Syrniki Recipe – Russian Cheese Pancakes

An easy Syrniki recipe: make these delicious, pillowy-soft, Russian cheese pancakes for a tasty breakfast treat. Serve these with syrup like traditional American pancakes, or with a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt and a spoonful of fruit preserves.

What are syrniki?

Syrniki are slightly sweet, cheesy Russian pancakes made from cottage cheese. They are a traditional Russian and Ukrainian recipe, typically served for breakfast or as a snack or light lunch. They are super soft and just slightly sweet on the inside. These pillowy pancakes of cheesy goodness are just so delicious.

A few tips for making Syrniki:

• Make sure you start with a farmer’s cheese that is dry and a little crumbly, it should be packed like a brick. If it is packed in water or has a texture similar to ricotta, you’ll need to strain it in a fine-mesh colander until it is dry and crumbly. Otherwise, you’ll need to add too much flour to the syrniki dough and it will be too doughy and not cheesy enough. If starting with ricotta, you’ll need to strain it too.
• The “batter” will be much thicker than American pancake batter – it will be more like dough.

• You can add raisins to the recipe, if you like raisins.
• You’ll need to dredge the syrniki in flour after you form them but before you fry them. This will make sure that the syrniki don’t stick to the pan.

• You’ll want enough oil in the pan to coat it slightly. You can use a spoon to help you flip these pancakes easily.

• You can cook a few syrniki at a time, but don’t crowd the pan!

Syrniki Recipe (Russian Cheese Pancakes)

Make these delicious, pillowy-soft, cheesy snd yummy Russian cheese pancakes for a delicious breakfast treat. Serve these syrniki with syrup like traditional American pancakes, or with a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt and a spoonful of fruit preserves.

Prep Time: 5minutes mins

Cook Time:20minutes mins

Total Time: 25minutes mins

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: 12 pancakes

Ingredients

• ▢1 lb farmer’s cheese – see notes before getting started
• ▢2 eggs
• ▢½ + ½ cup all purpose flour – or more as needed (see notes), divided
• ▢¼ cup sugar
• ▢¼ teaspoon salt
• ▢Optional: ½ cup raisins
• ▢3-4 tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying

Instructions

• Prepare the batter: In a large bowl, crumble the farmers cheese into little pieces with a fork (make sure to strain it first if your farmer’s cheese is not crumbly! See notes).
• Add 2 eggs and mix well. Add ½ cup flour (reserve ½ cup for step 2), sugar, and salt. Mix well, using the fork to break apart any clumps of flour or farmer’s cheese. Add raisins, if using. The ‘batter’ will be thick like dough, not like traditional pancake batter.  
• Form the syrniki pancakes: Prepare a small bowl with about ½ cup flour – you will use it to dredge the pancakes. Scoop out approximately ¼ cup pancake dough at a time. (See recipe notes below).  Use your hands to gently flatten the dough into a small patty. Dredge the pancake with flour on both sides. Shake off the extra flour and set aside until you are ready to cook the syrniki pancakes. 
• Cook the syrniki pancakes: In a large skillet, heat 3-4 tablespoons of vegetable oil, and gently place the flour-dredged cheese pancakes into the pan using a spatula. Cook on medium-low heat for about 4-5 minutes per side, or until each side is golden brown. Place on a paper towel to cool. Do not crowd the pancakes – cook them in 2-3 batches if necessary. 
• To serve, sprinkle with powdered sugar, or drizzle with maple syrup, honey, whipped cream. Or try these syrniki the traditional Russian way – with sour cream and your favorite fruit preserves. 

Recipe tips:

• Make sure you start with a farmer’s cheese that is dry and a little crumbly, it should be packed like a brick. If it is packed in water or has a texture similar to ricotta, you’ll need to strain it in a fine-mesh colander until it is dry and crumbly. Otherwise, you’ll need to add too much flour to the syrniki dough and it will be a little too doughy and not cheesy enough.
• Add as much flour to the dough as needed to make it into a soft dough and not liquid like a batter. If your farmer’s cheese is wet, you might need as much as 1 cup flour.
• Do NOT skip the dredging step! Otherwise your syrniki will stick to the pan and fall apart.
• It is easiest to scoop the syrniki dough with a ¼-cup ice cream scoop with a squeeze-release handle. Otherwise, you can use a spoon or your hands – just wet your hands in cold water so the batter doesn’t stick to your hands.
• It’s OK if the dredged syrniki are super soft and floppy. Just gently place them into the hot skillet and they will firm up as they cook.