Chef John's Cheese Blintzes

Fantastic summer brunch. I made the blintzes the night before (put them in a greased baking dish, covered with plastic wrap, in the fridge overnight) then finished them the next morning. I also had to modify the filling to use what I had on hand: I used 2 cups cottage cheese instead of ricotta and cottage cheese. I mixed the filling in the food processor. I served them topped with raspberry sauce and fresh blackberries. Next time, I’m doubling the crepe recipe—I had extra filling, and you can always find ways to eat extra crepes! Oh: I got 12 crepes from the single batch of batter, but tore the first one until I got my pan temp right. I ate that one plain. Delicious!

**UPDATE: Makes A LOT of filling. I now double the batter and am able to fill all. I use apx 1 small ice cream scoop each and fold like a lumpia (or burrito ) These are absolutely FANTASTIC! My family is brutally honest when it comes to new recipes. Have made this 4 times in last 2 weeks. Each time Friends and Family fight over who gets the last one. I always try a recipe exactly as written the first time, this gives me a good idea of what I need to change to suit our families tastes. This recipe has yet to have any alterations. It is perfect as written and SO easy! I use my food processor for the batter and hand mix the filling (softened cream cheese makes for easy blending). You can make all components the night before for easy assembly in the AM.. I use Chef Johns Strawberry sauce recipe and top with fresh blackberries and rasberries. This will be made on a regular basis. I highly recommend trying it, you will be thrilled you did. Tips: use just under a quarter cup of batter. Spray pan with pam every 2 - 3 "cakes" to prevent sticking. - as soon as you poor in batter, swirl pan to evenly distribute batter. As soon as top no longer looks wet ( just dry enough to flip, maybe 30 sec or so) flip over. 10 sec and they are done. Really that quick. To fill I use 1 small ice cream scoop and spread in a line slightly (2 in long) roll like a borrito folding sides in.

Made this for Father's Day and it was a hit! The only tricky part is rolling them so they look pretty ... I'm no expert. But they came out great! Made the raspberry sauce to go with them. I doubled the recipe and ended up with left over batter so the next day I made savory crepes stuffed with spinach, cheese and bacon and they were delicious! Great recipe!

Made these with some substitution due to not having all the ingredients in the house. They came out great, and I expect that they will be even better when I make them with all the correct ingredients. My husband topped them with peaches and I used chocolate syrup and whipped cream. Being new to crepes, I had a bit of a learning curve, but by the time I got to the last one, they were coming out very nicely. I have saved this to my recipe box and will definitely make it again.

Very good! I've never made crepes or blintzes before, and even though there were a lot of steps the whole process was very easy. I used marscapone cheese in place of cream cheese, as Chef John uses in his Food Wishes video. But I think next time I'll use cream cheese. The filling was just a little bland, and I think the cream cheese would have added a nice tangyness. I topped these with Chef John's fresh strawberry sauce. A winner for the whole family!

I followed this recipe exactly. I have made crepes many times, and never had I seen so many steps, so I wanted to see what this was all about. So delicious, so beautiful, and not really as much trouble as I thought they'd be. This is going to be my go to brunch dish. We actually had them for supper tonight, andthey'll probably show up as a dessert some time. Thanks, Chef John

I'm not a fan of blitz but had a strange craving so I made them this morning. I topped with an apricot coulis. A-MA-ZING! I will definitely make again. It took me about an hour to prepare and bake but I found it very easy to make. I measured the ingredients with a scale and they turned out very yummy. I put 3 tablespoons of filling in each of my 7" crepes. It made 12 blitz. The coulis was VERY easy: One can of drained unpeeled apricots in they own juice in a blender until smooth. Pour over blitz. Voila!

To be fair, the people I made it for liked it better than I did. For the amount of filling I had, I would've liked more crepe batter. And I feel the filling could've been a little sweeter. Perhaps it would've been better if I had made a sauce like the photo shows. I'll definitely try it again with some enhancements. It's definitely worth a 2nd try.

They turned out much better than I expected. That's purely comment on my cooking abilities. The recipe is fantastic! I had trouble making the crepes/blini. But, that was more because I was using a 12" pan. They were too big to handle. I was also having trouble after I made the crepe packages, trying to flip them for browning. I was using a spatula at first and had much better success using tongs. For presentation, I made a bed of strawberry preserves with a cut up bacon along one edge. I also had a strip of bacon on the plate. It added to the savory aspect. I made these for breakfast/brunch for my wife for Mother's Day (we're parents of cats, btw). She loved it.

Excellent Valentine's breakfast. The cheese filling is lemony (if that is a word) and goes great with the addition of raspberry sauce and fresh fruit.

Fantastic. It is important to make each blintz a 1/4 cup as it make it thick and sponge enough.

It was so easy to make blintzes! I liked the recipe very much! Served them with fresh homemade strawberry sauce. Delicious!

Excellent! I made a strawberry sauce with them. Yummy!

They were great I changed the flavor to lime zest with coconut it was great!! Little bit of coconut flavoring in the batter I used cream cheese also for the Tang in the filling!! Great job chef ??????????

It was a good recipe. I did add a little more sugar and lemon extract favor to the cream cheese.

Exceptionally good. I made my own ricotta, which may have had an impact, and I made hot cinnamon apples with brown sugar to top them. I've made them before with a different recipe years ago, but I don't remember those coming out quite as good as these.

I used more than a fourth of a cup batter for my crepes. I also increased vanilla to 1 teaspoon. I also spread my filling in a square one inch from sides folded in the top bottom then rolled this helped by not having a large amount of filling in one area as crepes are very delicate this made it much easier to work with I love this recipe ...... I also timed 1 minute on each side. I learned today in the past I was turning them way too soon that's way they were too loose hard to work with.

This recipe (and video) is the reason I have overcome my lifelong fear of making crepes! It was for good reason. Despite being a decent home cook, I could never get the things to come out right (or off the pan at all). I gave up years ago. I finally made these for Easter and they were a huge hit with my family. For Mother's Day, I received a beautiful crepe pan that I am pretty sure was a hint that everybody wanted more. In fact, I now make all kinds of crepes and blintzes and am no longer afraid! Thanks Chef John!

These were delicious! I bought a cheap can of raspberry pie filling, heated it up in a sauce pan, then topped it! I also used lemon flavoring rather than zest, and I probably used more than the recipe called for (a little over 1/2 tsp). I ended up using more than 1/4 cup of batter as well. I found that they were too thin to flip easily. I'll be making these again.

Delicious! Made them for Father's Day to rave reviews from my husband and kids. Not too sweet, great flavor. Will definitely make again.

I only made the crepes part of the recipe. This is an excellent batter for crepes. I was always using the Aunt Jemima pancake batter recipe thinking the real kind was too hard and easy to screw up. So since it's Valentines I thought I'd make them from scratch. These held together with no problem removing them from the pan and turning over to cook the other side. One problem I had with Aunt Jemima's was they fell apart. Well all I can say is thank you Chef John for sharing and sorry Aunt Jemima... NEVER again. These really are very simple and I didn't have a blender on hand so using a whisk worked perfectly. I made sure I scramble the eggs really well before adding the rest of the liquids and salt, then once those were very well blended then I added the flour (King Authur's All Purpose), rested for 30 and they were exactly what I was hoping for...and so much more. Used butter, make sure it browns in the pan before adding the batter which is what gives it the pretty brown coloring. Good luck and don't be afraid like I was. Next time I'll make the actual Blintz recipe and know those will be wonderful too.

Once again, Chef John perfected a winner. These blintzes were delicious and reminded me of my Mother's kitchen. I have never failed with a Chef John recipe. Never. My only addition to this recipe was to add a bit more sugar to the blintz batter and some more sweetener to the filling. Growing up, we dipped our blintzes in sour cream (hence the need for more sugar in the recipe) and the combination was delicious. Strawberry jam, softened, was also good with the blintzes. Thank you, John, for maintaining your perfect record. On to the next. No pressure!

Amazing. Might be the best thing on this site.

Simply delicious! I loved the filling, as did my guests and I added a berry sauce from this site (originally intended for pancakes or waffles, but works SOOOO well with blintzes!) Thanks, Chef John for the recipe!

I don't usually eat blintzes, but my wife requested them for Mother's Day breakfast. I usually trust anything by Chef John (esp. prime rib!). I followed recipe pretty close, adding a bit more vanilla and a bit more salt. Despite that I found them to be pretty plain. Just tasted ricotta cheese. We piled sliced strawberries on them and whipped cream which helped. I might do something to sweeten the filling next time, or maybe they are meant to be bland?

Outstanding recipe!

Delicious! I make the blintzes night before and put them in the fridge overnight. Fried them in the morning and put them in the oven to heat up while I prepared the rest of breakfast. I will make these again!

Filling was definitely not sweet enough, and although I am a huge ricotta junkie - I found myself wishing for a different filling texture. I even made blueberry sauce on the side! Still not sweet enough. If I make this again, I will use small curd cottage cheese and significantly more sugar.

Very tasty, but, but time consuming to make. Eat a big dinner the night before, and hold off on the coffee until after you are at least half way though making it. Otherwise, you'll get too hungry and want something else and save the baking for tomorrow. Took me three days to finally finish making it. The Crepes are good enough to just use fruit and whipped cream if you don't have the patience to make the whole thing.

The crepe recipe was perfect, but I found the cheese filling to be entirely unsatisfactory. The cheese ended up way too runny and salty. I did a taste test before putting it in the fridge and had to add a couple tablespoons of honey to balance out the excessive amount of salt. Overall, I’m going to keep the crepe recipe but eat rid of the filling and try another one.

Ok, not as good as I was hoping. Next time I will make the filling sweeter and blend it more so it's less curdy. I will also fill the crepes less as I had 4 left over.

beautiful & yummy recipe

Like most of Chef John's recipes this too is a sure winner! Light and rich at the same time. I scaled down the recipe by 3 and it turned out beautiful. Thank you Chef John. Always enjoy your sense of humor too ; )

This was such a hit that I have now made them 4 times in less than 3 week! My wife was so impressed with the final product that she asked me to make 2 batches to bring to the horse club. The people there are still talking about the blintzes. As the saying goes, a happy wife is a happy life, and right now life is good! Thank you!

Yum! These were delightful. I had a bit of trouble with the folding process, but they came out wonderfully anyway.

used some almond flavoring in crepe -mmmmm.

A bit of work but totally worth it, they were a hit.

I added. Nutmeg and cinnamon

Extremely easy and very good...

So easy. So delicious! I added extra sugar in filling for my daughter, but I prefer as written. Really good. Made it 2 times and maybe a 3rd in a couple days for breakfast guests.

The 2nd time my husband forgot to buy ricotta so I made the filling without. It was still pretty amazing having 'cheesecake' blintzes.

Made this for brunch. Also made a strawberry sauce to put on top. I made the recipe as directed, but I thought the filling was a little bland and the filling had a different texture due to the ricotta. Next time I will add vanilla and a bit more sugar.

Topped with fresh fruit. Will make again

Fantastic dish! Definitely takes some practice to get the crepes the right size and not over cooked as well as folding the right amount of filling, especially if your crepes come out a bit smaller than 10".

The recipe reminded me of the blintzes I had as a kid. However, I found the heat to be too high, and for satisfactory results, I reduced the heat to medium while cooking the crepes. There is also 2 blintzes worth of extra filling left over (I'm sure I can find some way to make that disappear). I made it gluten free by substituting 2/3 c rice flour, 1/4 c corn starch, 1 tsp xantham gum, and the remainder of the cup I filled with tapioca starch. The crepes held up wonderfully, and we're flexible enough to easily roll.

Easy recipe and very delicious!

Love the filling!! Very easy to make and delicious!!

the best thing I have Ever made for Me and my Girlfriend And Its very Gourmet YUM!

Amazing recipe!! Very easy !!

We omitted the salt in the blintz batter due to low salt diet. I also drained the ricotta cheese in a fine mesh strainer overnight in the fridge. We served with fresh fruit and sour cream. My sister is visiting and we did it as a team, both with the swirling, flipping and stacking of the blintz batter and then one of us scooping the filling while the other wrapped the blintzes up. A fun time together! They tasted outstanding!! The lemon zest was perfection. Will definately be making again.

At first I was questioning whether or not I would be able to make these, I’m new to cooking meals like this(I usually just make some eggs and bacon) but this was super easy and it tasted amazing I only made 2 changes, 1: I used lime instead of lemon in the filling (I prefer the taste) and 2: instead of strawberry or raspberry sauce, I used a syrup that a friend of mine made called caramel crabapple syrup. Overall amazing taste 10/10 would recommend to anyone and everyone

Another 5 stars for Chef John

Delicious blintzes. I used a very thin crepe I purchased at the store. They were too thin for the cheese blintz but I made it work and it turned out well. I love the blintz with sour cream.

It was fairly easy to make and was a hit for Easter. I did make them ahead of time, pan fried and baked the morning of.

This made a tasty meal for 4. I made it for dinner one night and everyone loved it. You know, breakfast for dinner. I will definitely make this again.

Practice practice practice! I’ve actually made some incredible crepes with practice....folding the blintzes was a bit wobbly. They were delicious, and a tad too rich for my tum-tum.

I did not care for this recipe. They took forever to make and didn't have much flavor.

Love the filling!! Very easy to make and delicious!!

Would have like them a little crunchier...like they were coming out of the fry pan before going into oven. Made recipe exactly but had no lemon zest...still great ! Put raspberry preserves over mine My crepes were a little greasy...but I think that was my fault. I need more practice with crepe making and needed more oil to keep them from sticking If you own a crepe pan, this recipe will be a breeze. Overall, hubby and I liked very much and will make again.

I'm usually a huge chef john fan but these didn't work at all

The recipe was delicious, I made them for the first time this morning...what I call my “learning batch”. Needless to say my first two crepes ripped, but I upped the batter to 1/3 cup and figured out how to swirl the batter around by the third one. I had just enough filling (after using way too much in the first two) It took awhile to make, but now that I’ve got them down pat, should go quicker next time. There are a lot of steps, but after you get the hang of it, it’s pretty easy. Made strawberry sauce on the side.

A little extra work, but each step is worth it. Next time, will try to make them slightly thinner (ended up with fewer than promised, and the extra thickness made them tougher to fold for pan frying).

I tried it once as the recipe states and it was good. The 2nd time around I put lemon zest and maybe some juice into the crepes and I enjoyed it much better. Both times, I served it with Chef John's Fresh Raspberry Sauce. The couple I made it for loved it. I did feel like it was labor intensive, but that might just be that I have not made it enough times to get good at it. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/241308/fresh-raspberry-sauce/?src=VD_Summary

I had never made crepes or blintzes so was quite intimidated! After I bought the pan it still took me a few weeks to actually try this recipe! It was absolutely easy and once I got the hang of the crepes it was quite fun! This is definitely a keeper and I like the fact that I can basically do all the work the day before and finish them in the morning!

No changes........yummy as is!

delicious

Made these before and they were amazing! Chef John you are my go guy!

YUM!

These were fun to make and delicious! Although a bit time consuming, I was surprised by how easy this was to make. I have always been intimidated by crepes but the batter was a perfect consistency and the crepes came out great with minimal effort. I’m going to try to make savory crepes with this batter recipe soon. This time I made a simple strawberry sauce to go with these because I needed to use them up (cooked down and partially blended strawberries, sugar and a splash of lime juice).

Made these before and they were amazing! Chef John you are my go guy!

Subbed gluten free flour blend for the flour. recipe worked out very well. The filling was delish but in the future I might make it a tad bit sweeter.

I used whole wheat flour and it wasn't as good. Still enjoyable so don't get me wrong, but it took me much longer to make it than it stated. I even started the mixes the night before.

Very good. Didn't change a thing.

Really good. I followed the recipe exactly and they were excellent.

Easy and very tasty recipe! The only problem is that there is waayyyy to much filling left! Next time, and there WILL be a next time, I will make a half recipe of the filling.

Very funny and creative.

I love Chef John’s recipes.

I listened to what some people said about batter-to-filling ratio being a little off, so I made a 2/3-recipe of batter for a 1/2-recipe of filling. A little convoluted but it worked out right! It made about 7 blintzes, plenty for 3-4 people.

In my neck of the woods, cream cheese and ricotta are sold by weight, not volume. I appreciate recipes more when they include both measurements or as sold. This recipe was good but I have found farmer's cheese makes a better filling and is more traditional.