Cottage Cheese Pancakes (High Protein Ukrainian/Russian Syrniki)

Healthy Cottage Cheese Pancakes are fluffy on the inside and slightly crispy on the outside. These delicious Ukrainian/Russian fried Cottage Cheese Patties will soon become your new favorite breakfast or even dessert. Super easy to make (under 30 minutes) and so good!
Also try this classic Ukrainian breakfast pancakes recipe - Oladi.

Usually, cottage cheese pancakes are served for breakfast or brunch. However, with the high protein content, these fluffy sweet patties are a great choice for dinner too.

If you're looking for a healthy and easy cottage cheese recipes that are also kid-approved, try these Syrniki. You won't be disappointed.

They're super filling, delicious and everyone loves them.

Jump to:

• 💭 Here's Why This Recipe Works
• 👩🏻‍🍳 What are Syrniki pancakes
• 📖 Ingredient Notes
• 🔪 How to make Cottage cheese pancakes
• 💭 Tips to make the Syrniki recipe perfect each time
• 🍓 What Do I Serve With Cottage Cheese Pancakes?
• 💭 Frequently Asked Questions
• ♨️ How to store and freeze Cottage Cheese Pancakes?
• 🥞 Similar Recipes
• Recipe

💭 Here's Why This Recipe Works

• Syrniki are so easy to make. Plus, you don't need need many ingredients; I bet you have most of them at home.
• thanks to a high protein content in cottage cheese, they make a wonderful choice for dinner.
• this cottage cheese pancake recipe are great for a meal prep.

👩🏻‍🍳 What are Syrniki pancakes

Syrniki are sweet pancakes made with farmers cottage cheese. They are extremely popular in post-Soviet countries. The ingredients usually include cottage cheese, eggs, sugar, flour, vanilla extract and/or raisins.

When I was growing up, these healthy cottage cheese pancakes along with a traditional Borsch, Vinegret salad, Sharlotka and Baked Apples, were one of the most often cooked recipes in my family.

Simplicity of the preparation process and short list of ingredients made these fluffy Syrniki pancakes with cottage cheese a favorite healthy recipe of children and adults. 

📖 Ingredient Notes

Before we jump to the Syrniki cooking instructions, make sure you are using Dry Curd Cottage Cheese or Farmer's Cheese.

It has much less liquid than regular cottage cheese sold in many grocery stores. Therefore you'll need to use less flour to make these cottage pancakes - Syrniki.

The farmers cheese I used in the Syrniki video is Polish.

Depending on what kind of cheese you end up buying, you can regulate how much flour you add. If you're able to form a patty without the dough leaking through your fingers, you're good to go and no more flour is required.

Here's another tip. If you buy American curd cottage cheese that usually has small curds and lots of liquid, I recommend you to drain it.

Just add the cottage cheese in a mesh strainer or cheese cloth set over a bowl and let it drain for 10-20 minutes or until most liquid is gone.

🔪 How to make Cottage cheese pancakes

1. Make a pancake batter. In a large bowl add farmer's cottage cheese. Using a fork break any big lumps. To the same bowl add cane sugar, salt, flour, baking powder and eggs. Mix everything nicely until the mixture is smooth.

2. Roll pancakes in flour. Fill a separate shallow bowl with flour and drop about ¼ cup of batter into a flour. Using 2 forks roll the batter to coat in flour and then working with your hands shape it into the patty. Dust off any excess flour. Transfer the patties on a cutting board dusted with some flour.

3. Pan fry the cottage cheese pancakes. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large griddle and over medium heat. Cook the fritters for 2-3 minutes then flip and cook another 2 minutes on the other sides until cheese pancakes are fluffy and looking golden brown and crispy.

4. Enjoy. Remove healthy Ukrainian Syrniki from the pan and serve immediately.

💭 Tips to make the Syrniki recipe perfect each time

If you have an extra 5 minutes of time, add your cottage cheese in a bowl of food processor and blend it for 5-10 seconds to break big lumps.

This will also allow more air into the cottage cheese making your Syrniki cottage cheese pancakes fluffier and light. 

Alternatively, you can push the cheese into a big bowl through a fine mesh strainer. Sometimes I do that however this method requires slightly more time and hand power:)

Make sure to wipe the skillet clean after each batch. Otherwise, the grease build-up might stick to your subsequent batches of cottage cheese pancakes. Don't forget to add more oil into the pan after each batch.

🍓 What Do I Serve With Cottage Cheese Pancakes?

These easy and healthy Cottage Cheese Pancakes are best served with sour cream along with honey/maple syrup or your favorite fruit jam.

Fresh berries or fruits like strawberries, blueberries, bananas are also a great addition to these protein packed pancakes.

💭 Frequently Asked Questions

♨️ How to store and freeze Cottage Cheese Pancakes?

Storing. It's best to consume Syrniki immediately however the leftovers can keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. Make sure to reheat them in a microwave right before serving. So yummy!

Freezing. These healthy protein-packed pancakes can also be frozen. There are 2 methods.

1. You can freeze them before cooking. To do that you will need to line a tray with a plastic wrap and lay each cheese pancake on a tray, making sure there is at least one inch of space between each pancake.

Place the tray in a freezer and allow 2-3 hours for Syrniki to freeze. Once frozen, remove from the freezer and stack them placing a piece of parchment paper in between each pancake.

Tightly pack the stack in the airtight container or freezer bag and store in a freezer for up to 2 months.

You don't need to defrost Syrniki before cooking. Just remove from the freezer bag and cook according to the instructions.

2. You can also freeze Russian Syrniki once they are cooked. First, you need to cool them to a room temperature. Then, place cooked pancakes in between layers of parchment paper and then in a freezer-safe bag.

Store in a freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in a fridge or leave on a counter for 2-4 hours.

🥞 Similar Recipes

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