Here’s An Easy Syrniki Recipe For You To Enjoy!
Syrniki – sometimes also written as syrnyky or sirniki – are delicious cheese pancakes with a hint of sweetness and a whole lot of cheesy goodness.
With just a few common ingredients and a hot pan, these pancakes are easy to make and even easier to enjoy for breakfast, as a snack or as dessert.
These Syrniki pancakes are popular in Russia, Ukraine, and other countries in this region. They are typically enjoyed with jam, sour cream, berries, or other fruit!
Unsurprisingly, these pancakes with cottage cheese utilize cottage cheese that has been drained, squeezed, and pressed through a sieve.
Farmer’s cheese, a pressed cottage cheese that has a slightly firmer texture than classic cottage cheese, is also often used for these pancakes.
If you use farmer’s cheese for this recipe, just keep in mind that you might have to reduce the amount of flour you use (due to the lower moisture content) – otherwise the pancakes might end up a bit too hard.
Tvorog – as a type of farmer’s cheese is called Eastern Slavic countries – is also very similar to German quark which is often used in baking as well.
Ingredients
In order to make this recipe for Syrniki, here are the ingredients that you’ll need:
- Cottage cheese – You’ll drain the cottage cheese, squeeze out excess moisture and press it through a sieve. Alternatively you can use farmer’s cheese but might have to reduce the amount of flour by a tiny bit (since it contains less moisture).
- Eggs – You’ll need two eggs. This helps bind the pancakes.
- All purpose flour – To make the pancake mix.
- Sugar – To add some sweetness.
- Salt – To add flavor.
- Vanilla extract – For a hint of vanilla.
- Olive oil – For frying the pancakes.
Recipe Tips
Before you make these syrniki with cottage cheese, read through the recipe tips so that you know what to expect from this recipe:
- Make sure to drain the cottage cheese well and to squeeze out excess liquid. You can use a cheese cloth for this. Also, press the cottage cheese through a sieve to give it an airy texture.
- Do not add more flour to the mixture. Otherwise the syrniki might turn out too hard.
- You can form a round syrniki with your hands, but then it will have a less accurate shape than when using a cup or metal ring.
- You can add other things to the batter such as raisins but this is optional.
How to Make Syrniki – Step by Step Instructions
Here is how to make these Russian cheese pancakes. You can follow the steps in this section and check out the recipe process photos to see just how we did it.
If you don’t need the photos, the recipe card for these fluffy cottage cheese pancakes can be found at the bottom of this post!
You can buy cottage cheese without liquid, but if it is in whey (the liquid), it must be drained. It is also better to squeeze the cottage cheese to remove excess moisture.
Then rub the cottage cheese through a sieve to get a very soft and airy texture. It may seem easier to do this through a blender, but don’t do it – the blender will give it a sticky, viscous texture that will require more flour.
Transfer the “grated” cottage cheese to a bowl.
Then add the eggs, flour, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt.
Mix thoroughly with a large spoon to obtain a homogeneous, sticky mass.
Sprinkle a cutting board or table with flour so that the dough does not stick. Cut off a small ball of dough.
Using a cup or a metal ring, shape a perfectly round syrnik. If it is too thick, gently press it down with your palm. Repeat until you have used up all of the dough.
Heat the olive oil in a pan. Put the syrniki in the pan and fry them for roughly 4 minutes on one side until golden brown.
Then flip the syrniki over and fry them for another 3 minutes with the lid on until they are fully cooked and golden brown on both sides.
The exact time required can vary depending on the thickness of the syrniki.
Serve the syrniki with jam, sour cream, berries or other fruit of your choice.
Storage Tips
These cheese pancakes taste best when they are fresh. You can store any leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for around 2-3 days. You can pan fry them again to reheat.
You can also freeze syrniki for 2-3 months.
FAQ
Here are some common answers to questions about Syrniki.
Syrniki – also known as tvorozhniki in Russia or Syrnyky in Ukrainian – are cheese pancakes. Made from curded cheese, these pancakes are slightly sweet, slightly crumbly, and often fried in oil before being served with jam, sour cream, or fruit!
The main ingredient in Syrniki pancakes is a curd cheese such as tvorog. In North America, Farmer’s Cheese or cottage cheese is often used.
To make these syrniki, drain the cottage cheese and push through a strainer to create an airy texture. Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl. Shape the dough into circles with a cutter or by hand and fry in oil until golden brown on both sides.
Related Recipes
If you loved these Syrniki, you might also enjoy these other sweet Russian/Slavic recipes:
- Russian Pancakes (Oladi)
- Cheese Donut Holes (Ponchiki)
- Honey Cake (Russian Medovik)
- Verguny (Ukrainian Angel Wing Cookies)
- Sochniki (Sweet Cheese Cookies)
- Russian Crepes (Blini)
Syrniki (Cheese Pancakes)
Ingredients
- 2 cups cottage cheese, drained
- 2 eggs
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- You can buy cottage cheese without liquid, but if it is in whey (the liquid), it must be drained. It is also better to squeeze the cottage cheese to remove excess moisture. Then rub the cottage cheese through a sieve to get a very soft and airy texture. It may seem easier to do this through a blender, but don't do it – the blender will give it a sticky, viscous texture that will require more flour.2 cups cottage cheese
- Transfer the "grated" cottage cheese to a bowl. Then add the eggs, flour, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt.2 eggs, 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Mix thoroughly with a large spoon to obtain a homogeneous, sticky mass.
- Sprinkle a cutting board or table with flour so that the dough does not stick. Cut off a small ball of dough. Using a cup or a metal ring, shape a perfectly round syrnik. If it is too high, gently press it down with your palm. Repeat until you have used up all of the dough.
- Heat the olive oil in a pan. Put the syrniki in the pan and fry them for roughly 4 minutes on one side until golden brown. Then flip the syrniki over and fry them for another 3 minutes with the lid on until they are fully cooked and golden brown on both sides. The exact time required can vary depending on the thickness of the syrniki and your pan.3 tablespoons olive oil
- Serve the syrniki with jam, sour cream, berries or other fruit of your choice.
Notes
- Instead of cottage cheese, you can also use farmer’s cheese. However, you might have to reduce the amount of flour a little bit since farmer’s cheese has a lower moisture content.Â
- You can form a round syrniki with your hands, but then it will have a less accurate shape.
- Do not add more flour, otherwise the syrniki will turn out too hard.
- You can freeze syrniki for 2-3 months.
Nutrition
This nutritional information has been estimated by an online nutrition calculator. It should only be seen as a rough calculation and not a replacement for professional dietary advice.
I made these today and the flavor is great. I like the simplicity of the ingredients and it’s a nice snack. The are tasty on their own but we had some berry honey that was good on them too. I was curious which brand Cottage cheese you use.
Love the sound of this recipe and I will definitely try it. I’m English living in Poland and am used to weighing and measuring in grams/mls. I google for conversions sometimes get different answers from different web sites -:). Could you tell me how many grams is in one cup please. Thank you.
Hi Neelie, I know that struggle very well! These days I use both methods for cooking and baking, depending on whether it’s a German or Canadian/American recipe. I’d love to add grams and ml measurements to the recipes on our website, but that would be too much work for me to commit to at the moment. Unfortunately, it differs – one cup of water has a different weight than one cup of sugar, for example. What you could do for recipes where the exact amounts don’t matter that much (like this one for Syrniki) is use a mug or glass that holds 236-250ml and use that as your “cup”. I hope that helps a little bit. /Lisa