Blini
Blini are Russian crepes with yeast. They have a similar diameter and thickness to crepes; however, unlike French crepes, there is no/minimal egg taste to them. I love blini, especially the way my grandmother makes them. But with celiac disease I have had to give them up. I was hoping that with this recipe I could recreate the way my grandmother would cook for me.
One thing that has intimidated me is baking because the process is more of a science rather than an art, everything has to be precise or else it doesn't work. Gluten-free baking is even more of a science because you have to blend together various starches and flours to get the correct effect. To start, I had obtained an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend so that I would not have to buy various bags of flours and starches. I chose Jules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour because of the price-per-weight and the description sold me more than the other brands. Next, I had to find a general recipe because I wanted at least a starting point for ratios so I used this blini recipe; however, I scaled back on some of the ingredients because I thought I would have way too much batter. The whole process took a few hours because the batter was cooking funny but the end result was taste approved by 2 people, not including me. I personally would say that these blini came out comparable to my grandmothers.
Ingredients
** I use the EatSmart Precision Pro kitchen scale for weighing out ingredients when indicated.
333g of Jules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons of instant dry yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons of white sugar
~4 cups of 120-130F lactose-free milk
2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
16g of unsalted, melted butter (I never use margarine or the vegan stuff so I can't comment on how well it works, in Russian they don't eat that stuff).
4 eggs
Directions
1. Sift flour into a large bowl. Add instant yeast and sugar. Mix everything with a fork.
2. Add warmed milk 1 cup at a time (I used a meat thermometer to get the temperature 120-130F). I had to add much more than what the original recipe called for because the batter was so thick and did not spread out well. This is probably because the density/consistency of the gluten-free flour is very different than regular flour. I would suggest starting out with 2-2.5 cups and then after the dough rises you can thin out the batter more.
3. Add oil and mix with a whisk. The batter should be runny (this is where I had begun to add cup #3 of milk because it was very thick).
4. Cover the top of the bowl with plastic wrap and cover the rest of the bowel in towel(s) to keep the warmth in. I also set the bowel in the middle of my stove-top and periodically turned on the heating plates to get some warmth around the bowl. This keeps the yeast happy, especially if your home is cool. Let the batter rise (double in size) for 30 mins - 1 hour.
** Batter after it has risen.
5. Melt the butter and mix it into the risen dough.
6. Whisk together 4 eggs and add to the dough, mix thoroughly. Let it rest for 10 min. I originally started with 2 eggs because I was making 2/3 the original amount; however, the batter was not cooking in the center and I thought more eggs would help (this only helped slightly).
7. Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat (I use Lodge Cast Iron). Pour one ladle of batter into the middle and quickly swirl the pan so the batter spreads out evenly.
8. Cook until there is almost no wet batter on the top, you will see bubbles form and things begin to solidify. Use a large spatula to flip the blini over and cook on the other side for 2+ min. You can lift one side up to see if the color is golden/brown. Remove from the pan and put on a microwave-safe plate.
**This is where I had trouble, both sides looked cooked (a nice golden/brown color) but the insides were still raw/wet. I made these as thin as possible (achieving crepe-like thickness) but that did not help. After a few wasted experiments I decided to put a few into the microwave for 1.5-2 min. The end result was perfection, the blini were soft/flexible and the insides were finally cooked through.
9. For this occasion I served the blini with sour cream and sugar spread on the inside. I then folded these into a triangle.
One thing that has intimidated me is baking because the process is more of a science rather than an art, everything has to be precise or else it doesn't work. Gluten-free baking is even more of a science because you have to blend together various starches and flours to get the correct effect. To start, I had obtained an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend so that I would not have to buy various bags of flours and starches. I chose Jules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour because of the price-per-weight and the description sold me more than the other brands. Next, I had to find a general recipe because I wanted at least a starting point for ratios so I used this blini recipe; however, I scaled back on some of the ingredients because I thought I would have way too much batter. The whole process took a few hours because the batter was cooking funny but the end result was taste approved by 2 people, not including me. I personally would say that these blini came out comparable to my grandmothers.
Ingredients
** I use the EatSmart Precision Pro kitchen scale for weighing out ingredients when indicated.
333g of Jules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons of instant dry yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons of white sugar
~4 cups of 120-130F lactose-free milk
2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
16g of unsalted, melted butter (I never use margarine or the vegan stuff so I can't comment on how well it works, in Russian they don't eat that stuff).
4 eggs
Directions
1. Sift flour into a large bowl. Add instant yeast and sugar. Mix everything with a fork.
2. Add warmed milk 1 cup at a time (I used a meat thermometer to get the temperature 120-130F). I had to add much more than what the original recipe called for because the batter was so thick and did not spread out well. This is probably because the density/consistency of the gluten-free flour is very different than regular flour. I would suggest starting out with 2-2.5 cups and then after the dough rises you can thin out the batter more.
3. Add oil and mix with a whisk. The batter should be runny (this is where I had begun to add cup #3 of milk because it was very thick).
4. Cover the top of the bowl with plastic wrap and cover the rest of the bowel in towel(s) to keep the warmth in. I also set the bowel in the middle of my stove-top and periodically turned on the heating plates to get some warmth around the bowl. This keeps the yeast happy, especially if your home is cool. Let the batter rise (double in size) for 30 mins - 1 hour.
5. Melt the butter and mix it into the risen dough.
6. Whisk together 4 eggs and add to the dough, mix thoroughly. Let it rest for 10 min. I originally started with 2 eggs because I was making 2/3 the original amount; however, the batter was not cooking in the center and I thought more eggs would help (this only helped slightly).
7. Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat (I use Lodge Cast Iron). Pour one ladle of batter into the middle and quickly swirl the pan so the batter spreads out evenly.
8. Cook until there is almost no wet batter on the top, you will see bubbles form and things begin to solidify. Use a large spatula to flip the blini over and cook on the other side for 2+ min. You can lift one side up to see if the color is golden/brown. Remove from the pan and put on a microwave-safe plate.
**This is where I had trouble, both sides looked cooked (a nice golden/brown color) but the insides were still raw/wet. I made these as thin as possible (achieving crepe-like thickness) but that did not help. After a few wasted experiments I decided to put a few into the microwave for 1.5-2 min. The end result was perfection, the blini were soft/flexible and the insides were finally cooked through.
9. For this occasion I served the blini with sour cream and sugar spread on the inside. I then folded these into a triangle.
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