It's Too Yummy Tuesday!
On select Tuesdays I share delicious recipes either inspired by my books or that are just plain delicious!
Last week, I shared a recipe for cheesecake that I made for my husband's birthday. I had half a package of cream cheese plus half a can of cherry pie filling left over, and I wanted to find a way to use them up this week. So I decided to make blintzes, something I hadn't done in like fifteen years. I grew up eating blintzes, which are basically stuffed crepes, and I perfected my own recipe over years of trying out different versions. Sadly, my handwritten recipe book was destroyed in a flood, but I was determined this week to recreate the splendor once again. The results were a big hit--my husband invited me to make these whenever I want, preferably every morning for his breakfast. LOL.
Don't be scared off at the thought of making crepes. They are so easy and quick to do in this recipe! No crepe pan needed, and you don't even have to flip them in the skillet. I made the entire recipe in 30 minutes. Okay, not counting the fact that I made my own ricotta cheese for the filling, since I didn't have any. That will be next week's recipe! (And the ricotta only took 5 minutes of actual work.)
The trick to these blintzes is to use a small nonstick skillet and spray with a generous spritz of cooking spray before pouring in batter (wipe out pan between each crepe and re-spritz). Make sure the pan stays hot, but not too hot or crepes will brown/burn. Water dropped in skillet should sizzle, but not spit at you and jump out of the pan. If your pan gets too hot while making crepes, remove from heat, run under water for 1 second, and wipe dry before returning to heat. Do the water drop test and the temp should be perfect again.
This recipe made 8 blintzes, 2 for each of us plus 2 extra for my lunchbox the next day. (Yay!) This amount fit my large skillet perfectly for the last step. If you need to double the recipe, fry your blintzes in 2 batches or in 2 large skillets.
Ingredients
Crepes
1/2 cup flour, sifted
2 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
Filling
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup ricotta cheese, preferably drained for 30 minutes over a colander (line with cheesecloth or layers of heavy duty paper towels)
4 Tbsp sugar or to taste
1/2 tsp vanilla
Toppings
1/2 can cherry pie filling
and
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Directions
Make Topping: Stir together sugar and cinnamon until combined; set aside. (Heat cherry pie filling about 30-60 seconds in microwave about 5 minutes before serving.)
Make filling: Cream ingredients together until well combined and smooth. Set aside while making crepes.
Make crepes: Combine crepe ingredients in medium bowl and beat. Use an electric mixer on low speed, or a wire whisk by hand until the batter is smooth. (You don't want lumps like you tend to get with pancake batter. You want to wind up with a very thin batter, smooth, free of lumps, and with just a few air bubbles around the sides of the bowl.) If the batter seems too thick to flow easily around your pan, add 1 tsp of water at a time to the desired consistency.
Heat a small skillet until a water drop sizzles. Spray pan with cooking spray. Pour in a scant 1/3 cup of batter (I use a bit over 3/4 full in a 1/3 cup measure); tilt pan immediately so batter covers the bottom evenly. Let crepe cook about 1 minute, just until you see the top dry out (it can feel a bit sticky to the touch, but not wet). Don't walk away--this goes quick. Lift crepe out of pan with a wide spatula and set aside on a plate.
Crepes can stick together when stacking them on the plate, so to prevent that sprinkle each crepe very lightly with a bit of the cinnamon-sugar mixture you prepared. They will separate much easier now!
Wipe pan, spray, and repeat until all batter is used. (If you did *scant* 1/3 measures, you should have 8 crepes.)
Assemble blintzes and cook:
On cooked side of crepe, place about 1 -1/2 Tbsp of filling along 1 side, about halfway between center and edge. Fold short end over filling, then fold up ends, and then roll up other side (just like making a burrito). Repeat with remaining crepes.
Heat large skillet with about 1/2 inch of oil (I use coconut for the flavor, but you can use regular cooking oil). Add 2 Tbsp butter. When melted, add crepes to pan and fry for about 1 minute to 90 seconds until golden brown; turn and fry 1 minute on other side so blintzes are evenly golden. Drain on paper toweling. To serve, top with warm cherry filling and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar.
1/2 cup flour, sifted
2 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
Filling
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup ricotta cheese, preferably drained for 30 minutes over a colander (line with cheesecloth or layers of heavy duty paper towels)
4 Tbsp sugar or to taste
1/2 tsp vanilla
Toppings
1/2 can cherry pie filling
and
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Directions
Make Topping: Stir together sugar and cinnamon until combined; set aside. (Heat cherry pie filling about 30-60 seconds in microwave about 5 minutes before serving.)
Make filling: Cream ingredients together until well combined and smooth. Set aside while making crepes.
Make crepes: Combine crepe ingredients in medium bowl and beat. Use an electric mixer on low speed, or a wire whisk by hand until the batter is smooth. (You don't want lumps like you tend to get with pancake batter. You want to wind up with a very thin batter, smooth, free of lumps, and with just a few air bubbles around the sides of the bowl.) If the batter seems too thick to flow easily around your pan, add 1 tsp of water at a time to the desired consistency.
Heat a small skillet until a water drop sizzles. Spray pan with cooking spray. Pour in a scant 1/3 cup of batter (I use a bit over 3/4 full in a 1/3 cup measure); tilt pan immediately so batter covers the bottom evenly. Let crepe cook about 1 minute, just until you see the top dry out (it can feel a bit sticky to the touch, but not wet). Don't walk away--this goes quick. Lift crepe out of pan with a wide spatula and set aside on a plate.
Crepes can stick together when stacking them on the plate, so to prevent that sprinkle each crepe very lightly with a bit of the cinnamon-sugar mixture you prepared. They will separate much easier now!
Wipe pan, spray, and repeat until all batter is used. (If you did *scant* 1/3 measures, you should have 8 crepes.)
Assemble blintzes and cook:
On cooked side of crepe, place about 1 -1/2 Tbsp of filling along 1 side, about halfway between center and edge. Fold short end over filling, then fold up ends, and then roll up other side (just like making a burrito). Repeat with remaining crepes.
Heat large skillet with about 1/2 inch of oil (I use coconut for the flavor, but you can use regular cooking oil). Add 2 Tbsp butter. When melted, add crepes to pan and fry for about 1 minute to 90 seconds until golden brown; turn and fry 1 minute on other side so blintzes are evenly golden. Drain on paper toweling. To serve, top with warm cherry filling and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar.
Enjoy!
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