How to Make Blintzes for Hanukkah

While blintzes predate this century, they were made popular in the United States by Jewish immigrants. Cheese blintzes are served during special occasions, but are of particular importance during Hanukkah because of the oil they are fried in. Jewish people believe using foods cooked in oil is an homage to the temple oil that lasted eight days instead of one.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Sugar
• Butter for frying
• 1 lb. dry cottage cheese
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 c. sifted flour
• Vegetable oil
• 1/2 c. milk
• Sour cream
• 2 eggs
• Pinch of salt
• Cinnamon

Make Blintzes For Hanukkah

1. Create the cheese blintz filling by mixing cottage cheese with one egg and salt to produce a cream. You can make a sweeter blintz by adding sugar and cinnamon to this mix.

2. Make the crepe by combining the eggs, milk and flour until smooth. After this, drop a tbsp. of the batter into a hot, buttered frying pan.

3. Allow the crepes to brown. When they are done, put them onto a plate and arrange the blintzes in a single row so that they don't stick. Now, you can fill them with cheese or any other ingredient of your choice.

4. Place about 1 tbsp. of the cheese mix on each blintz and roll it. Place the blintz back into the frying pan and fry in vegetable oil until golden brown.

5. Place a toothpick in the blintz and serve with a sour cream garnish. Blintzes made with jam also taste good with ice cream, whipped cream or more jam on top.

6. Make healthier blintzes by baking them. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and bake the blintzes for about 1 hour, or until golden. Center your baking sheet in the oven to avoid top or bottom burning.

Tips & Warnings

• Try filling your Hanukkah blintzes with meat, jam or vegetables instead of cheese if you are lactose intolerant.
• Consider making a really Hannukah-centric blintz by adding chocolate to the cheese center. Pieces of gelt given to children work particularly well.
• Cook the assembled blintz immediately before you eat it. If you don't plan to serve your blintzes immediately, save the final browning stage for later.
• For best results, refrigerate your blintzes after you make them. Since they are made with milk products, they will go bad if left out.
• Don't let blintzes get too brown and crispy or you will not be able to cut them with the side of your fork.