Polish crepes with cheese filling (naleśniki z serem)

This naleśniki recipe is one of the favorite dishes from my childhood. It consists of crepes filled with sweetened Polish twaróg cheese with a touch of vanilla. They taste absolutely amazing and are easy to make!

📝 Ingredients

• 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cup (300g) milk
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or vanilla sugar)
• 2 tablespoons melted butter (or vegetable oil)
• pinch of salt
• 18 oz (500g) Polish twaróg cheese, or farmer's cheese
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream (or milk)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1--- make the crepe batter: ---
2. 2Add all the ingredients for the crepes into a medium bowl (flour, eggs, milk, vanilla, melted butter, sugar, salt). Whisk until combined and smooth (although small lumps are ok), you can do that by hand, with a mixer, in a food processor or a blender. The batter will be thin.
3. 3Cover the bowl with a kitchen cloth or plastic foil and set aside for 30 minutes.
4. 4--- cook the crepes: ---
5. 5Brush the pan with a small amount of butter (I’m only adding the butter before the first crepe). The pan should be well-heated, I’m cooking my crepes over high heat. Holding the pan in the air (it shouldn’t be on the burner), pour in the batter, tilting the pan simultaneously until the batter evenly coats the bottom of the pan. Place the pan on the burner and cook for about a minute.
6. 6The crepe is ready to turn over when its edges look dry and lacy and its bottom is golden brown.
7. 7Slide the spatula under the crepe (make sure it doesn’t stick to the pan) and flip it over.
8. 8Cook on the other side just briefly, for about 10 seconds, until set. The crepe should be soft in the middle and a little crispy on the edges. Transfer on a plate.
9. 9--- make the sweet cheese filling: ---
10. 10Add all the ingredients for the filling into a medium bowl.
11. 11Stir with a fork until combined or mix with a mixer.
12. 12Twaróg cheese consistency may slightly vary depending on the brand and what kind of cheese you've used (full-fat or low-fat). So you may need to add more or less of the heavy cream to thin out the filling. The filling should be more on the dry side (but also not completely dry) - it will become more runny when you pan fry the crepes at the end.
13. 13--- assemble: ---
14. 14Spread about 2-3 tablespoons of the filling onto each crepe (don't add too much, these pancakes are thin).
15. 15Fold the crepes into triangles (fold them in half, then again in half). You can also just roll them up.
16. 16Pan-fry the crepes: heat some butter (best is clarified butter) in a non-stick pan. When hot add the crepes and cook on both sides until golden. This step is necessary to cook the egg yolks in the filling, but I've also found that the crepes with cheese filling really taste so much better pan-fried, even if the filling is without egg yolks (this is not necessary for other fillings).
17. 17Serve the naleśniki on their own or with whipped cream, cinnamon, and fresh berries.
18. 18Enjoy!