Please enter the email you’re using for this account.
Dairy
Medium
1 Hour, 30 Minutes
Diets 
Blintzes are a perfect example of why our Cafe menu has a section called Sweet rather than Dessert. Blintzes can, and should, be eaten any time of day—breakfast, afternoon snack, or at the end of a meal. Originally, in the Old World, blintzes were a recipe made for Shavuot, the holiday which celebrates both the end of the wheat harvest and the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. An Ashkenazi specialty, the word blintz is related to the Russian blini and means pancake. By the time they started appearing on the menus of dairy restaurants in the Lower East Side, blintzes had been shorn of their religious overtones. (We’ve been making them, for instance, for at least the last thirty years.) Who doesn’t like a svelte silken pancake which holds soft sweet cheese in its embrace? Why wait an entire (lunar) year when you can eat them all the time? Savory blintzes, theoretically, also exist, frequently filled with mushrooms, but our family only knows them to be sweet, filled with sweetened farmer’s cheese and topped with blueberry compote (though your favorite jam will also suffice).
Makes 12 to 14 blintzes
2 cups whole milk
4 large eggs
1 and 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, such as Glicks
1 and 1/2 pounds farmer’s cheese
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon Gefen Pure Vanilla Extract
1/4 teaspoon Gefen Ground Cinnamon
2 cups frozen blueberries
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon Gefen Vanilla Extract
grated zest of 1 lemon (1 tablespoon)
6 to 7 tablespoons unsalted butter
Combine the milk, eggs, and flour in a blender and process until smooth, or mix by hand with a whisk until all clumps disappear.
Strain the crepe batter through a fine-mesh strainer.
Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to one day.
Combine the farmer’s cheese, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon in a large bowl and mix with a large spoon or sturdy whisk until well combined. Cover and place in refrigerator.
Combine all the ingredients in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, or until the blueberries are just starting to burst. Reduce the heat to low and cook for an additional five minutes, until the mixture has reduced slightly. Let cool, then place in a clean jar.
Melt four tablespoons of the butter and reserve by your cooktop.
Brush a heavy 10-inch nonstick skillet with just enough butter to coat and place over medium heat. When hot, ladle in just enough crepe batter (about 1/4 cup) to coat the bottom of the skillet. Tilt and swirl the skillet in a clockwise motion until the batter is evenly spread in a thin layer across the pan. Allow the crepe to cook undisturbed until it is set and a pale color with very little browning, one to two minutes. Use an offset or nonstick spatula to lift the edge of the crepe, then use your fingers to carefully flip the crepe and cook on other side for just 30 seconds to one minute. Place the cooked crepe on a flat plate. Repeat the process, brushing the skillet with melted butter each time, to make about 12 crepes, stacking them on top of each other on the plate. Let cool to room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely chilled, at least one hour, or up to one day.
Spoon two heaping tablespoons of the chilled filling into the center of one crepe. Fold over a third of the crepe from the right and a third of the crepe from the left and then roll the crepe up from the bottom burrito-style. Set on a plate or tray seam side down and refrigerate, covered, for at least one hour. After the blintzes have rested and set-up in the refrigerator, melt one tablespoon butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, place the blintzes in the pan, seam side down, making sure they do not touch, and brown gently on one side for two minutes. Flip and cook another two minutes to brown the other side. Lower the heat to low if the blintzes are browning too quickly. Repeat with the remaining butter to brown all the blintzes. Serve the blintzes immediately (or rewarm from room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes in a 250-degree-Fahrenheit oven) with the blueberry compote.
Excerpted from RUSS & DAUGHTERS: 100 Years of Appetizing by Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper. Copyright © 2025 by Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper. Reprinted with permission from Flatiron Books. All rights reserved. Photography by Gentl & Hyers. Illustrations by Jason Polan, LLC. Purchase on Amazon.
How Would You
Rate this recipe?
When leaving comments on kosher.com we ask that you be respectful, appropriate, and stay on topic. Click here to read our full comment policy.
Kosher.com Commenting Guidelines
We love hearing from our community! Constructive feedback, tips, questions, and friendly engagement are encouraged.
By commenting on Kosher.com, you agree to follow these guidelines. Please note that comments are for community discussion only and should not be considered halachic guidance—always check with your own Rabbi or LOR.
1. Be Respectful
2. Keep It Appropriate
3. Protect Privacy
4. Stay On Topic
5. Moderation