Sirniki (Farmer’s Cheese Pancakes)

Sirniki (Russian Farmer's Cheese Pancakes)-1-2 My husband has a soft spot for Siriniki and I am more than happy to indulge his cravings for this irresistible and simple treat. First of all, because he’s my husband and I adore him but also because I, myself, have somewhat of an obsession with farmer’s cheese.  Sirniki are a staple of the Slavic kitchen and have been loved by hundreds of generations. They are Russian pancake type treats, made with farmer’s cheese. The outside is golden brown with a delightful browned butter flavor and the inside is so fluffy and tender.  The simplicity of the Russian cuisine shines through in these creamy, tender and slightly tangy bites. I’m always amazed how a few humble ingredients combine forces and become something magical. Most Russians have fond memories of Mom making Sirniki on weekend mornings. Let’s keep the tradition alive and maybe someday your children will be telling their children all about YOUR Sirniki.

Sergi used to sing in a band for more than 10 years. Isn’t that incredible? It consisted of his brothers and sister in law. They do a phenomenal job; you should check out their music. I sang in a band as well, with 4 other girls. Now that’s a random fact about me you might not have known:). When we got married, I joined their band for about a year, and we would go to band practice 2 times a week in the evenings. One evening, right before band practice, I got a craving for Sirniki, and that’s when I discovered just how much my new husband appreciated this classic Slavic dessert. His eyes were sparkling brightly and we hurriedly swallowed one and had to reluctantly turn away from the rest and march off to band practice. All throughout practice, Sergi would mention those yummies waiting for us back home. We even got in trouble with Dima (Sergi’s older brother and the leader of the band) for talking too much. Talk about the feeling of being a naughty child creeping back! When he explained that we had Sirniki sitting on our kitchen counter, all his brothers immediately became more understanding. We certainly enjoyed those Sirniki when we finally came home that night:). Ladies, if you want your husband to concentrate on something, don’t tease them with their favorite food until they can really give it all their attention.


Ingredients:

14-15 oz farmer’s cheese (2-2 1/2 cups)

2 eggs

1/4 – 1/3 cup sugar

2 Tablespoon sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup flour, plus 1/2 cup more for dredging the Sirniki

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3-1/2 cup raisins, optional

butter or oil for pan frying the Sirniki

Instructions:

Place the farmer’s cheese into a food processor, along with the eggs, sugar, sour cream and vanilla. You can also use ricotta or cottage cheese instead of the farmer’s cheese, just make sure to drain all the excess liquid and maybe even squeeze it out with a cheesecloth.Sirniki (Russian Farmer's Cheese Pancakes)-1-10

Sirniki (Russian Farmer's Cheese Pancakes)-1-12Pulse about 10 times until it’s well combined. Sirniki (Russian Farmer's Cheese Pancakes)-1-14In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt and then add the dry ingredients to the food processor. Sirniki (Russian Farmer's Cheese Pancakes)-1-16Pulse a few more times to combine. Add the raisins and mix them in with a spoon or spatula.

Sirniki (Russian Farmer's Cheese Pancakes)-1-18

You can hand mix the Sirniki batter very easily, but you will first have to break up the farmer’s cheese with a fork until the texture is even and fine. Proceed by adding the rest of the ingredients. It’s much simpler for me to use the food processor, but the advantage of mixing the batter by hand is that it will be slightly stiffer and easier to handle. The batter made in the food processor needs to be handled quite delicately, but I have a trick for that too.

Heat 1 Tablespoon of of butter or oil in a nonstick skillet on medium low heat. Make sure that the oil is hot enough before adding the Sirniki, otherwise they will soak up the oil and be very greasy.
Place the remaining 1/2 cup flour into a shallow plate. I use a handy scoop to portion out this very delicate batter. It makes it MUCH easier to handle. Sirniki (Russian Farmer's Cheese Pancakes)-1-20

Sirniki (Russian Farmer's Cheese Pancakes)-1-22Dredge each Sirnik in flour, shaping each into a round patty. Sirniki (Russian Farmer's Cheese Pancakes)-1-24You want to dredge the Sirniki and place them immediately into the skillet. Cook the Sirniki on medium low heat until they are golden on both sides. Sirniki (Russian Farmer's Cheese Pancakes)-1-25

Sirniki (Russian Farmer's Cheese Pancakes)-1-27Serve warm with sour cream, jam, fruit, condensed milk or honey.Sirniki (Russian Farmer's Cheese Pancakes)-1-4

Sirniki (Farmer's Cheese Pancakes)
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast, Sweets
Serves: 16-18 Sirniki
Ingredients
  • 14-15 oz farmer's cheese (2-2½ cups)
  • 2 eggs
  • ¼ - ⅓ cup sugar
  • 2 Tablespoon sour cream
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • ½ cup flour, plus ½ cup more for dredging the Sirniki
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ⅓-1/2 cup raisins, optional
  • butter or oil for pan frying the Sirniki
Instructions
  1. Place the farmer's cheese into a food processor and pulse about 10 times until it's very fine. You can also use ricotta or cottage cheese instead of the farmer's cheese, just make sure to drain all the excess liquid and maybe even squeeze it out with a cheesecloth.
  2. Add the eggs, sugar, sour cream and vanilla. Pulse a few more times to combine.
  3. In a small bowl, mix ½ cup flour, baking powder and salt and then add the dry ingredients to the food processor. Pulse a few more times to combine.
  4. Add the raisins and mix them in with a spoon or spatula.
  5. Heat 1 Tablespoon of of butter or oil in a nonstick skillet on medium low heat. Make sure that the oil is hot enough before adding the Sirniki, otherwise they will soak up the oil and be very greasy.
  6. Place the remaining ½ cup flour into a shallow plate. I use a handy scoop to portion out this very delicate batter. It makes it MUCH easier to handle.
  7. Dredge each Sirnik in flour. You want to dredge the Sirniki and place them immediately into the skillet.
  8. Cook the Sirniki on medium low heat until they are golden on both sides.
  9. Serve warm with sour cream, jam, fruit, condensed milk or honey.
Notes
You can hand mix the Sirniki batter very easily, but you will first have to break up the farmer's cheese with a fork until the texture is even and fine. Proceed by adding the rest of the ingredients. It's much simpler for me to use the food processor, but the advantage of mixing the batter by hand is that it will be slightly stiffer and easier to handle. The batter made in the food processor needs to be handled quite delicately, but I have a trick for that too.

54 Comments

  • Anna

    Thank you so much for posting this recipe!! This is one of my family’s favorites and having an exact recipe to reference always makes life easier 🙂 You do an amazing job with all of your blog posts- I can only hope that someday I’ll be a master chef like you in the kitchen someday! Thanks again and God bless 🙂

  • Oksana

    I completely forgot about sirniki! They used to be one of my favorite treats for breakfast when I was little. Thank you for posting this recipe. Now I just might have to make a trip to the grocery store for some farmers cheese! Thank You Olga!

  • Ksenia

    I feel like you were reading my mind today. I just finished making a batch of tvorog in the crock-pot and was looking for a recipe for syrniki, then I saw your post in my rss reader.
    So, I made them just now. I have to say, it was messy! LOL I don’t have a scooper like you do, and my other ice scream scooper didn’t work for this dough at all. I had to constantly coat my hands with flour.
    In the end, I ended up with PERFECT syrniki! My kids just LOVED them with maple syrup.
    Thank you for another great recipe!

  • Tina

    Yes, sirniki is one of the best dishes out there!! I always drool just hearing about them. They are lovely. Thank you for a beautiful recipe:)

  • Svetlana

    I’m so making them for breakfast tomorrow!!! (If I can wait that long, might break out the skillet before everyone’s up 🙂 Thank you for sharing!

  • Marjorie

    These look incredible! 🙂 I can’t wait to make them! 🙂 I had these when I taught English in Ukraine and I have been looking for a great recipe. Thanks for sharing. 🙂

  • Tanya

    Oh, Olga! These look and sound really good! I can’t wait to make these, first I have to make tvorog, since I live in a state that doesn’t sell tvorog. Anyway, I will be making these really, really soon. Also, thank you for sharing a great story behind this recipe! Your recipes that I tried, are all keeper. Thank you,
    Tanya

  • may

    What is the different between Farmer’s Cheese and творог? The Middle-Easter Market I go to have both kinds.

    They have Tvarog of 5% & 7% milk fat. They are VERY dry (consistency similar to a scone dough).
    And the Farmer’s Cheese has much more liquid in it (consistency is more like dip).

  • Oksana

    I just made these, and they were so delicious!!! I didn’t have raisins so I used dried cranberries, and it was yummy! My kids also really enjoyed these sirniki! Thanks Olga, God bless!

  • Julia

    Oh, Olga, made these tonight and they turned out perfect! I only have a mini food-processor, so I processed in batches, but you’re totally right on consistency, I just loved how smooth it made the farmer’s cheese. Then I mixed everything in the KitchenAid, worked really well. Thanks for the tip on using the portion scoop, it worked really well, and I loved how they were all the exact same size. 🙂 My mom made Sirniki growing up, but my Polish husband never had these (in fact, Sirnik in Polish translates to like a cheesecake!), but he really enjoyed these, as did my 3 kids. Thank you for a great recipe!

  • Tatyana

    Thank you sooo much for your awesome recipe! 🙂 Made these last night and first time I actually made eatable sirniki. I’ve tried so many different recipes and they failed every time! But these turned out perfect and soo delicious

  • Valentina

    Олечка, скажи мне пожалуйста какой food processor ты используешь чтобы сделать тесто?

  • Helen

    hi Olga again, i come to your blog often. Every time i need to cook something new, i check with your blog first 🙂 You are my trusted source. Today i made this sirniki using food processor and farmer’s cheese came out perfect, just like grandmas did in Ukraine. I did them before with cottage cheese and dough was too watery (didn’t do good job on draining i guess.) Farmer’s cheese works perfect. Thank you sharing your step by step recipes.

    • olgak7

      Hi Helen! I’m happy to hear that you were successful with this recipe. We love Sirniki in our family:).
      I’m glad the step by step recipes are helpful to you.

  • Alla

    Loved this recipe. Used to do mine by memory from long time ago and they were not as tasteful as yours. The only thing I omitted this time is the last step-coating with flour (to cut down on flour). Just spooned them on the pan: they were not as perfect from the outside but the shape was still great and they tasted excellent! Thank you for the blog and wonderful recipes.

  • Tzivia

    Omg wow these sirniki look really way yummmm and tantalizing might wanna do a fry up on Sunday since (unfortunately lol I can’t cook tomorrow the Sabbath forbids it ) but wow these are similar to how I made em last on Chanukah long while ago been craving cheese patties for awhile now mmmmmm good have a gr8 weekend darlin cheers

  • Elena

    Olga, I do not add flour and baking powder into the batter. Instead, I use Manka, 2 Tsp. Syrniki turn out to be big, fat and soft.

  • Ksusha. A

    Tried these yesterday. I had left over mixed tvorog with sour cream and sugar that my kids decided they don’t really like anymore..meh..and like many others I’m like that person who can never get sirniki right. I used your recipe minus one egg(it seemed too liquidy) and you weren’t kidding, these are DELICATE, but they stayed together after carefully dredged in flour. Looked exactly like yours. We accidentally ate them all and left 2 bitten ones for my son who was napping. Whoops.
    Thank you for a great recipe! Loving your blog and will be trying many more recipes of yours. You have a very beautiful big family. God bless you!

  • Dawn

    Hi

    I made these tonight. I made my own farmer’s cheese using natasha’s Kitchen recipe. But ended up eating all of it because it was soo yummy. I bought farmer’s cheese from the Russian grocery and use it. Are they suppose to be “egg-y”, “spongelike”, after you cook them? Or should I have added more flour to stiffen them?

    Thanks.

    • olgak7

      If you want them to be more dense, use only 1 egg and more flour. I prefer when they have a more tender texture, but you can most certainly play around with the recipe to get a result that you are looking for, Dawn. It also depends on how “wet” or “dry” the farmer’s cheese is that you are using. Normally, I strain mine really well through a cheesecloth, so it is very dry. If the farmer’s cheese has a softer texture, the Siraiki will be softer too.

  • Anna

    They are amazing, they are very tasty, they are delicious! And they are very very runny. I drained the cheese to a sandy consistency. Still ended up adding around 1/2 to 3/4 cup of flour. Didn’t bother with dredging them in flour, just dropped them from a round teaspoon in the skillet. My kids demolished them in a matter of minutes. I’ll be making them again, but they are not something I’ll make in a hurry. Still having said all that, you’ve done an amazing job, Olga. As always!

    • olgak7

      Thank you, Anna!
      You’re right that they can be runny. I find that especially when the cheese is not dry enough. I’m so glad you and your family enjoy them.

  • Autumn

    They turned out perfectly! I don’t have an ice cream scoop either but I used two big spoons and it worked out. Thank you!

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