Pumpkin Pie Blintz

Okay, so I didn't grow up eating blintzes, but now I'm sad I didn't. These little crepe pockets of creamy goodness are amazing! An extra special treat for a Saturday morning.

Typically blintzes are filled with a lemony cream cheese and ricotta cheese mixture and served with a fruit compote like blueberry. But I wanted to Fall it up! So I added pumpkin puree and all the warm Fall spices for a Pumpkin Pie riff on Blintzes. As opposed to blueberries, I combined chunky cranberry sauce with maple syrup, orange zest and a touch of cardamom for a fresh and tart sauce to spoon over the little pumpkin pillows.

Word to the wise, crepes are not overly difficult, but they do take some practice. For the crepes, you'll want to pull out your best non-stick pan. And prepare to work quickly.

Remove the pan briefly from the stove top and suspend above the countertop. Pour in your batter and gently rotate your wrist around such that the batter covers the entire surface of your pan. Then immediately return to the burner. The very outer edge of your crepe will start to brown and pull away from the side of the pan. That's when you know you're ready to flip. I recommend using a very large, bendy spatula so you can support the crepe as you flip.

I've got a sneaky trick to share with you. If you happen to tear your crepe as you're flipping, not to worry! Drizzle a very, very small amount of batter directly over the tear. And voila! Crepe Band-Aid!

Pumpkin Pie Blintzes

Ingredients

For the filling

· 4oz cream cheese, softened

· ½ cup ricotta cheese

· 1 cup pumpkin puree

· ¼ cup brown sugar

· 1 egg

· 1 tsp vanilla extract

· 1 ½ tsp cinnamon

· 1 tsp ginger

· ½ tsp clove

· ¼ tsp nutmeg

· Pinch of salt

For the cranberry syrup

· ¾ cup prepared chunky cranberry sauce

· 1/3 cup pure maple syrup

· Zest of ½ orange

· ¼ tsp cardamom

For the crepes

· 1 ¼ cup flour

· 1 tbsp sugar

· ¼ tsp salt

· 1 ½ cups milk

· 2 large eggs

· 2 tbsp butter, melted & cooled

· 1 tsp vanilla extract

· ¼ tsp almond extract

· 2 tbsp vegetable oil

For the filling, beat cream cheese with a hand mixer until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the ricotta and pumpkin until fully combined with the cream cheese. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the sugar, egg and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Stir in the spices. Chill for at least an hour to firm up a bit.

For the cranberry syrup, whisk together all ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat gently over low. Keep warm.

For the crepes, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. In a large measuring cup, whisk together milk, eggs and cooled butter. Slowly whisk the milk into the flour bowl. Whisk until smooth. Stir in extracts. Batter should be very thin and smooth. Add a tablespoon or so of milk if needing to thin the batter. Pour the batter through a mesh sieve into a large measuring cup.

Heat a small 8 inch pan over medium low heat. Grease lightly with non-stick spray. Pour 1/3 cup of the crepe batter into the pan. Quickly rotate the pan around to evenly coat the bottom of the pan. When the edges begin to pull away from the pan, flip the crepe and cook for another 20 seconds. Remove the crepe from the pan onto a large plate. Repeat with the remaining crepe batter. Keep the crepes warm under a clean dish cloth.

Spoon about ¼ cup of the pumpkin filling slightly below the center of a crepe. Fold the bottom of the crepe up. Fold in either side. Fold the top of the crepe over the sides to seal the crepe. Set aside and repeat with the remaining crepes.

Preheat oven to 200F.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add about 4 blintzes to the pan. Fry the blitz seam-side down for about 2 minutes and then flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the pan and keep warm on a sheet pan in the oven. Repeat with the remaining blintzes.

Spoon the cranberry syrup over the blintzes and serve warm.

Makes 8 blintzes

Gluten Free Friendly!

Substitute flour with Cup4Cup or King Arthur GF flour.