for 10 minutes or until heated through.
Step 8: Make the Cherry Sauce
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, bring thawed frozen cherries and sugar to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for five minutes or until heated through. Then, in a separate bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and water until smooth. Stir into the cherry mixture and bring to a boil. Cook and stir for two minutes or until thickened. If the sauce is too thick, add 1/4 cup of water gradually until the desired thickness is reached.
Step 9: Serve
To serve, plate three or four warm blintzes on a plate and top with a few heaping spoonfuls of cherry sauce. Garnish with whipped cream or confectioners’ sugar, if desired, and enjoy.
How to Make This Recipe Your Own
While cheese blintzes are perhaps most traditional, there are countless ways to make this recipe your own and adjust it to your family’s taste preferences.
- Other fruit toppings: If you like the cheese filling but are not a fan of cherries, swap in any other type of fruit. Strawberries, blueberries or apples with cinnamon are all great options.
- Add fruit inside: Lighten up the blintzes by skipping the heavy cream filling and instead put your favorite fruit filling on the inside of each blintz. Use a store-bought pie filling or make your own. The options are nearly endless. Leave plain or top with Greek yogurt and a drizzle of honey.
- Make savory blintzes: Potatoes are a popular filling choice for savory blintzes (breakfast pierogis anyone?). Whip up a batch of your favorite mashed potatoes and fold in fresh herbs, sauteed mushrooms, spinach and even some cheese for a hearty blintz breakfast.
What to Serve with Blintzes
Traditionally, you will see blintzes served with poached or smoked fish and some sort of fruit or green salad in Jewish homes on holidays. Sometimes an egg dish like a frittata or strata may also be served alongside blintzes.
However, feel free to serve your blintzes with other traditional American breakfast sides as well such as bacon, sausage, hash browns or fried eggs. Like pancakes, it’s hard to go wrong when building a delicious blintz feast for your weekend brunch.
Next up: Learn to make another global spin on the breakfast classic: fluffy Japanese pancakes.
