This cheese blintz recipe makes thin, crepe-style pancakes wrapped around a sweet ricotta filling and pan fried until golden. Top them with blueberry sauce for a brunch that tastes way fancier than it looks to make.

Blintzes made with a cheese filling, topped with blueberry sauce and whipped cream on a plate

This post may contain affiliate links. Read disclosure policy.

Sweet Cheese Blintzes with Crispy Edges

I’ve made a lot of crepes over the years, and blintzes are my favorite thing to do with that same thin pancake. You cook the crepe, tuck a creamy cheese filling inside, fold it up like an envelope, and give it one more turn in the buttered pan until the edges go golden.

This is one of those recipes that bends to whatever you’ve got on hand. Try different sweet fillings, switch up the toppings, and then serve them for breakfast, brunch, or dessert.

My favorite part is that the batter can be made a day ahead, so the morning you’re serving them you’re not stuck at the stove from scratch.

XO - Jamielyn

Ingredients Notes

Ingredients for cheese blintzes including ricotta, cream cheese, eggs, milk, and flour on a counter.

Find the full printable recipe with directions below.

  • Ricotta and cream cheese make up the filling. Ricotta brings the soft texture and cream cheese gives it body and a little tang. Pat the ricotta dry first so the filling stays thick. Farmer’s cheese works too and is the traditional choice.
  • Milk, eggs, and flour form the thin crepe batter for the blintzes. Whole or 2% milk both work.
  • Butter does two jobs: a little melted in the batter, and more in the pan for frying so the edges crisp.
  • Sugar and vanilla sweeten the filling and the batter just enough. This is a lightly sweet blintz, not a dessert-level one.
  • Blueberry sauce for serving. It’s what you’ll see in my photos and the topping I reach for every time, though strawberry sauce is just as good. A dusting of powdered sugar is nice too.

How to Make Cheese Blintzes

Heat an 8-inch pan over medium-low. Pour in about 1/4 cup blintz pancake batter and immediately tilt the pan in a circle so it spreads thin and even. Cook about a minute per side, until lightly browned, then stack them while you finish the rest.

Pat the ricotta dry first, this is the step people skip, and it’s why fillings leak. Then beat the ricotta, cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla until smooth and creamy.

Sweet ricotta and cream cheese filling for cheese blintzes mixed smooth in a glass bowl.

Spread about 3 tablespoons of filling along the bottom edge of each crepe, leaving an inch of room. Fold that edge up over the filling, fold in the sides like an envelope, and roll it closed like a burrito. Don’t overfill, it’s the fastest way to a blowout in the pan.

A cheese blintz being folded and rolled around the sweet ricotta filling.

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the blintzes seam-side down, a few at a time, and fry 1 to 2 minutes per side until golden. Seam-side first sets the fold so it stays shut.

Serve warm with blueberry sauce and a dusting of powdered sugar.

Cheese blintzes frying seam-side down in a buttered skillet until golden.

Tips for the Best Blintzes

  • Keep the heat moderate. The blintz pancakes cook over medium-low, and the blintzes fry over medium. Too hot and the outside browns before the inside warms through, or the pancake tears when you go to fold it.
  • A torn pancakes still works. If one rips while it’s cooking, don’t toss it. The tear ends up on the inside once you roll it, so the filling hides it and no one’s the wiser.
  • Don’t crowd the pan. Fry just three or four at a time. Pack them in and the temperature drops, so instead of crisp golden edges you get pale, soggy ones.

Ways to Switch Up the Filling

The sweet cheese filling is the classic, but the fold-and-fry method takes well to other sweet fillings. Tuck in a spoonful of lemon curd or apple butter, spread on a little Nutella, add sliced banana, or do chocolate chips with a touch of peanut butter. My crepe filling works in these too.

Blintzes on a white plate.

More sweet breakfast recipes include this cheese danish recipe, blueberry coffee cake and overnight cinnamon rolls.

More Breakfast Recipes

See all
See all
Cheese blintzes on a white plate topped with blueberry sauce.

Cheese Blintzes

5 from 7 votes
Recipe by: Jamielyn Nye
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Refrigerate: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 14
A cheese blintz recipe with thin pancakes wrapped around a sweet ricotta filling and pan fried until golden. Serve warm with blueberry sauce for weekend brunch.
Print Pin This! Rate

Video

Ingredients 

  • 1 ¼ cups milk , I use 2%
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and slightly cooled
  • 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour , sifted if desired

Cheese Filling

  • 1 cup low-fat ricotta cheese , or farmers cheese
  • 6 ounces cream cheese , softened
  • 3-4 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pan Frying

  • 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

For serving: Blueberry sauce, Powdered sugar, Jam, Berries, Syrup

Instructions

  • Make batter: In a blender, blend 1 1/4 cups milk, 3 eggs, 2 Tablespoons butter, 1 Tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 cup flour 15 to 20 seconds, or until batter is smooth. You could also whisk in a bowl. Chill at least 30 minutes or overnight.
  • Cook: Heat an 8-inch frying pan over medium-low heat. Pour about 1/4 cup batter into the pan, tilting pan immediately from side to side to form an even circle. Cook about 1 minute per side, or until lightly browned. Remove from heat and stack until ready to fold. Repeat with remaining batter.
  • Make filling: Pat 1 cup ricotta with a paper towel or twist in a cheese cloth to remove any excess moisture. In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta, 6 ounces cream cheese, 3-4 Tablespoons sugar, 1 large egg yolk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
  • Fold: Along the bottom of each crepe, about 1 inch from the edge, spread 3 Tablespoons of the cheese filling. Fold the edge over the filling and fold the sides in like you are folding an envelope. Roll like a burrito to close the top edge.
  • Pan fry: Heat butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add 3 to 4 blintzes, seam-side down, at a time. Fry 1 to 2 minutes per side, or until golden brown.
  • Serve with your favorite toppings.

Last step: Please leave a comment and rating after you make the recipe.

Notes

Serving: We love to serve these with this blueberry sauce.
Make-ahead: The batter can be made up to 24 hours in advance and stored in the refrigerator until ready to cook. The blintzes can be made up to 3 days in advance. Wait to fill and pan fry until ready to serve. 
Storage: Store in an airtight container up to 3 days in the fridge.
Freeze: Store in an airtight container up to 3 months in the freezer. If freezing, I like to line a piece of wax paper or parchment paper in between.
Reheating: Heat on the skillet over low heat until warm. You can also place on a baking sheet in the oven at 175°F for 5 minutes, or until warm. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1blintz, Calories: 175kcal, Carbohydrates: 13g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 11g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 82mg, Sodium: 127mg, Potassium: 98mg, Fiber: 0.2g, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 442IU, Calcium: 97mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.