When I was pregnant with our daughter Birdy and revolted by every food-scented molecule that passed by, we went to an IHOP and I ordered the blintzes with fruit compote and I was actually able to eat them and a chorus of cartoon bluebirds flew around my head singing. All of which is to say: I love blintzes, which are crêpes stuffed with lightly sweetened cottage cheese and topped with fruit or jam.
Sadly, they’ve have been discontinued at IHOP, and I’m too lazy to make, fill, and roll crêpes, but these cottage cheese pancakes have the same tangy tenderness I crave. Plus, they’re full of protein and super easy to make, assuming you can wait for the pan to heat appropriately, which you either can or can’t depending on what kind of pancake maker you are. They end up with these slightly lacy, buttery edges and I could really just eat them all day.
Birdy loves them, too (because of the blintzes in utero, obviously), and we go through phases of making and eating them constantly, even though she’s usually at college so by “we” I mostly mean “I” (sob). But today my beloved nephew Sam was here, so I stuffed him with pancakes and was immensely happy.
This recipe serves two people generously; it can be easily doubled or halved.
Pancakes Like Blintzes
Serves 2
2/3 cup full-fat (4%) cottage cheese
2 eggs
2 tablespoons flour (all-purpose or gluten-free all-purpose)
1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter (plus more butter for greasing the pan and serving)
Scant ½ teaspoon kosher salt (or ¼ teaspoon table salt)
Butter, fruit, sour cream, and/or preserves for topping, as you like
1. Heat a skillet, wide pan, or griddle over medium-low heat while you prepare the batter.
2. Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until it looks liquidy and homogenous. This is a thin batter. That’s exactly what you want.
3. Spread some butter around in the skillet (which should be hot by now), then pour in small bloops of batter directly from the blender so that they spread into 3- or 4-inch circles. Cook until the underside is deeply golden and the edges are starting to look dry, then flip and cook until the other side is golden (around 5 minutes altogether). You can keep these warm on a platter in a 275-degree oven while the rest cook, if you like. Repeat with the remaining batter.
4. Serve with butter and fruit, or sour cream and preserves, or — honestly, this is my favorite way — completely plain.
P.S. Catherine’s joyful, jumbled house tour, three throw-together breakfasts, and zucchini muffins for school breakfasts.
