Breakfast in Ukrainian style: sweet and savory authentic syrniki recipes

In this article, we will explore authentic syrniki recipes, delve into their historical roots, and share tips for adding your own creative twists to this classic dish.

Ukrainian cuisine is a tapestry of rich flavors and culinary traditions, with each dish telling a story of the country’s history and culture. Among its many beloved offerings, syrniki stand out as a cherished breakfast or dessert treat that has won hearts far beyond Ukraine’s borders. These delectable cheese pancakes, made primarily from fresh farmer’s cheese, are celebrated for their creamy texture and slightly tangy taste. Whether enjoyed with a dollop of sour cream, a drizzle of honey, or a scattering of fresh berries, syrniki offer a comforting and satisfying experience that embodies the warmth of home-cooked meals.

One of the traditional dishes of Ukraine, which can be considered a relative of classic syrniki, is Transcarpathian gombovtsi.

Authentic syrniki recipe: 5 secrets of cooking

1. Fresh, high-quality cottage cheese, which should not be too runny, otherwise you will have to compensate for the whey released from it with flour, which will turn the dough into a sole. It is better to use natural cottage cheese.
2. Don’t add too much sugar — any sweet sauce, jam, or condensed milk will easily compensate for its lack.
3. The most magnificent syrniki are made with semolina, corn, or rice flour. If you use semolina, let the finished dough rest for 10–15 minutes to allow the cereal to swell properly.
4. If you don’t like the crust too fried, after turning the syrniki to the other side and frying, cover and let them simmer for a few more minutes over low heat.
5. If you follow a vegetarian diet, use a banana, sour cream, or flaxseed gel as a component that binds the dough together. Or use nothing — just make the dough denser with flour or semolina.

Interesting fact: the calorie content of syrniki with sugar is on average 200–250 kilocalories, which can be considered a proper diet.

Authentic Ukrainian syrniki step-by-step recipe

Ingredients:

1. Cottage cheese of any fat content — 500 g
2. Sugar — 1-2 tbsp.
3. Vanilla sugar to your taste
4. Flour — 8 tbsp
5. Baking powder for the dough — 1/4 tsp.
6. Eggs — 1-2
7. Oil for frying

Step-by-step recipe:

Step 1. Especially tender and fluffy syrniki are made from grated cottage cheese. Therefore, the first step is to blend it with a blender or grind it through a sieve to make a homogeneous, thick sour cream-like mass. If you don’t have the time or energy to bother with either, mash the cottage cheese thoroughly with a fork.

Tip: speaking of cheese. Of course, it is much better to buy a homemade product, but if this is not possible, carefully read the labels on store-bought products — the cheese should not contain harmful palm oil.

Step 2. Next comes the egg. Combine the cottage cheese with the egg, then add a sachet of vanilla, a spoonful of regular or brown sugar, add flour, baking powder to make the pastry more tender, and knead.

The dough should not be too thin, so that it is easy to form the pieces of future syrniki. The mass should be slightly sticky to the hands.

Step 3. Put it on a floured board for rolling out the dough and form an even sausage, as it is shown in the photo above. Then cut into equal pieces, roll the balls with your hands, “flatten” them, and roll each one in flour. Alternatively, breadcrumbs can be used for breading.

Step 4. Fry the syrniki in refined purified vegetable oil for 3–4 minutes on each side until golden brown. For the first batch, the frying pan should be hot so that the dough does not stick. If necessary, replace the oil with fresh oil.

Our syrniki are ready. You can serve them with sour cream, jam, berries, condensed milk — I’ll tell you more interesting ideas for toppings and fillings later.

One of the most popular options for making this dish is to make syrniki with banana. To do this, you just need to add a mashed banana to the dough.

How to cook tender semolina syrniki — step-by-step recipe

How to make semolina syrniki? Instead of flour, you can use semolina in the — it will make the dough more tender and silky. In addition, semolina has a lower glycemic index than flour. It is a more complex carbohydrate than flour, which means it makes you feel full for a long period of time.

Ingredients:

1. Cottage cheese — 500 g
2. Sugar — 2 tbsp
3. Semolina — up to 180 g
4. Eggs — 2 pieces
5. Raisins — 50 g
6. Vanilla sugar for flavor
7. Vegetable oil for frying

Step-by-step preparation:

Step 1. First, mix the cottage cheese with raisins. Rinse the dried fruits, dry them with a towel and roll them in flour. Then add the semolina and leave the dough for 15–20 minutes to swell.

Step 2. Next, add eggs, sugar, and vanilla to taste. Form the sausage and cook the preparation as described in the recipe above.

Step 3. Fry as regular syrniki. You can also bake them in the oven if you prefer.

How to cook airy baked syrniki in the oven?

These syrniki are especially tender and do not require much vegetable oil, which means that this dish is ideal for those who keep a close eye on their figure. As a bonus, you don’t have to stand at the stove, turn the syrniki from side to side, and make sure that the golden crust doesn’t turn burnt and unappetizing.

Prepare the dough for oven syrniki according to the basic recipe described above. Put the pieces rolled in flour on a baking sheet covered with foil or parchment paper. It should be lightly oiled with sunflower oil using a special brush to use as little oil as possible. Put the future syrniki on top and put them in an oven preheated to 200–220 degrees for fifteen minutes.

Check for doneness the same way you check for doneness of any baked goods — with a toothpick. If the syrniki are sufficiently baked, there should be no dough left on it.

Recipe for chocolate syrniki with semolina and cocoa

The most delicious cocoa cheese and chocolate cheesecakes are made in the oven.

Ingredients:

1. Cottage cheese — 400 g
2. 2 medium-sized eggs
3. Semolina — 4 tbsp
4. Baking powder — 1 tsp.
5. Sugar — 3 tbsp.
6. Vanilla — half a pod or sugar to taste
7. Cinnamon to taste
8. Cocoa — a tablespoon

Step-by-step recipe:

Step 1. Rub the cottage cheese through a sieve or mash it with a fork and combine with all the ingredients except ground cinnamon and cocoa.

Step 2. Divide the dough in half and add cocoa and cinnamon to one half, mix thoroughly. Bake in the oven in silicone muffin tins. If you have metal molds, pre-grease them with vegetable oil and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Bake in a 180-degree oven for half an hour.

Tip: these syrniki can also be fried in a frying pan using the classic method.

How to make syrniki in a slow cooker

If you have this useful machine in your household, you can save on oil and make the most delicious and fluffy cottage cheese pancakes without using a frying pan. As a basis for this dish, you will need drier cottage cheese so that the syrniki do not “leak”.

Take the amount of ingredients from the basic recipe. Turn on the slow cooker for 10 minutes in the “Baking” mode, add a little vegetable oil and let it heat up. Form the cheese pieces and place them on the bottom of the bowl. Fry for five minutes on each side.

Recipe for steamed authentic syrniki recipe

Healthy eaters will love not only the most delicious cottage cheese pancakes with semolina baked in a slow cooker, but also steamed. This dish will perfectly fit into the diet of people with gastrointestinal problems and children.

To prepare them, you will need small silicone muffin tins — the look of the finished dish will be truly unusual. And if we are preparing a dietary product, then we should take cottage cheese of low fat content — to lose weight, so lose weight to the fullest.

Fill the molds with the finished dough, gently level the top with a fork, and put them in a special tray that comes with the slow cooker. Pre-fill the bowl with water. Cook in the Steamed mode for ten minutes. Then take the cheesecakes out of the molds and pour honey, berry sauce, jam on top — as much as you like.

Syrniki with carrots and spices

A great option for a diet breakfast for those who like to experiment with flavors. Cook either in a slow cooker or fry in a pan as usual.

For breakfast for two, you will need:

1. Cottage cheese — 1 pack
2. Flour — 2-3 tbsp
3. Cumin — half a teaspoon
4. Ground coriander — half a teaspoon
5. 1 egg
6. Vegetable oil for frying
7. Sugar — 3 tbsp
8. Carrots — 1 medium size

Preparation:

Grate the carrots on a fine grater and mix with spices, stew a little in a frying pan in vegetable oil with the addition of two tablespoons of water. Next, combine all the ingredients, form the dough into syrniki in the usual way and fry. Honey and sour cream are the perfect complement to these syrniki.

Syrniki with corn flour recipe

The main problem with delicate syrniki is to make the right dough that doesn’t spread and at the same time isn’t too tight. Cornmeal will not only help you achieve the right consistency, but also make the dough itself look like a French sponge cake.

Ingredients:

1. Cottage cheese — 400 g
2. Corn flour — 4 tbsp
3. Sugar — 1 tbsp
4. Egg — 1 small
5. Almond extracts for flavor — 1 tbsp
6. Lemon zest — 1 tbsp.

Recipe:

Mix all the ingredients into a homogeneous dough and form cheesecakes. Also roll the resulting pieces in corn flour. Or for a more dietary option, cook in the oven.

How to make syrniki with apples

Ingredients:

1. 2 medium-sized apples
2. 2 tablespoons of regular or brown sugar
3. Cottage cheese — 500 g
4. Semolina — 3 tablespoons
5. Wheat flour — 3 tbsp.
6. Sour cream — 2 tbsp
7. Eggs — 2
8. Soda — half a teaspoon
9. Salt — half a teaspoon
10. Vegetable and butter for frying

Preparation:

Firstly, prepare the filling for our syrniki: peel the apples, cut them into small cubes and fry them in butter for a few minutes, add a spoonful of sugar at the end, mix again and remove from the heat. This allows the fruit to caramelize and not leak during further processing.

Next, we make the usual dough. I usually mix semolina and flour in equal parts. Leave the dough to stand for 30 minutes, form round flat cakes, put a spoonful of filling in the middle of each and pinch the ends.

Tip: if you can’t form beautiful syrniki in this way, make 2 smaller pieces. Put one under the bottom, cover the other with a layer of filling and pinch the ends. It is also convenient to make potato zrazy and deruny similarly.

Unsweetened cottage cheese syrniki with herbs

Cheesecakes don’t have to be sweet at all and can be a great appetizer before the main course.

Ingredients:

1. Cottage cheese — 200 g
2. Cheese — 100 g
3. A set of herbs to taste
4. Salt, sugar to taste
5. Half a teaspoon of baking powder for the dough
6. Flour — 100 g
7. 1 egg

Recipe:

Rinse the greens, dry them with paper towels and chop finely; grind the cottage cheese through a sieve. Mix all the ingredients. If the dough is too dense, add 1–2 tablespoons of low-fat sour cream. Then cook according to the usual recipe. You can also add some grated hard cheese to the dough.

How to cook mushroom syrniki

Another great Ukrainian cuisine appetizer.

Ingredients:

1. Cheese — 200 g
2. Mushrooms — 200 g
3. Flour — 150 g
4. 1 onion
5. Basil
6. Salt, pepper to taste
7. Soda — a teaspoon
8. 1 egg

Preparation:

Wash the mushrooms, chop them finely, and fry them in butter with finely chopped onions until the excess liquid evaporates. Then add basil, salt, and pepper to the mixture and fry for another three minutes.

Mix the grated cheese with the flour and mix thoroughly. Next, form round cakes, put the mushroom filling in the middle and fasten the edges as if making dumplings. Fry until golden brown on both sides. Serve hot with sour cream.

How to make a real Lviv cheese cake (syrnik)

One giant and delicious cheesecake for those who are too lazy to make many small ones. This is a classic Lviv recipe, which no respectable confectionery can do without, and it is surprisingly easy to prepare.

So, let’s get started:

1. Fatty cottage cheese — 500 g
2. Eggs — 2
3. Sour cream — 2 tbsp
4. Butter — 100 g
5. Zest of one lemon
6. Raisins — 30 g
7. Semolina — 1 tbsp.

For the glaze, you will need:

1. Sour cream — 3 tbsp.
2. Cocoa — 2 tbsp.
3. Sugar — 2 tbsp.
4. Butter — 1 tbsp.

Step-by-step cooking:

Step 1. Pass the cottage cheese through a sieve or meat grinder (for this pie, choose not too wet). If there is too much liquid, you can wrap it in cheesecloth and hang it for a few hours to let the whey drain off. Next, knead the dough and beat it with a mixer at low speed.

Step 2. Put the resulting mass into a baking dish, pre-covered with parchment and greased with butter. Bake at 180 degrees for about an hour. Check the readiness of the cake with a toothpick.

Step 3. When the cheesecake is baked, cover it with glaze. To do this, mix all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook, stirring, over low heat until the mixture becomes homogeneous. Cover the cake and let it cool. Ideally, put it in the refrigerator overnight.

5 ideas to diversify your syrniki

Sauce, topping

A delicious berry or chocolate flavor will transform the simplest dish. As a sauce, you can use not only sour cream, jam or condensed milk, but also prepare a delicious dipping sauce in a separate dish to dip fried delicacies in. I especially like salted caramel — its recipe is simple, and the taste will certainly delight the receptors with sweet and sour caramel and cheese notes.

Ingredients:

1. Regular or brown sugar — 180 g
2. Milk — a glass
3. Cream — 50 ml
4. A pinch of salt and baking soda
5. Vanilla sugar to taste

Preparation:

Combine all the ingredients of the future sauce in a saucepan. If you don’t happen to have any cream in the fridge, you can replace it with 50 grams of butter. Bring the mixture to a boil and add a pinch of baking soda. Stirring, cook over the fire for about half an hour until the sauce is boiled and resembles sour cream in consistency and caramel.

You should end up with about 200 g of the finished sauce, which will be the perfect addition not only to syrniki, but also to any dessert.

Berries and fruits

They will also be a great addition to syrniki. Use all the seasonal ones — from strawberries and raspberries to plums, peaches, and apricots. If you have some free time and want to surprise your loved ones, cook the fruit in caramel.

To do this, melt the sugar with butter and a little water in a frying pan, put the pieces of fruit on top and fry for three minutes.

“Raisins”

In addition to the usual raisins, you can add to the dough:

1. Dried apricots, prunes, dried cherries
2. Zest of any citrus fruit
3. Candied fruit
4. A few chocolate drops that do not melt like regular chocolate during heat treatment
5. Fresh berries rolled in sugar or powder
6. Nuts
7. Ground cinnamon with sugar
8. Coconut flakes
9. Fillings

Who says that cheesecakes can’t be made with a filling? Here are some of the most popular options:

1. Fruit jam
2. Boiled condensed milk
3. Caramelized fruit
4. Custard
5. Chocolate pieces

Poppy seeds mashed with sugar and milk can be used as a filling. To make these syrniki, first make the dough according to one of the recipes described above. For the filling, you will need half a cup of poppy seeds and 4 tablespoons of sugar. Pour boiling water over the poppy seeds and leave them to swell for several hours.

Then grind it with sugar in a blender and you can start making the syrniki. To do this, shape the dough into a disk, put a teaspoon of the filling in it, pinch the edges and gently flatten it. Fry like regular syrniki. Or bake in the oven for half an hour.

Melted chocolate and icing

A curly chocolate coating can turn ordinary syrniki into a real work of art. And don’t forget a sprig of mint for decoration.

That’s it for me. What is your favorite syrniki recipe?