Christmas breakfast cheese blintz puff

I can't remember the first time we made this fabulous but easy breakfast casserole... I think it was sometime in the '90s. The recipe is from the Moosewood book Sundays at Moosewood, which is one of my old favorites. Every time I open it, I am reminded that I should browse it more often! This has been a family Christmas breakfast standby more Christmases than not, and I had almost forgotten about it when Ma mentioned making it yesterday! Yeah for her memory, not so much for mine...

This happy and sunny Christmas morning we made a half-recipe. Having only four adults to partake, a 9x13 pan seemed like a bit of overkill. And the recipe halved quite nicely.

Here is the full recipe, as written in Moosewood:

Easy Cheese Blintz Puff
Batter
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
2 Tbsp sour cream or plain yogurt
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cups flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/4 Tbsp baking powder

Filling
about 1 pound farmer cheese
1 pound ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Toppings
Sour cream
Berries
Applesauce

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a blender, combine the batter ingredients until very smooth. Pour half of the batter into a buttered 9x13 pan. Bake for about 10 minutes or until set.

Meanwhile, combine the filling ingredients and mix well.

When the bottom layer of batter has set, remove the baking pan from the oven and smoothly spread the cheese filling over it. Briefly remix the remaining batter and then gently pour it over the filling, covering it completely. Return the pan to the oven and continue to bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the top is puffed, set and browned.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting it into squares. Serve immediately--either plain or with toppings.

The bottom layer, prior to baking

The finished puff, just out of the oven

It makes for a lovely breakfast, one I highly recommend for you and yours! We opened stockings before we ate, of course, and now the turkey's (this one Ma has named Annabelle, mine from Thanksgiving was Harold, just a bit of info for you there) in the oven and we'll get started on the rest of Christmas dinner a bit later. It's a beautiful morning on Mayne Island and hardly feels like Christmas at all, but every time I suggest a bit of snow, I get booed down by the rest of the room. Sigh.


Merry Christmas to all from our peaceful island hideaway!