These cheese blintzes are thin pancakes filled with a creamy cheese mixture, then pan fried until golden brown. A classic recipe that’s great when served with fresh fruit or berry sauce!
Whenever I’m hosting a brunch, I offer family favorites such as sausage casserole, french toast casserole, baked oatmeal and these irresistible homemade cheese blintzes.
I happen to love cheese blintzes, that creamy filling inside a paper thin pancake gets me every time! This homemade blintz recipe is so much better than blintzes from the freezer section of the grocery store, an it’s actually quite easy to make this delicacy at home.
Where do cheese blintzes come from?
It is thought that blintzes originated from Central and Eastern European countries, especially among Jewish populations, and became popular in other parts of the world during the 1800’s.
How do you make cheese blintzes?
Start by preparing your pancake batter which is a combination of flour, milk, sugar and eggs. Puree the batter in a blender until it’s smooth. Let the batter rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, then proceed with making the pancakes. Pour a small amount of batter into a hot pan, then swirl the batter around to coat the bottom of the pan. Repeat the process with the remaining batter until you have a stack of pancakes. While the pancakes are cooking, prepare the filling by mixing together ricotta cheese, cream cheese, sugar and lemon. Place a dollop of the cheese filling onto each pancake, then fold up the filling inside the pancake. Chill the blintzes in the freezer for a few minutes until they’re firm. The final step is to pan fry the blintzes in butter until they’re golden brown. Add a drizzle of raspberry sauce if desired, then serve and enjoy.
Are crepes and blintzes the same thing?
Crepes and blintzes are very similar dishes. They both involve thin pancakes made of virtually identical ingredients, wrapped around fillings. Typically blintzes contain a sweet filling, whereas crepes could have either sweet or savory fillings. Blintzes are also pan fried, which typically does not occur with crepes.
Tips for the perfect meal
- Use a measuring cup when portioning out batter for the pancakes so that they all end up the same size and thickness.
- After your pour the batter in the pan, quickly swirl it around to coat the bottom for the thinnest pancakes.
- The pancakes and filling can both be prepared up to one day in advance. You can even do all of the folding a day ahead of time, and simply pan fry the cheese blintzes right before you’re ready to eat.
- I prefer to chill my blintzes before I cook them in the pan, I find that they hold together better this way, and it keeps the cheese mixture from oozing out into the pan.
- Blintzes can be frozen for up to 2 months. I recommend baking them from frozen, then finishing them in a pan of melted butter to crisp up the outside.
Flavor Variations
While this recipe is fantastic as-is, feel free to change up some of the ingredients to customize the flavors to your tastes.
- Cheese: This recipe is often made with farmer’s cheese, which can be difficult to locate. I used a blend of ricotta and cream cheeses because they taste great and are widely available. If you prefer, you can use farmer’s cheese or a small curd cottage cheese.
- Fillings: While cheese is the most common filling for blintzes, I’ve also enjoyed this delicacy stuffed with cooked fruit such as blueberries, cherries and apples.
- Toppings: I typically top my blintzes with homemade raspberry or blueberry sauce, as well as a few fresh berries. Other great options include sweetened sour cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, bananas or sauteed apples.
Once you see how delicious homemade cheese blintzes are, you’ll never buy the store bought variety again!
More brunch favorites to try
Cheese Blintzes Video
Cheese Blintzes
Ingredients
For the pancakes
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups milk (I use 1%)
- 4 large eggs
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter divided use, plus more for coating the pan
For the filling
- 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For serving
- 1 recipe raspberry sauce
- 1 cup fresh berries
- mint sprigs for garnish
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Instructions
For the pancakes
- Pour flour, sugar, salt, milk, eggs, and 3 tablespoons of melted butter into a blender.
- Puree until mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds. Let batter sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before you use it.
- Heat a 10-inch nonstick skillet on medium heat. Lightly coat with additional butter. Add 1/4 cup batter and swirl to completely cover bottom of skillet. Cook until underside of pancake is golden brown, 2-3 minutes.
- Loosen edge of pancake with a spatula, then with your fingertips, quickly flip. Cook 1 minute more. Slide pancake out of skillet and repeat with remaining batter.
For the filling
- Place the filling ingredients in a bowl, then stir until well combined.
For assembly
- Lay a pancake out on a flat surface. Place 3 tablespoons of the filling onto the pancake, about 1 inch away from the bottom of the pancake.
- Fold the bottom edge over the filling. Fold both sides in, then gently roll the blintz all the way up. Repeat the process with remaining pancakes and filling.
- Place the blintzes in the freezer for 10-15 minutes or until firm,
- Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter in a skillet. Place the blintzes in the skillet in a single layer and cook for 4 minutes per side or until golden brown. You may need to work in batches.
- Serve the blintzes with raspberry sauce, powdered sugar and berries. Garnish with mint sprigs if desired.
Can the completed blintzes be made ahead of time and cooked just prior to serving?
Yes that’s fine!
Can left over filling (cottage cheese and cream cheese) be frozen for later use?
Yes that’s fine!
I made these today. Followed the recipe exactly. Except they stayed in the freezer for a few hours. They were delicious, but the filling oozed out when we cut into them. I’ve had blintz in restaurants and from the freezer section of my grocery store. The filling was soft in those but not liquified.
Any idea what went wrong? Should I have drained the ricotta? Used less sugar?
You can drain the ricotta if you prefer a thicker filling. Frozen blintzes (and often restaurant blintzes since they’re typically from frozen!) contain some different ingredients than this recipe. For example, they often use farmer’s cheese which is a firmer, drier cheese but this is extremely hard to find in regular grocery stores, which is why I wrote the recipe without farmer’s cheese. I also took a quick peek at the nutrition label on frozen blintzes and some of the major brands also add farina which is basically cream of wheat cereal and would be a thicker filling. I hope this helps!
These look yummy! Can you freeze them?
Yes that should be fine!
Wow did these blintzes come out amazing!
Delicious!!!!
I have never given these a try until now and I have been missing out! This was such an easy, yet elegant serving for brunch; my whole family loved them!
My kids love to make something fun for breakfast on the weekends and these cheese blintzes were a big hit! We will definitely be making them again soon.
What a treat! Blintzes are so much easier to make than traditional crepes and I loved the cheese filling. We used blueberry sauce because that’s what we had on hand, and they were divine!
These delicious cheese blintzes make a wonderful breakfast or great for family brunches.
I’ve never had cheese blintzes before, but these look absolutely fantastic! Plus, anything cooked in butter is good in my book!
These cheese blintzes were absolutely perfect for brunch this past weekend!! We served it with some fresh fruit and honey and it was amazing!
These cheese blintzes are so tasty! Perfect for a little side dish. Thanks for the recipe!
These cheese blintzes look incredible! Such beautiful styling! I love how you used a mixture of ricotta and cream cheese for the filling.
Those were delicious and I remember mom making these when I was a kid so they brought me back some wonderful memories
My kids love these blintzes for an after-school snack. So tasty.