Syrniki (Ukrainian/Russian cheese pancakes)

plate with syrniki Russian cheese pancakes topped with jam and cream

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5 from 3 votes

Syrniki (Ukrainian/Russian cheese pancakes)

These fluffy, gently sweet cheese pancakes make a delicious breakfast treat.

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Total Time20

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: Russian, Ukrainian

Servings: approx

Calories: 370kcal

Author: Caroline's Cooking

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Ingredients

For pancakes

8 oz farmer's cheese/quark (tvorog)
¼ cup all purpose flour plain flour
2 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

To coat pancakes

2 tablespoon all purpose flour plain flour

For cooking

2 tablespoon oil approx, or around 1 ½ tablespoon plus a little butter

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Place the cheese, flour, sugar, egg and vanilla for the pancake mixture in a bowl and mix everything together so that the ingredients are well combined but try not to over-mix.
Place the additional flour for coating in a small flat bowl or plate. Using either a cookie scoop or a dessert spoon, take a spoonful of the pancake mixture and then lightly round it off in your hands to form a round patty. They are usually on the thick side compared to regular pancakes, but also not just a slightly squished ball.
Place the pancake into the flour for coating to coat underneath, carefully turn it over to coat the other side then gently shake off any excess. Set aside on a plate and repeat forming and dredging in flour with the rest of the mixture. You should get between around 7 and 11 pancakes, depending on quite how big you make them.
As you are working on forming the pancakes, warm a small skillet/frying pan over a medium heat (non-stick or cast iron is best). Add the oil (and butter, if using) and let it warm.
Once the oil is hot, add a few of the pancakes to the skillet. If you're using an 8in (20cm) skillet you probably want to only cook around half at a time so that you don't overcrowd the pan.
Cook the pancakes for around 3 - 4 minutes until the underside is gently brown then turn and cook another 2 - 3 minutes on the second side. Remove from the skillet and drain on kitchen paper to remove excess oil. Cook the rest of the pancakes.
Serve warm with eg berry compote, jam and (optional though popular) sour cream/creme fraiche (smetana).

Video

Notes

If you can't find farmer's cheese/quark, you can also use ricotta - suggest full fat in all cases and you may need to drain them first as tvorog tends to be a bit drier than many of the closest equivalents.

Nutrition