Homemade Syrniki (Ricotta Pies)

As a proud Russian, I sometimes miss my grandma’s comfort food. Syrniki, which entire female population of my family used to make, was my favorite breakfast before school.

My mom usually served it with sour cream, my grandma made it with strawberry preserves and my other grandma made it with apricot jelly. Everyone had the way to make and eat them. Today I would like to introduce you to something that warms my heart and brings warm memories to my head bite by bite.

Syrniki is the dish that is typically made from Russian cottage cheese named “tvorog”. The consistency of this tvorog is very dry and reminds of cottage cheese that you can find in any local supermarket but the difference is – the taste. Tvorog is typically a little sour, smells like raw milk and considered as superfood where I came from. I couldn’t make or find anything like this in the US, so I substituted it with cottage cheese first but the batch I made was liquid and too salty to my breakfast taste. After searching the supermarket shelves a little longer I decided to go with ricotta and made a few different batches before the quality of the product satisfied my pallet.

Serving size:

8 pieces

Ingredients:

• 450 g of whole milk ricotta

• 1 egg

• 65 g all purpose flour

• 3 tablespoons of honey

Nutritional Info per 1 piece:

• 144 calories

• 6.3g Fat

• 42.3 g Cholesterol

• 14.6 Carbs

• 8.6 Protein

How to make:

Preheat oven to 400F/200C.

Combine ricotta, honey, and 1 egg and mix well.

Start adding flour by slowly stirring the mixture.

Put a piece of parchment paper over baking sheet.

Using two tablespoons or an ice cream scoop start scooping the mixture onto the tray.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until syrniki become solid.

Serve hot with a little extra honey or preserves over the top.

Bon Appetit!