WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BLINIS AND PANCAKES : YEAST?

"A blintz, blintze or blin (plural: blintzes or blini; cf. Lithuanian: Blynai, blynai; Russian: блин blin, блины (pl.); Polish: bliny; Ukrainian: млинці, mlyntsi; Yiddish: בלינצע blintze) is a thin pancake. It is somewhat similar to a crêpe with main difference being the fact that yeast is always used in blini, but not used in crêpes."

"Traditional Russian bliny are made with yeasted batter, which is left to rise and then diluted with cold or boiling (zavarnye bliny) water or milk just before baking them in the traditional Russian oven (to this day the process of cooking bliny is referred to as baking in Russian, even though these days they are almost universally pan-fried, like pancakes). French Crêpes made from unyeasted batter (usually made of flour, milk and eggs) are also not uncommon in Russia, where they are called blinchiki and considered to be a borrowed dish. All kinds of flour may be used for making bliny: from wheat and buckwheat to oatmeal and millet, although wheat is currently by far the most popular."

This recipe from allrecipe.com does not require baking powder like pancakes do and yeast as mentioned above. It yields about 20 blinis.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and salt. Sift the flour into the bowl, and stir in along with the milk. Mix until smooth and well blended. The batter should be thin.
2. Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat. Lightly oil the pan or spray with cooking spray. Pour about 2 tablespoons of the batter, or as much as desired, into the pan. Tilt the pan to spread the batter out evenly. When the edges are crisp looking and the center appears dry, slide a spatula carefully under the blini. Flip, and cook for about 1 minute on the other side, or until lightly browned.
3. Remove blini to a plate. Put a little butter on top, and continue to stack the blini on top of each other. To serve, spread with desired filling, then fold in half, and in half again to form a triangle. Mmm Mmm!