Cheese Blintzes

I love blintzes and yet I have had them less than five times in my life.  Few restaurants serve them, and I have only made them once.  They are labor intensive.  They require making the crepes and the filling.  Then all the crepes need to be filled, rolled and fried.  The one time I made them they were delicious, but they were too much work for a single breakfast for me to do again.  Until one happy day I realized that they would freeze well.  Making a huge batch of these is a project, but the fact that I can make a ton of these one afternoon and have enough for several breakfasts makes the work worth it for me.

I primarily make convenient freezer breakfasts, something we can heat quickly in the microwave and get started with our day.  This is not one of them.  Even though pre-making and freezing these makes them easy enough to have on a regular basis, they're still not a fast and easy breakfast.  They need to be fried just before serving and they're really the type of breakfast that should be enjoyed at a leisurely pace.  We have this on lazy weekend mornings as a family.  They would also be great for a special holiday breakfast or when your' having company, pretty much anytime you want to have a really nice breakfast.

Adapted from: Welcome to Junior's
Difficulty: Difficult
Category: Breakfast
Recipe Column: AY 

Crepes
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
4 eggs
1 cup water
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Filling
1 lb cream cheese (regular, not light)
1 cup cottage cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Make the crepes:

1. Use a blender to quickly mix all the crepe ingredients together into a batter.  Even if I am making a large batch of blintzes, I only make 1 to 2 batches of the crepe batter at a time.  The blender makes whipping up the batter super easy.
2. Heat a medium sized frying pan over medium-high heat.  If you have a pan with a sharp corner around the bottom edge instead a curve, it will make swirling the crepe batter easier.  A curved side pan will work though.  It may take a little more practice to get round crepes though.
3. Butter or grease you pan.  Pour the crepe batter by a 1/4 cupful at a time into the pan, tilting the pan as you pour to swirl the batter around, covering the bottom of the pan.
4. Let the crepe cook on the first side until it is set, about 15 seconds.  Do not let it brown.  Flip the crepe and let cook on the other side for just a couple seconds.  Stack the cooked crepes up on a plate or sheet pan.

Make the filling:

1. Use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese until creamy and smooth.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until combined.

Assemble the blintzes:

1. Use a disposable cake decorating bag or a gallon-sized ziploc bag with a corner cut off.  Load the filling into the bag.
2. Set up your work station,  Leave a space clear in front of you.  Put the crepes on you left and the filling on your right.  Place a sheet pan lined with parchment paper above your work space.
3. One at a time, place a crepe in front of you.  Use your right hand to pipe a thick line of filling onto the middle of the crepe.  Use your left hand to fold the crepe.  Fold both sides over the filling then bring the bottom of the crepe up over the filling and roll the crepe the rest of the way up.  Place the blintz on your sheet tray.  If you never put you piping bag down and use your left hand to transfer crepes to the work surface, your right to fill and then your left again to roll the blintz and put it on the sheet tray, you can go really fast assembling the blintzes.  Once the sheet tray is filled you can add a second layer of parchment and blintzes.  Only do two layers though.  

Tilt the pan to swirl the crepe batter around, covering the bottom of the pan.

Ready to flip.

Pipe filling into the center of the crepe.

Fold the edges in over the filling.

Bring the bottom of the crepe up over the filling.

Roll the crepe up.

Finished blintz.

To freeze:

Freeze the blintzes on the sheet tray until solid.  Move to a bag or container for long-term storage.

To serve:

Heat the oven to 170 degrees and line a plate with paper towel.  Thaw as many blintzes as you plan to cook in the refrigerator overnight.  Heat a couple tablespoons of butter in a large frying pan.  There should be enough butter to generously cover the bottom of the pan.  Once the butter is hot, add the blintzes.  They should sizzle when they are added, and don't overcrowd the pan.  

Cook the blintzes on the first side until they are golden brown.  Flip them and cook until golden on the other side as well.  Transfer the cooked blintzes to to the paper towel covered plate and place in the oven to stay warm while you cook the rest.  Check the internal temperature of the blintzes with a thermometer.  They need to get to 140 degrees, but they may need an extra few minutes in the oven to get there.  Serve with fruit or fruit syrup.  We like ours with freezer jam.