The word chremslach is applied to any number of very different, usually fried, matzo meal pancakes. There are also recipes called chremsle, vvemzle, or chremslach that are croquettes with almonds and raisins. These cottage cheese pancakes are wonderful for a midweek Passover dairy breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I like them topped with sour cream, but if you have a sweet tooth, try applesauce, marmalade, strawberry jam, or other preserves, or a sprinkling of sugar. Or top them with sour cream and strawberries macerated with some sugar so they exude their juices and form a sauce.–Arthur Schwartz
What is matzoh?
Matzo (or matzoh or matzah or matza) is an unleavened flatbread that originated in Jewish cuisine. Made by mixing flour and water, rolling it thin, and baking it in an extremely hot oven, matzo is an integral part of the Passover festival. It can be soft and pliable or cracker-like and snappily crisp. It’s also ground down to various densities and used much like bread crumbs.
Cottage Cheese Chremslach
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup 4-percent cottage cheese
- 3/4 cup milk, (whole or low-fat)
- 3/4 to 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, (optional)
- 1 cup matzo meal
- Grapeseed or other acceptable Passover oil, (or oil and 2 tablespoons butter for flavor), for frying
Instructions
- In a bowl, beat together the eggs, cottage cheese, milk, salt, and sugar with a fork. Stir in the matzo meal. Let rest at room temperature for 10 minutes.
- Pour enough oil in a 10- to 12-inch skillet to cover the bottom by a scant 1/8 inch and place over medium heat. When the oil is hot, pour a scant 1/4 cup batter in the skillet. You want it to form a pancake about 4 inches in diameter. If it's too thick to spread this much, add a little more milk to get it to the proper spreading consistency. The pancake should sizzle immediately. Fry until the first side is golden brown, 60 to 90 seconds. Flip the pancake and cook the second side, which should take only about 30 seconds.
- Transfer the pancakes to paper towels or a brown paper bag to soak up the excess oil and serve while still very hot.
Notes
Fluffy Cottage Cheese Chremslach
For a puffier pancake, separate the eggs, beat the yolks with the milk, and then beat the whites until they form peaks and gently fold them into the batter.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
I’d never heard of cottage cheese chremslach before, but was intrigued by the added protein boost that the cottage cheese in the recipe would give. My kids love breakfast for dinner, so I thought this could pass as their more familiar pancakes one evening.
They’re much denser than our old standby recipe, but the texture is great. The kids loved them and the parents did too! Keep the finished pancakes warm in a low temp oven while you’re making the rest.
These were a surprisingly light, delicious alternative to your usual pancake. To make these gluten-free I made my own matzo meal by grinding GF matzo in the food processor until coarse and then adding it to the mix. I only had 2% cottage cheese on hand and 2% milk, but the pancakes still had a rich, slightly cheesy flavor that worked really well served with a little maple syrup.
I included sugar in this batch and did end up adding a couple of tablespoons extra milk to help the cottage cheese chremslach spread. One caution is that these tend to stick in the pan, so I recommend using a non-stick pan or griddle rather than a regular pan. They’re extremely delicate and break easily so a non-stick provides less resistance. I did need to add a little oil between batches even in the non-stick to keep the cakes from adhering.
I needed to give each cake a little extra time on both sides to brown and crisp (about 2 – 3 minutes on the first side, plus an additional 1 – 2 on the second). These were great with maple syrup, but I can also imagine them with fruit or served with something like yogurt or sour cream for a savory flavor.
These look yummy, but is there GF matzo meal? And if not, what makes matzo meal different – is it only that it is unleavened? I need to be GF, but miss my old ethnic recipes. It’s amazing that the basic things I never had to consider now become the major concern in baking.
Zanne, I have been gluten free for about 6 years, not by choice! My mother made these too, and I can practically taste them while I type this. I am going to try them with either almond flour or meal or gluten free flour. I suspect they will work but won’t taste the same. You might give that a try. There is gluten free matzo around, and I guess you could grind it up in a food processor to make matzo meal. But I don’t think that will work.
Good luck!
Followed through and made the chremslach for dinner tonight—what a wonderful treat. My husband is still salivating and wonders why I have deprived him of this for so many years. (I’m wondering why I deprived me for so many years.) As Arthur Schwartz suggested, I macerated strawberries with a bit of raw sugar and let it sit and then put the berries and sour cream on the table and dinner was ready. I have to confess these are not my mother’s chremslach, which were delicious, but this tops delicious.
Louise, so glad you liked them.
Really good. Especially w/ Fresh blueberries blackberries strawberries & banana with crème fraîche. We’ve got a picture if you would like.
Excellent, Lou. Please, do send the picture.
Shades of my childhood. My mother used to make chremslach during Passover when I was growing up—haven’t thought about them in years. Maybe this week I’ll enjoy them once more. Such a lovely idea.