Blintz is the Yiddish word for filled breakfast crepes, originally hailing from Central and Eastern Europe, places like Russia, Poland, and Hungary. This classic Ashkenazi Jewish dish is a beautiful way to start the day, and it’s worth noting that the places it hails from have very cold winters….talk about walking into the world with some fortification (sometimes blintz might be spelled blintze, with an e).

Cheese Blintzes

The most common filling for blintzes is a sweet cheese filling, and they are especially popular in Israel for the holiday Shavuot. They can be served for breakfast or as a dessert. These have a fruit topping as a bonus; you can use other berries in place of the blueberries, or purchase a premade fruit sauce. No shame in that! But if you do use a premade sauce, make sure to pick one with a short list of ingredients and no high fructose corn syrup.

Crepes for Blintzes

The idea of crepe making can unsettle even the most confident cooks amongst us. But deep breaths here – they are simply very thin pancakes, no more, no less. Don’t beat yourself up if the first few crepes tear or don’t work out perfectly. They are the practice crepes. Or the snack crepes, as it were. After a few, you’ll get the hang of it. And don’t worry if the filled crepes don’t look perfectly shaped – that’s how everyone will know they’re homemade!

Are Crepes and Blintzes the Same Thing?

A crepe is a pancake, and a blintz is a filled crepe. A blintz is a filled crepe — without the filling, a crepe is just a crepe!

Make Ahead Blintzes

This is definitely a breakfast recipe for a weekend, or a morning when you have a bit more time. However, the crepe batter and the filling and the sauce can all be made ahead of time (the crepes can even be tightly wrapped in plastic, slid into a freezer-proof zipper top bag, and frozen), so if you are organized, the whole thing can really come together in minutes, especially if you fry them up as you assemble them.

You can even refrigerate the uncooked stuffed crepes for a day, and fry those up on a regular old weekday.

Blintz Filling

To make this creamy filling, all you need to do is blend together farmers cheese, cottage cheese, and cream cheese with some eggs, vanilla, and a little lemon zest if you like. Super easy, and all of the ingredients are readily available at the supermarket.

Blintzes: These sweet breakfast crepes are stuffed with a creamy cheese filling, topped with berry sauce, and surprisingly easy to make.

How to Make Blintzes

Make the crepes ( you also might think about store-bought crepes if you need a shortcut).

Place 3 tablespoons of filling along the top middle of each crepe (don’t be tempted to overstuff the crepes or the filling might seep out as you cook them).

Fold up the bottom part over the filling.

Fold in the sides.

Then roll up the crepe so the filling is completely encased in a rectangular packet.

Repeat with the rest of the filling and crepes.

Cook, top with the sauce, and eat! Make sure the filled blintzes are browned on both sides. If you cut into the blintzes right away, the filling might be somewhat runny – in my book, that’s a-ok, and then the insides mix gorgeously with the fruit topping.

Make Ahead Blintzes

You can make the crepes, filling, and sauce up to 2 days ahead of time. Cover them well with plastic wrap and store in the fridge. Or wrap them well in plastic, put them into a zipper-top freezer-proof bag, press to remove all air, and store in the freezer for up to 2 months. You can also prepare the stuffed crepes ahead of time, and store them for a day, well-covered, in the fridge.

What to Serve with Blintzes

The best topping for blintzes is a fruit topping like raspberry, strawberry, or blueberry (as suggested here; homemade or store-bought), applesauce, sour cream, maple syrup, or fresh fruit.

More Breakfast Recipes

• Best Pancakes
• Best Easy Banana Bread
• How to Make a Perfect Omelet
• Breakfast Burrito
• Brown Butter Apple Streusel Muffins