Ukrainian Syrniki Recipe (Cheese Pancakes)
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Danielle Dolinsky sent me an interesting email a while back; a recipe for her Ukrainian syrniki, also known as tvorog pancakes. It’s her specialty and it was featured on the Martha Stewart Show (sounds soo soo dreamy!).
Here’s a link to her syrniki recipe and a step-by-step video from the show. I haven’t experimented with a store-bought cheese but I can tell you Mom’s homemade cheese creates a very soft dough; more delicate to handle but had amazing results.
Thank you Danielle for sharing your recipe. We’ve enjoyed your Ukrainian syrniki several times and I am currently craving them again.
Ingredients for Ukrainian Sirniki:
15 oz (about 2 cups) farmers cheese, homemade (aka Tvorog) or storebought
4 large eggs
3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus about 1/2 cup more for dredging
3 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp white vinegar
1 cup raisins
2-3 Tbsp extra light olive oil for each batch
Toppings:
Fresh fruit or jam, sour cream, powdered sugar; whatever you like!
How to Make Ukrainian Syrniki:
1. In a large bowl, mix together 15 oz of cheese, 4 eggs, 3/4 cup flour, 3 Tbsp sugar and 1/2 tsp salt.
2. Place 1 tsp baking soda in a small bowl and add 1 tsp vinegar; give it a stir as it fizzes. Add this mixture to the cheese mix.
3. With a hand-held electric mixer, mix until uniform consistency. Stir in the raisins with a spoon. It will still have some little cheese clumps.
4. Heat a large non stick skillet over medium heat, add 2-3 Tbsp extra light olive oil.
5. Add 1/2 cup flour to a small bowl. Place a heaping tablespoon or flat ice cream scoop of the cheese mixture into the flour. Reach into the bowl and sprinkle flour over the top of the pancake. With Well-floured hands, remove excess flour by gently transferring the pancake from one hand to another.
6. Once the skillet and oil are hot, place patties directly into the skillet as you mold them. Saute until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes each side, flipping once during cooking.
7. Transfer to a plate and serve with your favorite toppings. I’m old school so I like sour cream, fruit and powdered sugar.
Are these pictures making you hungry? I’m gurgling in my gut… I better get started on another batch of cheese.
Ukrainian Syrniki Recipe (Cheese Pancakes)
Ingredients
- 15 oz about 2 cups farmers cheese, homemade or purchase 2 packages.
- 4 large eggs
- 3/4 cups all-purpose flour + 1/2 cup for dredging
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1 cup raisins
- 2-3 Tbsp extra light olive oil for each batch
Toppings:
- Fresh fruit or jam, sour cream, powdered sugar; whatever you like!
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together cheese, eggs, 3/4 cup flour, sugar and salt.
- Place baking soda in a small bowl and add vinegar; give it a stir as it fizzes. Add this mixture to the cheese mix.
- With a hand-held electric mixer, mix until uniform consistency. Stir in the raisins with a spoon. It will still have some little cheese clumps.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add 2-3 Tbsp extra light olive oil.
- Add 1/2 cup flour to a small bowl. Place a heaping tablespoon of flat ice cream scoop of the cheese mixture into the flour. Reach into the bowl and sprinkle flour over the top of the pancake. With Well-floured hands, remove excess flour by gently transferring the pancake from one hand to another.
- Once the skillet and oil are hot, place patties directly into the skillet as you mold them. Saute until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes each side, flipping once during cooking.
- Transfer to a plate and serve with your favorite toppings like sour cream, fruit and powdered sugar.
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Love this recipe!! Second time I have made it and both times they have been delicious. I do skip the dredging-in-flour step as I found that was difficult for me and not really needed to fry up beautifully. I used Costco’s Twarog. Just hope they keep stocking it!
Hi Sophie! So glad you love the recipe. Thanks for sharing.
A bit eggy and gummy… to the point that I don’t taste the cheese. Not my favorite recipe.
Thank you for sharing your feedback, Olesya! I haven’t had experience with this being eggy or gummy, was anything possibly substituted? I hope you give it another try soon.
Not sure what I was expecting these to be like, but they’re delicious. I’m a little surprised by that last negative review. I did my absolute level best to mess up this recipe, and they still worked out fine. I used normal cottage cheese which is clearly way too runny so I had to throw in more flour and still?Fluffy and delicious 🙂 I’m eating them now with some jam so consider the recipe tested and working fine. Given how runny they were I was still able to dredge them which surprised me. Next time I’ll make them with the proper cheese and I’m sure they’ll be even better.
Hi Holly! Thank you for trying the recipe. I do hope they are better the 2nd attempt! 🙂
Love your recipes. But this one definitely needs approving. Not good at all. I would even say terrible.
Hi Julia! I’m so sorry to hear that. Can you share specifics? What went wrong or what did you not like about the recipe?
I didn’t have tvorog, so I used ricotta with 1 cup of flour instead, and skipped the dredging, these turned out delicious, I used less sugar, and served it with some sriracha and sour cream on top. They are great savory and sweet, thank you for the recipe.
That’s wonderful, Victoria. So glad you loved the recipe. Thank you for sharing your experience.
how do you make these without burning them? I have made these at least three times now and every time i make them, even having it on the lowest settings they burn before they’re cooked I believe it’s the olive oil in the recipe.
Hi Marta, I haven’t had that happen before. I wonder if it is the heat source that isn’t at a constant temperature? Also, I wonder if pan type makes a difference.
Marta, I makes these quite often using this recipe. And I struggle with burning sometimes. I think it has more to do with how your pan conducts heat (mine is hotter in the center so I avoid that area). I also prefer sunflower oil, which gives me more consistent results. It also helps if you keep the syrniki quite small so there’s less surface area cooking at once. The center will still be wet when you flip them…and soft when they are done. But you’ll know they are done when they puff up a bit. I go by the “puff” more than color as it increases my success. Keep trying, though. They are definitely worth it.
I made them today with your wonderful farmers cheese recipe! Used chopped apple( we have trees full)! I used a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop instead of dredging in flour. Turned out yummy! Like the donut holes and cheese, all turned out great! Thank you!
Sounds wonderful, Patty! Thank you for the review.
Hi Natasha can you plz tell me how many does one serving make?(how many pc)?thank you
Alla, the whole recipe is about 4-5 servings
Thank you 🙂 I see that in the recipe but I really need to know how many(скільки штук сирників)from one portion??I’m going to make this at my work on Ukrainian Independence Day August 24th very exciting:)))
Hi Alla, I’m sorry I forgot to include a count. From what I remember, it makes about 15 pancakes. I would estimate 3 pancakes per serving.
The olive oil should be removed from the recipe as it is not part of the ingredients making up the syirniki.
Hi Natasha,
I have been looking for a carrot spread that my Ukrainian mother-in-law used to make for years and can not find it.
HI Patricia, I don’t have a recipe for that yet but thanks for the idea and suggestion. I’ll try to add that to our list.
Very delicious recipe. I didn’t have farmers cheese, and used ricotta instead. Syrniki were light, fluffy, I will definitely make them again.
Hi Catie! That is great! So happy you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for the review.
Hi Natasha! My American grandkids and their cousins love Ukrainian syrniky, so I make them often alternating with your wonderful French crepes. Just wanted to share that I often use Mexican cheese like Casero or other kind, which is cheaper and easier to find where I live. It could be a bit too dry, so I add just a little bit of kefir or buttermilk, or cottage cheese from the store for moisture (just not too much). I never used a recipe but similar ingredients and proportions you describe, although it turns out a little different every time depending on what I put in there. Now that I have your recipe, I can share it with others when people ask. Thank you!
Yum! Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Zina!
I’m not a fan of raisins, so I’m wondering if I could substitute with maybe blueberries or another fruit?
Hi Margaret, I haven’t tried that substitute to advise. I saw someone shared this comment “I omitted raisins because I didn’t have any, and did not roll in extra flour before frying because I added more to the batter. They turned out delicious! Very easy and quick. Thank you Natasha!!” I hope that helps.
My daughter doesn’t like raisins, so I’ve used cranberries instead, and they work just fine!
Great idea! Thank you for sharing that with us.
I tried this recipe a few times because you have such a wonderful reputation and I thought I was doing something wrong but these turn out terrible every time :(. Im so frustrated, even used real Russian farmers cheese.
Hi Brittany, These have consistently been good for us and are one of our favorite special breakfasts. I suspect maybe it’s the type of cheese that you used? Could it have been overly wet and moist? Farmer cheese should be fairly dry. We have a tutorial on how to make Farmer Cheese from scratch.
It’s really hard to find good recipe for syrniki and these one is really good. These turned out very delicious and fluffy!!!
What a wonderful review, thank you for sharing that with us!
Have you ever tried to make those in the over ? Or air fryer?
Hi Julia, I haven’t tried it myself, but here’s what one of our readers wrote about baking these pancakes: “preheat your oven 350F. Prepare your baking dish, line with aluminum foil and cover with cooking spray that contains flour. Use your ice cream scoop and scoop it on your baking dish about one scoop on each pancake. Bake for 10 minutes then remove. Pancakes are double in size. Meanwhile heat your skillet over medium heat with oil and transfer your pancakes on skillet and continue cooking until golden-brown color on both sides. Easier, less mess, your hands are clean. less flour its make your pancakes more fluffy…” I hope that helps!
I made them with well strained home made cheese and I am sorry to say that, but I was not impressed at all. I did not make any substitutions, just followed the recipe. The dough was very liquidy to the point it was quite difficult to make pancakes.
HI Anna, the primary reason why these would be watery is a cheese that is not strained enough. Also, make sure to use large eggs and not extra-large which would add extra moisture to the batter and make it more difficult to mold. If your cheese is a little more moist, you might reduce one egg from the recipe.
Mine was pretty runny too. I did not think my cheese was runny, but may be. I added more flour this time, but will reduce by 1 egg next time. Overall were fluffy and yummy. I added a 1 tsp of vanilla.
We love these! I usually skip dredging them in flour and they are just as good! Just like pancakes but on another level!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying these Syrniki, Tina! Thank you for your great review!
Dear Natasha,
These are delicious. Thank you very much for sharing your recipe.
It was a little experimental for me at first. Getting the excess flour off became easier when I decided it reminded me of passing a yolk back and forth to separate out the egg whites. It also took me a little bit to get the heat right right so they were cooked through and not overcooked on the outside. But, I’ve got the hang of it now. By the way, I’m in the Boise area, too, and I’m glad we are almost neighbors!
Greg
Hi Greg, I’m happy to hear that you were able to get the recipe! Thank you for sharing that with us and I’m glad you enjoyed it. It’s always good to know that I have some neighbors who also watch my videos and try my recipes. Thank you for your trust and I hope you and your family have a Happy Holidays!
Hi Natasha, is there a reason for mixing vinegar with the baking soda? I don’t see why you would as it would result in a mildly acidic solution and would probably reduce the leavening properties. Thanks!
Ho Polina, there needs to be some acid to activate the baking soda, otherwise, it wouldn’t rise as well and you would taste the soda in the pancakes.
Hi Natasha,
I love so many of your recipes and the blog in general. I’ve made these syrniki a few times before but I think I’ve really gotten the hang of it, made it exactly as you wrote it. My partners exact words were: “I’m speechless. They are so good it took my breath away!” Wanted to let you know how successful they were, thanks!!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
Can these be made with Kefir with sliced apples/banana??? Or is this a different kind of pastry???
Hi Robert, I haven’t tested that but I imagine it may work. If you experiment I would love to know how you like that.
Hi, I saw this recipe and fancied trying it – until I saw my husband had used all the cottage cheese ( our nearest to farmers, we’re in London!) – so I substituted Greek feta, and it worked really well ! Light, fluffy and very tasty
I’m so glad you enjoyed that Jackie!
They taste very good. It reminded me more of aladi. But who care what the name is , they taste great. I used proportions as described but mine were a little liquid and it did not quite stayed together in the flower. Wondering why is that? Did I over mixed? Also the amount of oil for frying is for one batch? because they do absorb oil while frying.
Hi, the pancakes are very delicate feeling when you are dredging in flour and that is normal. If the cheese you used was a little more loose/wet, it would be a good idea to strain it.
I have to agree with someone who said they turned out more like pancakes than sirniki. Sirniki should taste more like a cheesecake almost, these were all dough with a bit of cottage cheese. Also, I wish you mentioned to strain the cottage cheese first, mine turned out way more liquidy than your recipe. I couldn’t put them into flour.
Hi Nessa, it definitely has to do with the type of cheese used. I would recommend making the recipe as written before substituting any ingredients. Farmer cheese is much dryer than cottage cheese and you would definitely have to strain it first. This recipe was developed for Farmer Cheese.
Oh I see, would farmer cheese make them taste more cheesy than cottage cheese?
We found it works best for this recipe
I made these with homemade farmers cheese and they came out fantastic!!! So fluffy! I omitted raisins as my family is not a fan. Even my hubby said I should make these more often. Thank you!!!
That is fantastic! Thanks for sharing that with us and for giving a wonderful review.
Excellent! My husband is of Russian descent; his mother from Moscow. He loves your recipe. We ate more than we should have, but they’re delicious and so simple to prepare. Thank you, Natasha.
So glad you all enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for your amazing review I appreciate it.
I followed the recipe exactly. I am very familiar with syrniki but your amounts for ingredients are off. Too many eggs, not enough sugar or flour. Couldn’t even taste the tvorog. Will needto use another Russian recipe.
Hi Marina, I wonder if it was maybe the cheese you used since the bulk of this recipe is Farmer Cheese. Did you make any other substitutions or modifications? These are personally one of my favorite pancakes.
Hi Natasha, I am wondering if you can make them and then freeze “sirniki”?
Hi Nadya, to be honest, I have not tested freezing these so I cannot advise. IF you experiment I would love to know how you like that.
I have frozen them, and just made another batch to freeze again. Worked great!
I found these to be pretty eggy as well. I’ve never had syrniki before so I wasn’t sure if this was supposed to be the taste. I also couldn’t taste a lot of the cheese, at least not until they had cooled completely.
Turned out too doughey… In your recipe you say 3/4 cup of flour and 3 tbs of sugar, but in your picture it looks like 3/4 cup of sugar and 3 tbs of flour. Couldn’t even taste the farmers cheese in there because of so much dough. Reminded me of aladyis, not true syrniki. Sorry, but this recipe did not work. Love your other recipes, but please correct this one.
Hi, the ingredients are correct as written. Did you possibly add baking powder by mistake or skip the vinegar which activates the soda? Also, did your baking soda fizz up when vinegar was added? If they seemed dense, it could be due to expired baking soda.
these are delicious! I made them with homemade farmer’s cheese and used chickpea flour instead of wheat. The texture of them was amazing! Will definitely be making more of them soon. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing that Emily! I’m happy you enjoyed this recipe!
Great recipe. I used ricotta cheese instead of farmers cheese because I needed to use it up, and upped the amount of flour to 1 cup. The consistency was somewhat different due to ricotta being more wet than farmers cheese but the pancakes were still very fluffy and soft. I omitted raisins because I didn’t have any, and did not roll in extra flour before frying because I added more to the batter. They turned out delicious! Very easy and quick. Thank you Natasha!!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me. I’m so happy you enjoyed that.
This is exactly how my Ukrainian great-grandmother, GiGi (still with us) makes the syrnyky … and I use farmer cheese in my pyrohy … in her special recipe.
Thanks for bringing this recipe to the attention of the American public.
Hey Chrystyna, that’s so awesome! I’m so glad you discovered our blog.
Thank you Natasha! This is great recipe. Just made two batches ( I had almost two pounds of homemade farmers cheese). They remind me of my childhood.
That’s just awesome! Thank you so much for sharing that with me!
I have made these sirniki today and my family is in love with these. There easy and quick to make. Total worth it. Thank u so much Natasha for the recipes. 😁❤
You’re welcome, Luda! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, thank you for sharing your wonderful review 🙂
Can i subsitute for ricotta cheese i dont have Farmers cheese thanks
Hi Ali, I haven’t tried the ricotta substitution so it is difficult to guess what other adjustments would need to be made. Ricotta is considerably more moist/wet than farmer cheese. If you experiment, please let me know how it goes 🙂
I know the raisins might absorb a little liquid. Would you change the amount of flour if I dont use raisins? or just proceed with the recipe as is?
I just saw this dish advertised here: http://fathomaway.com/review-arthurs-nosh-bar-montreal/?utm_source=Fathom+Newsletter&utm_campaign=808a4192b7-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_03_06&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fd909d041f-808a4192b7-314646541
So looking for a way to make them at home!!! Nice addition of protein which I love.
Can you substitute quark, or cottage cheese?
Hi Nancy, proceed as is. There is no need to make any changes if omitting raisins. What a fun article! thanks for sharing 🙂 Also, I think quark and cottage cheese would contain too much liquid to work well in this recipe without other adjustments.
Hello Natasha! I wanted to check these out after seeing them delectably eaten on Good Mythical Morning, and stumbled across your recipe which looks fantastic! I have one question, though: I am allergic to milk, so is there anything you can think of that would make a suitable substitute for the cheese, or am I right to say that the cheese is kind kf the point of the dish?
Thanks!
Chad
Hi Chad, since the majority of these is the cheese ingredient it would be very difficult to replace. Sorry 🙁
How many calories?
Due to time constraints, I don’t typically include nutritional info, but check out this nutrition analyzer – you can plug in the ingredients from any recipe, select the serving size and it will give you nutritional info, calories, etc. I hope that is helpful to you Paula!
Hi. I am making syrniki to serve with caviar. Will this recipe work with savory?
Louise, these are intended to be more sweet than savory. These Deruny is what I would serve instead.
Natasha thank u so much for creating these recipes, and making them so accessible, easy to understand, and all the right flavors. I love how you describe in detail how to make, and then condense the information. It comes In so handy to a amatuer cook like me! I love your vids, recipes, and time you take to respond back to qs:) thank you.
Hello Angelina! You’re welcome, I’m glad to hear you are enjoying the recipes so much! Thanks for following and sharing your encouraging, thoughtful comments! 🙂
I am making Syrniki for a Dessert for a Russian themed dinner party prior to watching the film Doctor Zhvago. Can I pre cook them as am a guest responsible for the dessert? Am putting raspberry jam, fresh raspberries and creme fraiche as your picture shows.
Thank you in advance
Hi Trenna, I really do think these are best fresh – they are puffy and so soft when freshly cooked but they can be reheated on a skillet and will still taste great. Those toppings sound great!
These are beyond delicious!! Tasted just like the ones I had in Ukrainian earlier this year.
I’m happy you enjoy the recipe Lisa! Thanks for sharing your fantastic review!
great blog and recipes 🙂 I tried these today, but they turned to charcoal on the outside within seconds, yet remained almost raw in the middle. what am I doing wrong? wrong skillet, too much/too little oil? too much heat? hope you can help me 🙂
Hi Ingrid, if that is the case, the skillet is probably way too hot. It should not be anywhere near black within seconds. Definitely turn the heat way down. A non-stick pan is easiest to use for this recipe.
Hi, I just made and ate syrniki. I didn’t add raisins cause my boys don’t like them. Also when u have a recipe with salt and baking powder just use self rising flour instead. That’s it. How simple. Anyway, thanks cause they turned out perfect, not gooey but soft and crispy. Try it, I think u just might love it with this flour. I used farmers cheese from Russian store. Perfect consistensy not liquidy at all.
Thanks your sharing your review and tips Larisa! 😀
So did you not use any salt or baking soda and just used the self rising flour instead? Same measurement?
Finally finally, Natasha, мои сырники получились))) Sorry for using Russian) I love this recipe, you know I’ve tried so many and I love syrniki, but I never could make them the way I wanted them to be and this recipe is perfect!!! And not only the recipe, I love how you take pictures and even the dumbest person can cook really well with the help of your website) I love food, I love good food, so I cook, because if you want to do something good – do it yourself. I am so happy I was recommended your website, it is perfect for every day recipes. Thumbs up, Natasha! Your recipes stand second after Jamie Oliver’s one in my personal rating of cooking recources! Thank you!
You’re very welcome Yulia! Thanks for following and thanks for the great compliments! 😀
These look amazing!!! Can I substitute coconut flour for regular flour?
Hi Galina, I haven’t tried it that way but I imagine it would work. If you experiment, let me know how it goes 🙂
Have to admit, I was skeptical because I’m not a fan of cottage cheese usually. But these were very tasty and a hit with my kids. The only change I made was to use potato flour instead of regular wheat flour as we’re trying to cut back on the refined wheat. Besides, I figured potatoes were very Russian/Ukrainian anyway 🙂 But the potato flour worked just fine – gave them a hint of ‘latke’ flavor, which is never a bad thing. (Did make the texture a bit ‘gooey-er’ than regular flour likely does, which my family likes, but others might not) It’s an option, though, for anyone needing to make these gluten-free.
Glad to hear you enjoy the recipe! Thanks for sharing the tips 🙂
These look tasty! But syrniki are not only Ukrainian, they’re Russian, Belarussian, Latvian, and Luthuanian 🙂
I made these this morning and I have added cranberries instead of raisins. The tasty pan cakes came out very fluffy, however I had to let them cool for 10-15 minutes for them to be a bit harder and therefore tastier. The right of the pan hot pancake did not exactly appeal to me at first with the hot gooey consistency. I would give 3.5 stars.
Hi Garbelka, since farmer’s cheese is a dryer cheese, they should be fluffy rather than gooey, I wonder if maybe you added too much batter and made them thicker than normal?
Hi! These tasted delicious but mine fluffed up like a pancake and really expanded in the pan. Maybe I did something with vinegar/soda..
Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Made these for breakfast today for the first time. Very easy recipe. Husband and I both loved them. Definitely will be making them again! Thanks!
Inna, thank you for such a nice review on the recipe and you are welcome 😁.
Made this recipe twice but without raisins and loved it. Thank you!
Thank you for the nice review Luiza and you are welcome 😀.
Natasha, do you think these sirniki will turn out well using ricotta cheese?
Hi Viktoriya, I haven’t tested with ricotta but ricotta is a more moist cheese than farmer’s cheese so you will have to make other adjustments. Without testing it myself, I hesitate to guess how you should change it up. It does sound like a great experiment! If I try it, I will definitely let you know :). I do need a good ricotta pancake recipe on my blog! 😉
I love this recipe! What I like to do is instead of putting the mixture in four, I use cream of wheat or corn meal. The outside becomes crunchy and it’s really good! Thanks for the wonderful recipes, make my life so much easier! God bless!
Oh wow that sounds so tasty with a crunchy exterior and soft interior. You’re making me so hungry!
Mmmmm yummmm love cheese patties haven’t made since Chanukah maybe I’ll do a fry up pf these on Sunday morning tho am wondering what’s a good substitute to put in place of the raisins I don’t mind em but my folks and sissy do lol these look really way tantalizing and tempting have a gr8 awesome weekend luv cheers
HI Tzivia, you could try diced dried apricots or leave them out completely. I have a very similar recipe posted that uses apples and they are also really good 🙂
Oh hmmmm apricots that’s very interesting and would add color apple is also another option will keep these in mind thanx hun and let the weekend fun begin
Thanks Tzivia. Have a great weekend!
Great recipe! I didn’t add raisins, my family doesn’t like raisins, and I didn’t dredge them in flour, didn’t really have time, and they still turned out really really good and yummy and fluffy and soft and…… well you get the point! Thank you Natasha! Thumbs up from my family!
Olga, thank you for such a nice review 😄. Thank you for sharing it with us!
These are amazing! Very light and fluffy!
Hi Annie! I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
preheat your oven 350F. Prepare your baking dish, line with aluminum foil and cover with cooking spray that contains flour. Use your ice cream scoop and scoop it on your baking dish about one scoop on each pancake. Bake for 10 minutes then remove. Pancakes are double in size. Meanwhile heat your skillet over medium heat with oil and transfer your pancakes on skillet and continue cooking until golden-brown color on both sides. Easier, less mess, your hands are clean. less flour its make your pancakes more fluffy…
Thank you for sharing that tip!
Can you replace the raisins with chocolate chips?
Hi Shaden, I haven’t tried it that way but I think it could work. Let me know if you try it! 🙂
I am wondering what I can use to substitute for the farmers cheese. Is that cottage cheese. Never heard of it b4 and I want to make these Thanks.
The farmers cheese is a little difficult to find, that is why we always make it from scratch. With this recipe, there really is no good substitute for the farmers cheese. If you want to use cottage cheese, try this recipe instead: https://natashaskitchen.com/2015/09/11/fluffy-cottage-cheese-pancakes/
Hi Natashenka!
I’m a newlywed and my husband thinks im such a good cook hehe even tho I never though I can cook ;/ thank you soooo much for your webside and such easy and tasty recipes! You are so awesome! 🙂 I also wanted to ask you if you think its ok to prepare sirniki night before and fried them in a morning? our breakfast is usually at 5:30am :/
Lena, I’m so happy to hear that my blog is a blessing to your family 😊. For the syrniki, I would prep everything the night before and add baking soda/vinegar mixture in the morning.
ok awesome! Thank you so very much for responding! 🙂 can’t wait to taste them! 😉
They are so freaking good!!! Thank you!! Thank you !!
You are welcome Cristina and thank you for such a nice review 😁.
I didn’t make sirniki by your recipes that true, but they will still taste different then Russian or Ukrainian sirniki. You can still call them Natasha Sirniki, not Ukrainian. Why don’t you try my daughter favorite we call it ” Lazy vareniki”
I ate syrniki in Russia and I got in love for it.
I just made it and it turns out to be totally different from the one I ate.
It is also really really heavy. I don’t know if I made something wrong, but I am sad… I want so much to eat this again.
The appearence of it is perfect, but tastes totally wrong 🙁
mine: https://instagram.com/p/8J5yfVxAbY/?taken-by=monica.galafassi
These are normally very light and fluffy and they go down easy :). It sounds like something went wrong. Did you change anything un the recipe? Did you use Farmers cheese (it’s tempting to substitute, but it doesn’t work well with other wet cheeses). It’s hard to say what could have gone wrong without being there. Did you use any different ingredients? At what point did you recipe look different from what I have in the pictures?
I have a similar recipe, but with the option of using манна крупа instead of flour. I think this makes the dough stiffer, without taking away from the taste of the cheese.
Thank you for sharing! I haven’t tried that. I actually don’t have much experience with манна крупа. What else do you use it for?
Loved the sirniki!
That’s awesome! Thanks Inna 🙂
I just came upon your site and I love all your Ukranian Russian recipes. I wanted to let you know, I make these all the time and grew up with my momachka and babushka making these little treats for me. My favorite dish growing up. I also used to add sugar to the sour cream when I was little but know to make it fancy I add maple syrup or honey to the sour cream to make a nice topping. This is great for when you have left over Ricotta and cottage cheese in the fridge. I have used all kinds of cottage cheese and ricotta. I even used low fat and fat free versions with whole wheat flour. I just drain the liquid out and add extra flour to make the consistency right. I also sometimes just mix with a fork to not over beat the ingredients. I have made these with dried cranberries and they are delicious. I love making these. They are inexpensive , so easy and satisfying. I can’t wait to try your recipes. Thanks for giving us your delicious recipes.
Do you have any recipes for Honey cake (medivik) I would love to make it. Since my grandmother died and i do not remember the recipe. She would make it for us all the time in a bundt cake dish. My father loved it. I would love to surprise him and make it for him. It’s one of the few deserts he would eat because it was not so sweet. That was a favorite the cake and crepes she would make all the time. I still can not perfect the crepe. The way she made them always perfect.
Thanks
Diana
Now I really want to make syrniki with ricotta and cottage cheese! Do you mix the ricotta and cottage cheese after draining the cottage cheese? Do you try to drain the ricotta in cheese cloth also? I’ve wondered if there was a good substitute that worked since we don’t always make or have farmers cheese, so we don’t get to enjoy these as often as we’d like. Thanks again! P.S. Have you tried the crepes I have posted? I have 2 kinds of honey cake. This is my favorite: https://natashaskitchen.com/2013/12/26/prune-honey-cake-recipe/ This is a layered one (also very good): https://natashaskitchen.com/2014/03/09/8-layer-honey-cake-recipe-medovik/
These look so delicious! What kind of farmer’s cheese did you use?
It was my homemade version. There’s a link in the recipe above 🙂
After hearing about these from a Ukrainian friend of mine, I found your recipe and made them this morning for the first time. Wow… so great! Thank you for the easy and tasty recipe! I used no-salt-added farmer cheese and separated two of the eggs (to only use the whites from those two) and everything turned out great.
I’m so happy you enjoyed them! We love them too. I always make them when I make cheese 🙂
Natasha. I just love sirniki, they are my favorite childhood food. But I have made them only a handful of times trying different recipes, they were either too runny or had too much flour that I could taste it. All these reviews are so postitive! So, I don’t know why mine did not turn out. I just tried making them and for some reason after mixing my tvorog with hand mixer it became very runny, almost like the consistancy of the dough for nalisniki. I could not shape them. So, I just took a small skillet and poured it to make large American-sized pancakes. I did beat on lowest and very short time until it just mixed all the ingredients. Although the lowest on that mixer still seemed too high. What do you think if I try beating the egg and sugar separately, adding flour, mixing again, and then folding it into the tvorog with spoon?
You may have had a more moist tvorog cheese. Was it homemade and was it pretty well drained (not wet like cottage cheese?). It is a pretty delicate dough though, but it definitely should be thicker than nalesniki dough. I hope that helps 🙂
Спасибо Наташа! Я съел эти вкусные блины на украинских фестивалях здесь, в Чешской Республике, попробуйте сами!
I made these this morning for the first time ever! They turned out perfect and delish! Thank you! 🙂
Awesome, thank you for a good report Lilly :).
Would cottage cheese work for these?
I haven’t tried with cottage cheese but I think it would have to be drained really well if using cottage cheese since farmers cheese is quite a bit drier
They look lovely! I’m making them this weekend after I buy some farmer’s cheese.
Enjoy!! 🙂 These are such a treat!
perfect timing! I was just talking to my dad and they were making these for breakfast… i was so jealous! then i see this post, i’ll just have to ‘zakotat rykova” and make them myself!
They are so easy to make and truly delicious! I hope you love the recipe!
Will ricotta cheese work for this?
Ricotta is probably going to make these too thin. They are already super soft and tender when you are dredging them with flour. I think ricotta would make them too soft and make it very difficult to dredge.
mmm.. JUST finished making these and my 7-year old just finished eating them.. =) “Mom! these are the best EVER!” -were his exact words =)
i didn’t put any raisins in. He doesn’t like raisins at all and i used coconut oil to fry them in. They were delicious! Thank you, Natasha!
Awww, that’s so sweet 🙂 Thanks for sharing that with me.
Natasha, I am gluten intolerant and made your recipe with all purpose gluten free flower. Not sure if its what is making the syrniki more runny but they don’t hold their shape like yours and others I’ve had at my inlaws. Do you have any suggestions? My husband still likes them but I want them to look and hold together like my mother inlaws 🙂
Thank you!
I don’t have experience with gluten-free flour. I think it probably ha to do with tE flour if that’s the only thing you’ve done differently. Does your family make them with gluten free flour?
What do I do when my syrniki has lumps of tvorog. Do I need to blend or mash the tvorog before adding it?
If that has hard clumps, mash them to soften up the cheese.
Forgot to rate it
Thank you so much Lena 🙂 I’m so glad you loved the recipe!
Made these last weekend…loved, loved, loved them! This recipe is better than my mom’s 😉 Thank you. I’ll try to make my own tvorog for the next batch. I’ve made a few recipes from your website, so far loved every one if them. My favorite part is the ingredients and measurements for us, living in U.S.
Thank you again!
Do you strain the farmer’s cheese beforehand or does the flour absorb the cheese’s liquid?
Did you buy one thy is juicier? If there is visible liquid to strain, you should strain.
Mom made these last night and I dreamt about eating more!
I have searched for this recipe for over a year now! This was my favorite breakfast food when I studied in L’viv. Thank you so much for sharing! I can’t wait to try it out.
You’re welcome! I hope it brings back memories for you 😉
Great recipe!!! This one is definitely my favorite recipes for cottage cheese pancakes!!! My husband absolutely love it as well! Thank you for sharing! I shared this recipes on my blog and recommended your site for yummy recipes, as they are really yummy.
You are very welcome Lana 🙂
i’ve made these several times and it is the best recipe for cheese pancakes we have found. Definitly a keeper.
Thank you so much for the compliment, I agree 🙂
Made these today. I married an Asian man who likes everything spicy and rich in flavor. I was so positive he won’t like them but I made them anyway for my 2 year old daughter. Surprisingly, they both chumped them down smacking their lips and licking jam off their fingers. This recipe will now become one of my family favorites. =) Thank you for sharing!
You made me smile Cherish. I’m so glad that your family loved them 😀
I love all these Russian recipes!!! My wife is from Russia, so I am very familiar with a lot of these recipes, but there are a few that she’s never prepared, so I will be visiting again to print some of them out.
Welcome to the site John 🙂
Made this for breakfast and it was a really good recipe, Only thing is that I added more homemade cheese and sugar and I cooked them on butter 🙂 so they ended up kinda tasting like nalesniki 🙂
Great job on improvising Alla 😀
Made these this morning! Very tasty! My first batch burned a little, I had the heat up too high, but than the other ones were nice and golden! 🙂 I looove anything with cheese! Thanks for posting this 🙂
You’re welcome, I’m glad the second batch worked out well 🙂 It’s been a couple months since I’ve made these. I need to make more cheese!
Here is a tip, if you can’t find a farmer cheese, just stop at mexican store and buy Mexican cheese Requeson; it tastes just like Russian cheese.
Oh really? That’s great! I had no idea. Is it the same Mexican cheese at Winco that kinds looks like ricotta?
A few simple questions:
1. Is this easy to make?
2. Is this a dessert food with an Ukrainian origin?
3. Is this a hot food?
Can you answer them?
They are pretty straightforward and easy to make, especially if you buy the cheese. It’s Ukrainian and it’s a breakfast food, best served hot.
I just made these – they came out REALLY good. Not exactly the same as what I remember having in Ukraine, because they were a lot fluffier. Will definitely make again.
BTW – I made my own cheese to use in these (out of whole milk and heavy cream cause it’s tough to find farmers cheese where I live, here is the recipe – http://everythingthatmattersradio.com/recipes/ricotta.html).
Anyway, these are great with real maple syrup!
Kate, thanks for the tips! I’m always curious to find new recipes for the cheese (everyone makes their cheese a little differently). I haven’t tried with real maple syrup but I definitely will next time!
Great recipe! Thank you! I also like to make zapekanka from tvorog – it’s like a cheesecake but healthier and more dense. Great for breakfast with sour cream and tea
That’s something I haven’t tried but it sounds wonderful!
Oh, this is the best syrniki recipe that i ever tried. Amazing!!!!
It melts in your mouth 🙂
Thanks for posting!
Thanks Vikulya 🙂 I’m happy you liked the recipe!
Mmmmm…syrniki- love them. They look delicious!!! Beautiful presentation as always 🙂
Thanks Inessa 🙂
These look delicious, i never thought of putting raisins but will definately try it next time. I also have this recipe on my food blog that i recently started but the recipes are quite different 🙂
http://eatandtheneatsomemore.blogspot.com
Yours do look scrumptious as well! I like your blog very much. Keep up the good work!!
I honestly cannot remember the last time I had these… Super excited for the recipe (new year resolution is to cook more :)–yes, finally )
Glad I can help with a resolution 🙂
Thank you so much for posting this! Your version looks delicious! 🙂
Have you tried putting craisins inside, or dried cherries?
No, but that does sound really really good! I have cranberries on hand, I’ll try that next time. Thanks again for this amazing recipe!
Wow these look great! I think I have all the ingredients on hand… thus I might just have to make some today. 🙂
The sirniki look so delicious! You’re right, the pictures make my mouth water.
My favorite desserts are with tvorog. I put it in anything I can think of. I love that you put raisins in them. It’s such a great combination.
Olga, what else do you like to make with tvorog?
Nalistniki are a favorite! I also make several different coffee cakes, a bundt cake with dry fruit, and delicious pastries/cookies. I also make a filling for yeast breads.
Olga, I’m very glad you have your own blog to feature your wonderful recipes! I haven’t made coffee cake in awhile but that does sound good right now!
I am making something similar but will have to try this recipe too! Look very tempting and I have feeling that my kids will love this one!!!
Sandra, I bet they will! My son enjoyed them too 🙂 . I’m really craving your organic burgers. Thanks. Thanks alot!!