Thin Blini (Russian Pancakes)

There’s nothing more ideal than a stack of pancakes being placed in front of you on a Saturday morning… or any morning in fact! Today’s recipe takes a step away from the traditional American style pancakes that we know and love, and brings you its cousin, the Blini.

The Blini is a Russian style pancake, and this thin pancake brings to mind the classic French Crepe. Just like both of its counterparts, the blini is served both sweet and savoury. The origins of this dish lie in Pre-Christian times with the early Slavic people, who traditionally would prepare the blini at the end of winter, the rounded shape was used to represent and honor the rebirth of the new sun. Nowadays, this practice still exists and is associated with the Orthodox Church, you’ll find blinis galore around Maslenitsa aka Butter Week  and it’s not uncommon for the Blini to be served at Orthodox wakes.

Traditionally, the Blini is made using a Russian oven and from a yeasted batter, however like many old favorites they change with the times and most people now pan fry this dish, and as you’ll see in our recipe, you don’t need to use yeast! Making the blinis is the easy part, the hard part is most definitely deciding what toppings to indulge in! Honey, jams and sour cream are all great pairings with the Blini but so too is cottage cheese, salmon or even a little caviar. We will leave that difficult choice in your hands, but for now let’s get to work on frying up a delicious Blini treat.

For thin Blinis, you will need:

1 Cup Wheat Flour (Wheat is the traditional flour but feel free to use your own favorite)

1 Cup Milk

½ Cup Sparkling Mineral Water

1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil

1 Tsp Baking Soda

2-3 Eggs

Sugar and Salt to Taste

Instructions:

Add all ingredients to a blender, excluding the eggs, and mix.

Prepare a medium size, non-stick pan, you still may need to grease with a little butter or oil.

In a separate bowl lightly beat the eggs, this will be used to loosen the batter mixture.

Pour little by little the eggs into the batter.

Using a ladle spoon the batter into the pan and tilt the pan in order to create a thin layer of the batter that covers the entire surface.

Cook until the batter looks dry and then flip and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes on the other side.

Repeat until you have an irresistible stack of Blinis.