Polish Crepes (Naleśniki Recipe)
Polish crepes, or naleśniki, are delicate, thin pancakes that can be filled with sweet or savory ingredients.
Servings: 8
Calories: 179kcal
Equipment
- 1 10-inch crepe pan or a non-stick skillet
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- ¾ cup seltzer water or tap water, cold
- 2 eggs large
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral tasting plant oil, such as avocado oil
- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- cold butter or non-stick spray, for greasing the pan
Sweet Cheese Filling
- 10 oz cottage cheese 2 standard packages, I like low fat Good Culture
- 5 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 1-2 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- In a jug of a bullet-style or standup blender combine flour, milk, seltzer (or tap) water, eggs, oil, sugar and salt.
- Blend for 10 seconds or until completely smooth. You can also do this in a bowl using a hand mixer or a whisk. Batter will be thin and should be mostly lump-free.
- Place a 10-inch non-stick skillet or a crepe over medium heat and wait until it gets hot. Grease it with a cold stick of butter or spray with oil.
- Pour ⅓ cup of batter into the greased pan and immediately tilt it to the side to coat the bottom.
- Cook undisturbed for about 1 minute or when you see that the edges are sticking away from the pan.
- You'll know it's time to flip the crepe when the edges appear dry and lacy, and the bottom turns a golden brown.
- Flip on the other side using a long wide spatula and cook briefly, 20 seconds or so.
- Transfer to a plate and continue until you run out of batter. You should end up with 8-9 crepes.
Sweet cheese filling
- Place cottage cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla in a tall dish or bowl. Blend until smooth with an immersion blender.
- Place ⅛ of the filling onto each crepe and fold the crepe in 4 (like in my photos) or roll it up.
- When ready to serve, place the folded or rolled naleśniki in a hot lightly greased skillett and heat up for about 1 minute per side, just to warm them up. You can also serve them cold, if you prefer.
- Serve sprinkled with powdered sugar, fresh fruit, whipped cream or whatever sweet topping you like (strawberry sauce, chocolate sauce etc.).
Notes
Make sure your skillet is non-stick and hot before you grease it and cook your first crepe.
Flipping the crepes can be a little intimidating at first but once you get a hang of it, it's actually pretty easy. I like to use a long spatula and loosen the crepe from the bottom gently before flipping. Only flip after you see the edges look dry and start sticking away from them pan - otherwise your crepe may tear and fall apart.
If you accidentally end up with a little hole in the crepe before you flip it, just cover it with an additional drop of batter.
The first crepe may be a little iffy- this is normal as your pan may not be hot enough. Just keep going - the second should turn out great.
Traditional naleśniki are stuffed with sweet cheese filling (Polish twaróg or farmers cheese) but I find that blended cottage cheese works great. You can also stuff them with jam or your favorite preserve, vanilla pudding (custard) or Nutella and banana (my kids' favorite).
Sometimes, there are raw egg yolks added to the cheese filling to add color and richness - this was never a "thing" in my family so I don't add it. Some people also add raisins which I will do on occasion.
Polish crepes can also be made savory, stuffed with spinach, cheese, meat filling and more. If you want to try this version, don't add sugar to the batter.
Seltzer water makes naleśniki light, airy and fluffy. However, if you don't have any, swap it for regular tap water and they will also turn out great.
Nutritional value below is an estimate based on one crepe filled with sweet cheese.
Nutrition
Serving: 1crepe | Calories: 179kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 46mg | Sodium: 322mg | Potassium: 109mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 124IU | Calcium: 69mg | Iron: 1mg