Smoked Salmon Blinis

These dainty smoked salmon blinis with cream cheese and horseradish are a simple and delicious canapé, perfect for Christmas parties as well as entertaining throughout the year. The blinis can easily be made ahead of time, meaning all you have to do on the day is top with cream cheese and smoked salmon, and serve with your favourite drinks and cocktails like this Hugo cocktail.

These mini blinis are small savoury pancakes which are especially popular at Christmas and New Year. Made with buckwheat flour and using whisked egg whites instead of yeast they are light and slightly nutty in flavour.

I often make them together with my savoury profiteroles with smoked salmon as both are Christmas canapés that can be made ahead, which I find very useful amongst the festive mayhem.

These blinis are loved by kids too – my 5 year old son would happily eat these for breakfast, lunch and as a snack, if he had the choice!

Jump to:

• Ingredients notes and substitutions
• How to make homemade blinis without yeast
• FAQ
• My recipe tips
• Serving Ideas
• Variations
• More easy recipes for entertaining
• Smoked Salmon Blinis

Ingredients notes and substitutions

• Buckwheat flour – this nutty, earthy flour is delicious in pancakes and crepes, and also makes delicious banana bread. Substitute with extra plain flour / all purpose flour if you don’t have buckwheat flour.
• Milk – I use full fat cows milk, but you can use half fat / semi skimmed milk or, for a dairy free blini, oat milk is a great alternative.
• Lemon juice – when mixed with the milk the milk curdles slightly to create a quick homemade buttermilk, which provides a tender texture to the blinis. Substitute with white wine vinegar.
• Cream cheese – or substitute with creme fraiche or ricotta, or use mascarpone for a luxurious touch. If you are making dairy free blinis then use a dairy free cream cheese.
• Horseradish – white horseradish, horseradish cream, grated horseradish or horseradish sauce all work.
• Smoked salmon – or hot smoked salmon or smoked trout.
• Fresh dill – this herb goes so well with salmon! I pile it into my smoked salmon pate, and I love to use it as a pretty garnish on the blinis. You can however garnish the blinis with chopped fresh chives if you prefer.

How to make homemade blinis without yeast

For full detailed recipe please scroll down to recipe card below.

1. Make the homemade buttermilk: In a small bowl or jug mix the milk with lemon juice and set aside.
2. Make the blini batter: In a mixing bowl mix the buckwheat flour and plain flour with the baking powder, then add the egg yolk and stir. Gradually add the milk to the flours, whisking with a balloon whisk as you do to avoid lumps. To avoid a lumpy batter: add the milk to the flours gradually, and whisk with a balloon whisk inbetween to avoid your batter becoming lumpy.
3. Whisk the egg whites: in a separate bowl whisk the egg white until fluffy. Gently fold the whisked egg white in to the batter with a spoon.
4. Cook the blinis: Heat a non stick frying pan over a medium heat and spoon ½ tablespoon of batter  into the pan, leaving slight room between the blinis as they can spread a little. Once you start to see bubbles appear on the top of the blinis and they are lightly browned underneath, flip them over with a spatula. Cook for another minute on this side until cooked through.

FAQ

My recipe tips

• If you have two frying pans, I recommend cooking two batches at the same time as the distinctive holes do disappear if the batter has been left sitting. They still taste good but don’t have that same holey appearance.
• As the frying pans become hotter as you cook the blinis you will need to turn them down slightly by the third batch or so.

Serving Ideas

• Serve these smoked salmon canapés alongside other favourites like these mini sausage rolls, ham and cheese pinwheels, fig tapenade, and marinated mushrooms.
• Smoked salmon starter / appetiser – If you don’t want to decorate the blinis individually, you can serve a pile of them on a serving platter next to a bowl of this smoked salmon pate for people to help themselves, or serve 3-4 blinis with a spoonful of smoked salmon pate  as a starter / appetiser.
• If you have any leftover blinis, top with jam or honey for breakfast.

Variations

• For a starter / appetiser you can make slightly larger blinis (you will get approx 20 from this recipe) and serve with a light salad on the side – this pear and walnut salad or rocket and pomegranate salad go particularly well.
• Other toppings: if you don’t want to top blinis with salmon, here are  some of my favourite blini toppings:
  • sliced roast beef or other cooked meat with horseradish
  • ham and cheese.
• Vegetarian blini toppings:
  • roasted vegetables and basil
  • brie and cranberry sauce
  • beetroot with feta and dill
  • pesto and goats cheese.

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