Cocktail Blini Recipe

Homemade cocktail blini are far more flavorful and soft than store-bought, and they’re incredibly simple to make.

The perfect vehicle for smoked salmon, caviar, or creme fraiche, among other things, are these quick but sumptuous cocktail blini. My favorite way to consume one of my favorite meals… caviar!

Why Is This Recipe So Delicious?

• What exactly are blini? These are authentic Russian pancakes! This blini recipe was inspired by blini my parents had in Russia, albeit some consider them “French blini” rather than traditional Russian blini.
• They’re a touch sweet and a little savory, which means they’ll go with just about anything and taste fantastic. Smoked salmon, crème fraiche, and caviar are by far my favorite toppings. A salmon-topped blin would also be excellent with a creamy dill sauce. Fruit, jam, sour cream, or whipped cream could also be served on top. Try a little cinnamon pumpkin butter sweetened with maple syrup or honey for a seasonal sweet blin.
• If you store leftovers in an airtight container, they will last up to 3 days. When you’re ready to consume them, simply reheat them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.

Important Ingredients

Buckwheat Flour — Buckwheat flour is used in various blini dishes. If you like, you could use it instead of AP flour. A mixture of buckwheat and all-purpose flour could also be used. Use gluten-free all-purpose flour to make gluten-free blini.

Unsalted Butter — To avoid accidentally making your recipe excessively salty, I recommend using unsalted butter. If you only have salted butter on hand, reduce the extra salt in the ingredients to 14 tsp or leave it out entirely.

Chef’s Advice

• The blini will burn or cook unevenly if the skillet is too hot. If the skillet isn’t hot enough, it’ll take too long to cook and soak up the oil. With that temperature and my cast-iron skillet, I usually set my heat to a 4 out of 10 and get nice results.
• To measure out the batter, use a tablespoon or a cookie scoop. This will ensure that all of your blini are uniform in appearance and cook evenly every time.
• The batter should be somewhat runny. If it’s too thick with only 34 cups of milk, add a bit extra, up to 14 cups.

Cocktail Blini

Homemade blini are far more flavorful and soft than store-bought, and they’re incredibly simple to make.

The perfect vehicle for smoked salmon, caviar, or creme fraiche, among other things, are these quick but sumptuous cocktail blini. My favorite way to consume one of my favorite meals… caviar!

Ingredients For Cocktail Blini

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup milk of choice
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
• butter or avocado oil, for frying

Equipment

• Medium bowl
• Large bowl
• Whisk
• Plate
• Paper towels
• Large skillet
• Tablespoon (or tablespoon-sized cookie scoop)
• Very thin spatula

Instructions

1. Combine flour, salt, and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together milk, sugar, egg, and melted butter in a medium mixing basin.
2. Two bowls, one with dry components and the other with blini ingredients
   Slowly whisk the egg mixture into the flour mixture until the batter is largely smooth but still has some little lumps. Take care not to over-mix the ingredients.
   In a large glass bowl, mix the blini batter.
3. Set aside a plate lined with paper towels. Butter or avocado oil should be used to lightly coat the skillet. Preheat the skillet over low to medium heat (I usually set mine on 4 out of 10).
4. In a hot skillet, drop 1-tablespoon-sized scoops of batter. Cook until bubbles appear, about 12 to 2 minutes. Cook for another minute or until blini is browned on the other side. Transfer the blinis to a dish lined with paper towels (to help soak up excess butter). Repeat the process until all of the batters has been used. Serve hot with your favorite toppings.
   Cast iron skillet blini.

Notes

• To grease the skillet, I use a paper towel soaked in avocado oil. You don’t have to worry about having too much oil in the skillet if you just wipe the paper towel on the surface. Make sure to re-grease the skillet each time you wipe it out.
• If the batter is too thick, add a bit more milk (about a quarter cup).
• Use 1 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour in this recipe.
• Use plant-based milk and butter instead of dairy.
• Make it Sugar-Free: Use granular Swerve or monk fruit as a sugar alternative.

This recipe makes around 24 blini. Your desired portion sizes will determine the number of servings.

The nutritional values indicated are for one blin and are general suggestions. The exact macros will vary depending on the brands and types of ingredients utilized.

Prepare the recipe as directed to get the weight of one serving.

Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the total number of blini created by the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in). The weight of one serving will be the result.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1blini, Calories: 33kcal, Carbohydrates: 5g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 10mg, Sodium: 88mg, Potassium: 19mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 38IU, Calcium: 16mg, Iron: 1mg, Net Carbs: 4g