Polish Pancakes {Naleśniki}
This is kids’ all time favorite food in Poland. If all fails make naleśniki. They’re golden brown, thin, just slightly sweet pancakes filled with jelly or mixture of white cheese (a form of cottage cheese, in America known as farmer’s cheese) and aromatic cinnamon sugar.
I often also stuff them with…. surprise… sauerkraut and mushroom mixture (savory version) and then, they’re called krokiety (or paszteciki)… but that’s next time.
It takes a steady hand to pour the thin batter to make naleśniki, but I’m here to help. Watch this, and you’ll get a hang of it.
To make naleśniki, you will need:
2 eggs
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup of butter milk (if you don’t have butter milk, use just regular milk, but it’s so worth using buttermilk)
1/2 cup of milk
1 cup of water
1 tbs of melted butter
2 tsp of sugar
1.5 cups of flour
Beat eggs with salt, add the rest of ingredients and blend until it makes a smooth liquid batter. Heat a non-stick pan (I’m using ceramic, nothing sticks to this puppy) with a tiny bit of butter (medium heat). Pour about 1/2 cup of batter onto the pan (as shown in the video).
When the top of the batter dries and the edges start curling up, flip. **If the pancake falls apart while flipping add a couple of tablespoons of flour and whisk well.
Cook for another minute of two, until golden brown. Remove from pan, set aside.
To make filling:
8 oz package of farmer’s cheese (or cream cheese softened)
1/2-3/4 cup of plain yogurt or sour cream (skip if using cream cheese)
1 tbs of sugar (or more if you like it sweeter)
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
Mix together to make a thick paste.
Spread mixture onto the naleśnik, fold in half and in half again.
They are ready to be served, but I like to sauté mine in a tiny bit of butter. They get crispy on the outside and the filling warms up a bit.
This recipe makes about a dozen naleśniki, not counting the first one that you MUST eat plain, fresh off the pan. Caution: hot!!! Don’t say I didn’t warn you… I can’t afford a lawyer. :)
Have you had these before?
Smacznego!!
