This recipe is one of my favorites for skim milk. Of course blintz will come out even better from whole milk, but I find this recipe to be the best use for skim milk I have left after cream separation.
I hesitated about including this recipe to my book The Art of Clabber due to the flipping of pancakes. They are so thin they will not flip with a spatula, only with a dull knife and fingers. I will describe the technique I use below.
It's a little challenging at first but try this recipe. Blintzs come out so thin and delicious and can be filled with meat or cottage cheese, served with jam or just fruits and whipped cream, have melted cheese and ham as filling, served with salted wild salmon and sour cream, mushrooms in a creamy sauce, or just sprinkled with lemon juice and sugar.
This is my family's favorite Sunday breakfast.
Servings: 30 blintzes
Ingredients:
For the Blintzes:
2 cups (16.9 oz) milk (at room temperature)
3 medium size eggs
2 tablespoons sugar (or less for a slightly sweet taste)
1 1/2 cups (6.7 oz) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons melted butter or lard or good quality olive oil.
A pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For Greasing:
7 tablespoons (3.5 oz) melted butter
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Use a cast iron frying pan.
It is a little heavy but works the best.
Whisk eggs with sugar, add salt, vanilla, and about 6.8 oz of milk. Milk should be at room temperature.
Only add some of the milk at a time. Mixing in the flour and dissolving all the flour crumbs will be difficult.
Mix in the flour gradually, making sure the batter is smooth. Add the rest of the milk, melted butter, or lard when the batter is smooth and without flour crumbs.
Mix well.
When the batter is ready for frying, its consistency should be very liquid, like liquid yogurt mixed with a bit of water.
The frying pan has to be very hot. I fry them on high heat, and they have to go quickly, so once you start frying, you will pour the batter on a frying pan, flip it, and make another one. Sometimes, I use two frying pans simultaneously to make them faster. There is enough time for one side to fry as you pour a new portion of batter for frying on the other pan.
Cut a potato in half and put it on a fork.
Dip it in melted ghee butter and grease the pan all over. My grandmother always used this method and told me it prevents the blintz from sticking. I have always used this method, and it works like a charm.
There should be no running grease on the pan; it should just be evenly greased.
Wait till the pan is very hot.
Take the pan by the handle in one hand and a ladle half-filled with batter in another. As you move the pan clockwise in a circular motion, pour the batter onto the pan. The batter should evenly cover the surface of the pan.
Place on high heat. Remember that frying on one side takes only 15-20 seconds. There should be many bubbles forming on the dough as it fries.
To flip easily, I find the side that cooks the fastest, take a dull knife, and lift that edge off of the pan so it cools a little before I pick it up.
Then, I take that edge with both hands, peel the blintz off the pan, and flip it on the other side. It may sound complicated, but it is not once you get the technique.
Fry on the other side for another 20 seconds, and remove. Now you can flip the pan over, and the blintz falls off. Put on a plate, grease with melted butter with a brush, and repeat.
If the batter came out correctly, each blintz would be very thin, airy, and have many tiny holes.
Fry all of them, and now you can fill them with different fillings, wrap them like burritos, or serve them with sugar and lemon.
Note: Stuffed blintzes can be frozen and reheated on a frying pan before serving.
Find more such recipes in my book: The Art of Clabber: Applying Nose to Tail Philosophy to Dairy.
The book, printed by Sawdust Publishing in 2025 is a tribute to my Ukrainian roots. It is a practical guide to fermented dairy and cookbook: a comprehensive source for anyone eager to embrace the skill of fermented dairy and sustainable cooking.
