WHAT Are ‘FULL ENGLISH’ BREAKFAST BLINIs?
These perfectly topped Breakfast Blinis are my posh take on the Full English Breakfast. Although it’s probably easier to throw the bacon, sausage, eggs and mushroom on a plate, there is something quite delightful and elegant about these little handfuls of Englishness.
Soft, light gluten free blini pancakes, topped with a spoonful of moist scrambled egg, a succulent, lightly fried chestnut mushroom and finally a salty bacon-wrapped, crisp-roasted cocktail sausage… Don’t they look tempting?
‘Full English’ Breakfast Blinis are guaranteed to impress. Serve them on Christmas Morning, New Years Day, Easter Sunday, or any other time you want to make breakfast that little bit extra special.
Well I say it’s a ‘Full English’… The connoisseurs amongst you will notice this blini recipe has a distinct absence of tomato. There is of course nothing to stop you from adding a slice into the stack, but as bite-sized morsels, designed to be hand-held, you may want to avoid embarrassing guests with drippy, squirty tomato mess.
What Exactly is a Blini?
A blini is essentially, a small savoury pancake made with a leavened batter. Originating in Russian cuisine, blini pancakes have traditionally been the base for enjoying famed Russian Beluga caviar. However, the traditional variety are in fact, a little larger than the one’s we enjoy in the west today.
Blinis are versatile little pancakes that can be pimped to suit any occasion! Small they may be, but they are a blank canvass ready for topping with anything from fish, caviar and meat to cheese, houmous and veggies. Perfect for party canapés and dainty posh nibbles.
How to Cook Blini Pancakes ready for your Breakfast Blinis
Traditionally, blini pancakes are cooked on a hot flat griddle made of cast iron. Indeed, having been gifted a Baking Stone a couple of years back, that is pretty much the method I have used here for my blini recipe.
Although you can use a large flat-bottomed frying pan to make blinis, it can be quite fiddly to get a spatula flat to flip or to remove them from the pan. The baking stone (a heavy, flat, coated, cast-iron plate) is absolutely perfect for the task. It gets hot… really hot! And it retains an even heat throughout the cooking process and well beyond. It has become one of my favourite kitchen gadgets, whether for blinis, crumpets or flatbreads.
A Gluten Free Blini Recipe
Everyone needs a good blini recipe right? And if you are Coeliac, they need to be gluten free blinis!
The gluten free blini recipe used here is a slight adaptation of a Naomi Devlin recipe. Having attended one of her courses at River Cottage a few years back and been impressed, her Buckwheat Blini recipe seemed a good place to start. They were good, but the buckwheat flour gave a slightly bitter kick which was not favoured by Miss GF.
Thus, the blini pancakes posted here, use a revamped flour blend with a more neutral flavour. Nonetheless, the nutritional content remains high, using the Gluten Free Alchemist Rice Free Flour Blend plus a good ratio of creamy oat flour. In fact, using oat flour made these gluten free blinis perfect breakfast fodder… An ideal complementary base for the ‘Full English’ Breakfast Blini additions on top.
As with any blini recipe, these gluten free blinis are amazing when freshly made. Having said that, they can be made ahead of time and (like shop-bought versions) are easily ‘refreshed’ by a few seconds in the microwave. And they are just as yummy!
So next time you have guests staying over, why not treat them to something a little different? ‘Full English’ Breakfast Blinis perhaps?
OTHER GREAT BREAKFAST RECIPES ON GLUTEN FREE ALCHEMIST
- Gluten Free Belgian Waffles
- Healthy Breakfast Flapjack Bars
- Cacao-Courgette (Zucchini) Breakfast Cake
- Spiced Sweet Potato Breakfast Muffins
- Gluten Free Breakfast Pastries
- Quinoa Breakfast Bowl
- Oatie Choc-Nut Breakfast Bars
- Gluten Free Pizza Muffins
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The ‘Full English’ Breakfast Blinis with Gluten Free Blini Recipe
Key equipment
- Kitchen scales
- Mixing bowls
- whisk
- large flat-bottomed skillet/frying pan or baking stone
- mixing spoon/spatula
- oven + hob
- roasting tin
- table/dessert spoon for dropping batter
- spatula
- clean tea towel
- frying pan
- oven proof dish + foil (for keeping warm)
- fork
- non-stick saucepan
- wooden spoon
Ingredients
Gluten Free Blinis
- 90 g plain gluten free flour blend best to use Gluten Free Alchemist Rice Free Blend B (see notes for link)
- 40 g gluten free oat flour easy to make your own (see notes)
- 2 large eggs separated
- 100 g full fat Greek yoghurt or plain yoghurt
- 140 ml full fat milk or use semi skimmed with a dash of cream
- 3 g easy bake yeast
- pinch fine sea salt
The 'Full English' Bit (for 16 Blinis)
- 16 raw cocktail sausages wrapped in bacon (ready-wrapped mini pigs in blankets)
- 16 small closed-cup mushrooms I used Chestnut mushrooms
- 3 large eggs or 4 medium eggs
- dash of milk
- knob butter
- pinch salt, pepper & seasoning to taste
Instructions
Gluten Free Blinis
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, egg yolks, yoghurt, milk, yeast and salt until well blended. Set aside in a warm place to prove for a couple of hours (or prove in the fridge overnight (remembering to bring back to room temperature before continuing)).
- When the batter has grown in volume by about half, whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until stiff and then lightly fold into the batter mixture until combined.
- Use either a large, flat-bottomed frying pan, or a baking stone and heat over a medium to low setting, until the base is hot.
- Using a thick wad of kitchen paper to prevent burnt fingers, rub the surface with a dot of butter.
- Drop spoonfuls (approx 1 tablespoon) of batter onto the pan surface, leaving a good gap between them (work in batches of 5 to 6) and cook until the base is golden, the surface is
getting a slight skin and the edges are firming a little (about 50 to 60 seconds). - Flip over with a spatula and cook the other side until golden and just set (they should be soft, but not squidgy).
- Remove the blinis from the pan and wrap in a clean tea towel to keep moist and warm until all are cooked.
To Make the 'Full English' Bit
- Whilst cooking the Blinis, cook the sausages wrapped in bacon in the oven using the packet instructions (usually about 20 minutes at approx 200 C/400 F/Gas 6.
- Remove the stalks from the mushrooms and gently fry in a little olive oil until golden. Set aside in the oven in a heat-proof dish (covered with foil) until ready to eat.
- To make the scrambled egg, beat the egg lightly in a bowl with a dash of milk and season to taste. Add a small knob of butter. Pour into a small saucepan and gently heat, stirring frequently until the mixture has cooked and scrambled.
- Putting it all together : Layer a blini with a teaspoon of scrambled egg, topped
with a fried mushroom and finally a sausage wrapped in bacon. Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Nutrition
‘Full English’ Breakfast Blinis SHARED WITH :
- Melt in your Mouth Monday Recipe Blog Hop #440 with Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms
- Mix It Up Monday with Flour Me With Love
- What’s for Dinner #130 with The Lazy Gastronome
- Fiesta Friday #306 with Angie
This post was originally published on 4.1.2018 and updated on 9.12.2019
Previously shared (2018) with Cook Blog Share with Everyday Healthy Recipes; Brilliant Blog Posts with Honest Mum; Baking Crumbs with Only Crumbs Remain; Free From Fridays with Le Coin De Mel and Free From Farmhouse; Fiesta Friday #205 with Angie, The Frugal Hausfrau and Food Eat Love
My husband and I are spending Christmas Eve in our PJs, watching movies and eating small bites. I’m making these! Thanks for sharing at the What’s for Dinner party. Have a wonderful week!
You’re so welcome Helen. That sounds like the perfect Christmas Eve snack! Enjoy xx
These look so tasty and perfect for when you want to make a breakfast that's a bit special. I think I'll be putting a baking stone on my birthday list – It would be so useful!
Thanks Corina. I would absolutely recommend a Baking Stone! x
What a fabulous recipe Kate, so dainty and yet so hearty and comforting…I love the idea of a FEB on a blini! Karen I
Thank you Karen. They were so good to eat! x
Just coming over here to give you some love and to tell you to bake your mums favourite cake to remember her and share it with us so we get to know her too. Sending you loads of love Dom xx
Thank you Dom! That's kind of you. I have made some Italian Cookies which I have now posted, but may have to do some cake in memory for Mother's Day x
I made these today, but I had a headache and didn't concentrate properly and added the 2 whole eggs, decided to leave it as instructed, then when it had risen whisked the white of one egg and added it. They were fine and had some for supper with baked tomatoes instead of toast. Will try the recipe properly next time. Looking forward to the waffle recipe and may even try and sneak an electric waffle iron past my OH who already thinks I am the gadget queen LOL (In my defence only the Spiraliser is not used as I struggle putting it together with my arthritic hands!)
Thanks Alison. I'm glad they turned to well, even if your headache meant a small mistake. I think the recipe is probably quite forgiving!
The recipe will be on its way soon….. Unfortunately it has been delayed due to a very difficult January at my end….. Rest assured it is well worth the wait. My daughter has taken to making them regularly after school before I get home too!! x
These look so cute – I can just see them on a tray being taken around by a very well dressed waiter at brunch. For me the full english has to have baked beans but I think they would look very messy on your neat stack! I could imagine some veg version of this being very good however!
Thanks Johanna. Mmmmm yes……. I must put 'well dressed waiter' on my shopping list. One of those would come in handy! They might even be persuaded to do the washing up! x
Ooh how amazing do these look Kate! I just love them! I bet your guests were thrilled when they woke up to the aroma of these beauties cooking. And I bet they'd be absolutely delicious stacked with a vegetarian sausage too. Thankyou too for linking up with #BakingCrumbs
Angela x
Ha ha! Yes….. the guests may be thrilled, but you run the risk of them refusing to ever leave! They would be lovely with a good veggie sausage or a curl of veggie bacon x
I love those little oat blinis!! Fantastic! And how cool is your cast iron sheet? Looking forward to the waffles, too, as I notice someone else said!
Happy New Year, and Thanks for sharing at Fiesta Friday!
Mollie
Thanks. The Iron Baking Stone is fab. I would definitely recommend one x
Oh my goodness. These look delicious. I've been looking for savory breakfast ideas to make at home for a long time, too. Thanks!
Thanks Nicole. Definitely a weekend breakfast this one. You need time to truly savour it! x
Happy New Year Kate! What a clever idea, your little stack looks so neat and lovely it's almost too good to eat! Thank you for bringing it to #CookBlogShare:)
Thank you Monika! I am firmly of the belief that nothing looks too good to eat! x
I've never eaten a blini but these certainly look good enough for me to give them a go. Thank you for sharing the recipe, Kate. I am very excited about a forthcoming waffle recipe. I used to love waffles in "the old days" before gluten problems hit. I don't have a waffle iron but that can be very easily remedied! Helenx
Thank you Helen. The blinis are so easy to make and you can top them with just about anything. Definitely worth a try!
The waffle recipe is on its way, but has been delayed due to a family bereavement. But keep your eyes peeled….. they should be here soon xx
Ooh a baking stone sounds like a brilliant present and these look great.
Thanks Emma. The Baking Stone is fab. Would definitely recommend one x
I have never made blinis and they are so cute and so popular at the moment. Perfect for entertaining, you have made them so well (as you do with all your food!). What a great idea a full english on a blini. Happy new year!
Thanks Alida. Yes they are absolutely perfect for entertaining. And very versatile too x