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We’ve been eating crepes for the past 2 weeks for breakfast and I’m pretty sure I’ll never grow tired of them. These Russian crepes with cheese are our favorite breakfast and I love that they can be prepared ahead of time; making it the ideal breakfast dish for company.
I had fun making this video and my husband decided to keep it “uncensored” and include the embarrassing footage; he thought it would be more entertaining. In the end, I hope you are inspired to go on and become a crepe-making ninja.
Watch How To Make Russian Crepes:
In unrelated, but good news: last night was my final night shift; no more flipping back and forth torture and constantly thinking about my sleep schedule. I start the day shift on Monday. I’m so excited to get my normal energy and spunk back. After all, I need that energy to keep up with things like cooking, blogging… and a gazillion other things. The Mr. and I are celebrating my transition to days with our usual (and favorite) salsa; ceviche.
P.S. I have some variations of crepes posted on the blog including: Crepes with Meat and Mushrooms, and Crepes with Cheese and Pineapple . You can find the original recipe by clicking here.
Nalesniki with Cheese and Raisins (Russian Crepes)
Ingredients
For the Crepes Batter:
- ½ cup lukewarm water
- 1 cup milk
- 4 large eggs
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted. Plus more to sauté.
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, you can use 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup all-purpose
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- Pinch salt
Instructions
How to Make the Crepes:
- Put all of the ingredients for the crepes (in the order that they are listed) in a blender and blend until well combined: 1/2 cup lukwarm water, 1 cup milk, 4 eggs, 4 tbsp melted butter (or olive oil), 1 cup flour.
- Melt a dot of butter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat (2 skillets make the process go faster).
- As you are pouring into the skillet, swirl the batter to evenly coat the bottom. If you get any small gaps, you can fill them with more batter. Depending on the size of your skillet; add about 2-3 Tbsp of batter. I use a small ladle.
- Once the bottom is lightly golden (about a minute or less) flip the crepe using a sharp edged spatula to easily get under the crepe. Let the other side get lightly golden and plop the crepe out onto a cutting board.
- Repeat with remaining batter; you may not need to dot with butter after the first time if your skillet is a good one (and remember there is butter in the batter). Don’t stack hot crepes on top of each other. Once they are just warm or room temp, they can be stacked.
- Don’t panic, my first crepe never turns out nice so I wolf it down to conceal the evidence!
How to make cheese filling and complete nalesniki:
- In a colander, rinse the cottage cheese with cold water and drain well.
- Mash the cream cheese, cottage cheese and sugar with a potato masher until well combined and creamy. Cottage cheese will still be a little lumpy.
- Using a spatula, spread 2 generous Tbsp of cheese filling on each crepe.
- Sprinkle with about 15 raisins.
- Roll the crepe into a log and cut in half.
- Refrigerate crepes that aren’t being served. It keeps in the fridge for almost one week.
To Serve:
- Melt about 1 Tbsp of butter in a skillet and sauté the rolled cheese crepes on medium heat until golden brown on both sides. They don't take long to sauté. Be careful not to burn them.
- Dust with powered sugar (optional) and serve with sour cream or jam on the side.
Love making these, but I always skip on the raisins.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Lena!
Hi Natasha. Thanks for your delicious recipes. Btw, I like your old videos much more than the new ones. You were acting much more sophisticated and simple, more in a Christian kind of way not only my opinion
Made these tonight and they are fire! Thank you for sharing the best recipes!! (I have 5 Natasha’s Kitchen recipes on my meal plan just this week)
Aww, that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me!
I was wondering if I can heat them up in the oven after rolling them instead of on the skillet, because I want to do 2 batches. Would you happen to know what’s the best temperature and how long to leave in oven?
Hi Anna, you can bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes (if they are cold from the fridge, do 45 minutes, if room temp, bake 30 minutes). Generously brush all sides and bottom of a pyrex dish with unsalted butter. Lay down your first layer of crepes and brush generously with melted unsalted butter, brush the top layer with butter. Cover with foil and bake. You should have no more than 2 layers when its done. I still feel the best way is to saute them on a skillet with butter – they cook very fast and turn out perfect
Thank you so much Natasha for posting the Nalesniki with Cottage Cheese and Cream Cheese filling! My mom made these the same way back when I was a kid and never had the recipe. We are Polish and we called them the same, and it was a treat to have them for breakfast. Sometimes she omitted the raisins and put some cinnamon for flavour. Thanks again… now I can pass the recipe on to my children
Awww that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me. I’m all smiles!
Dear Natasha, I just made these for breakfast this morning. The ease of the crepe recipe was wonderful. Would you share a recipe that is whole wheat/buckwheats as well? Thank you for all your recipes and inspiration!
I’m so glad you loved the crepes! Thank you for the wonderful review and request. If I come up with something great, I will be sure to share it.
Trying to learn making these from a Russian mother is impossible because eyeball is not a quantity I understand. These are my #1 most favorite food ever and this recipe is so delicious and easy. I can now continue the tradition of weekend blinchiki with my kids who love them as much as I do. Thank you!
That is so popular amongst Russian mothers, everything is measured by the eye! Thank you for sharing that with us!