Thought to originate in Central Europe, we know them in the USA by their Yiddish name, Blintzes.
These super thin pancakes filled with a ligtly sweet farmer’s cheese were well known in Hungary, Slovakia, Russia, and Poland before the rest of the world discovered Naleśniki z Serem – Polish Crepes with Cheese around 1800.
Elegant in appearance, to me, this is typical of Polish desserts, not too sweet, which makes me inclined to give them a drizze of chocolate sauce. 🙂 But that’s just my Americaness, wanting to overdo it with the sweets.
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You could top these with any kind of fruit sauce (canned pie filling), warm jam, or even fresh berries. These are also excellent with a spread of Nutella and banana slices! YUM-O!
Smacznego!
Lois
PS – This isn’t a glamorous, styled video. It was put together quickly because a reader had requested a little more instruction in the cooking proces.
It’s like you’re peeking over my should in the kitchen, complete with barking dogs, and the door bell ringing as my parents arrive for Sunday Dinner. I hope it’s helpful and will encourage you to give these a try! xxx
Naleśniki z Serem – Polish Crepes with Cheese
- Prep Time: 70 min
- Cook Time: 10 min
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 crepes 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: Polish
Description
Thin pancakes filled with lightly sweetened farmer’s cheese, top with a fruit or chocolate sauce
Ingredients
for the crepes:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup warm water
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons melted butter
for the filling:
12 ounces farmer’s cheese
2 ounces cream cheese
1 egg yolk
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
zest of a lemon
Instructions
for the crepes:
- Combine the flour, milk, water, eggs, and salt
- Let the batter rest for an hour
- Add the butter and a little water if too thick
- Heat a pan over medium-high heat, brush with butter
- Add a scant 1/4 cup of batter, tilting and shaking the pan to spread the batter into a circle approximately 8 inches in diameter
- Just as the top of the batter begins to set, flip the crepe and cook the other side for about 15 seconds
- Repeat until the batter is used up
for filling:
- Combine the cheeses, egg yolk, sugar
- Stir in butter, salt, and lemon zest
to assemble:
- Spoon a line of filling about 1 inch by 4 inches in each crepe
- Fold the sides in and roll to wrap filling
- Lightly brown filled crepes on both sides in butter
- Top as desired
Notes
Top with chocolate sauce or a fruit sauce such as this
An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com, she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.
Catherine
I’m not familiar with these but they look absolutely delicious! As does all of your baking.
polishhousewife
Thank you, Catherine; you’re too kind! ❤️❤️❤️
Lorene Wedeking
When living in Pecs, Hungary I could not get these after May 1 because they are “winter food!”
polishhousewife
How funny. They are more mindful of the seasons in Europe, aren’t they? I had a friend say in October, this will be my last salad until spring.
Laurel
Yummo! These are my favorite. Too bad I can’t get farmer’s cheese where I live but I think I can substitute ricotta.
polishhousewife
You could certainly substitute ricotta, or make your own farmers cheese. It’s very simple to do.
Lorraine Schwartz
my niece substitutes farmer cheese with ricotta all the time and prefers it.
Ruth Palovchik Yurgelon
I’ve eaten those my whole life. Only used cottage cheese, sugar, vanilla and egg yolk.
We called them Palochinkis …
Hungarian ….
Susan McQuade
Saving this recipe for future (not too distant!) use. Yum! Thanks for sharing.
polishhousewife
Enjoy, Susan!
Terry
Sounds yummy, can’t wait to make them.
polishhousewife
Smacznego, Terry!
David
They look wonderful! I was talking about you yesterday on the plane to NYC – met a newcomer couple to Tucson and the husband is Polish and told me of a Polish resaurdant in Tucson. I , in turn, told them of your blog!
polishhousewife
Thanks for the plug, David. Is the restaurant Polish Cottage?
Linda
Looks delicious. I want to try them. How do you make Farmers Cheese. If you used ricotta, how would you measure against Farmers Cheese portions.
polishhousewife
I would use the same amount of ricotta. Here’s my recipe for farmers cheese:
https://polishhousewife.com/twarog-polish-farmers-cheese/
Christine
My mother always fried the finished product in butter to warm and crisp up the nelisnicki.
We usually are them with sour cream and sugar on top, but also fruit.
polishhousewife
Sounds great, Christine!
Barbara
We fry our in butter too. But I put strips of American cheese inside, then fry so the cheese melts. My boys loved our blintz s that way.
Becky Tonner
where is the video
polishhousewife
I just checked, Becky. It’s there. If you have an ad blocker, you might not see it.
Winnie
Thank you for this recipe. I love following you! Your recipes remind me of my Hungarian Grama’s recipes. When she made these (polochintas-not sure on spelling) no matter how many of her children and grandchildren showed up, they just kept magically appearing! We would fill them with sour cream and raspberry preserves. I loved your filling though too! I was so lucky that I was the only one she ever allowed to help her cook. Thanks for this great food memory!
★★★★★
polishhousewife
Thanks, Winnie for your kind words and sharing those treasured memories.
Lucy Cyranek
THANK YOU for the video and recipe. My husband is from Poland and my mother-in-law makes such delicious Naleśniki (everything she makes is delicious actually). I can’t wait to try this at home! It’s one of my husband’s favorites and he doesn’t live close to his mom, so I try to learn to make traditional Polish food for him.
Cheryl
I have only tried “store bought” blitz, have not been impressed. I will have to try this recipe. Homemade is always better!
Robert Jiminski
I make these at least twice a month, my mother’s recipe. For the filling I use cottage cheese, two egg yolks, melted butter and sugar. always served with sour cream and some type of fruit. Great as a stand-alone meal or breakfast with bacon and ham
Judith
Try using plain soda water instead of water, it makes for a much lighter crepe/palacsinta. I make my own cottage cheese, I mix some with sour cream, lemon zesr and a bit of sugar for the filling.. great with fresh strawberries or peaches! I have a dedicated crepe pan that is well sesoned and swirl a bit of butter in the pan before adding batter. Have been making palacsinta for 56 yrs. I am Hungarian by birth.