This Sweet Banitsa makes a delicious breakfast or dessert with sweet ricotta and crumbly cottage cheese wrapped into flakey and crisp phyllo dough assembled into a spiral for a show-stopping dish!

Banitsa is a traditional pastry made in Bulgaria. It is prepared by layering pieces of cheese between phyllo pastry and then baking it in an oven. It is traditionally made as a savory dish, but at a baby shower, my cousin made a sweet version so I decided to recreate it. I would say it's similar to crepes with cheese but with a crisp topping.
Ingredients needed for this recipe:
- ricotta
- phyllo dough
- cottage cheese
- eggs
- sugar
- vanilla extract
- baking soda
- unsalted butter
Making the sweet banitsa filling:
- Mix ingredients for filling the 2 cups (16oz) of ricotta cheese, 2 cups cottage cheese, 4 eggs, 1 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and ½ teaspoon of baking soda. Mix with a spatula until incorporated.
Rolling the Banitsa into a spiral
- Start by greasing a baking dish, add about 4 tablespoon of filling, and spread on the bottom.
- Unroll phyllo dough lay it out vertically, and brush the phyllo with melted butter. Then spread 2 tablespoon along the top or bottom edge, and then roll up.
- Add into the prepared baking dish the rolled-up filled phyllo piece, keep filling, and layout into a spiral.
- Once all rolled up and filled then top with the remaining filling and top with melted butter use a brush to spread evenly among all of the phyllo dough.
- Place into the preheated oven and bake for 35 min at 375°F until the phyllo dough is crisp and golden.
Other recipes you might enjoy:
JELLO FRUIT SALAD
CINNAMON ROLLS WITH APPLE PIE FILLING
SWEET BANITSA RECIPE
This sweet Banitsa makes a delicious breakfast or dessert with sweet ricotta and crumbly cottage cheese wrapped into flakey and crisp phyllo dough assembled into a spiral for a show-stopping dish!
Ingredients
- 16 oz ricotta cheese
- 1 pkg phyllo dough
- 16 oz cottage cheese
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F
- Mix together ingredients for filling the 2 cups (16oz) of ricotta cheese, 2 cups cottage cheese, 4 eggs, 1 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon of baking soda. Mix together with a spatula until incorporated.
- Grease a baking dish, add about 4 tablespoon of filling, and spread on the bottom.
- Unroll phyllo dough lay it out vertically, and brush the phyllo with melted butter. Then spread 2 tablespoon along the top or bottom edge, and then roll up.
- Add into the prepared baking dish the rolled-up filled phyllo piece, keep filling, and layout into a spiral.
- Once all rolled up and filled then top with the remaining filling and top with melted butter use a brush to spread evenly among all of the phyllo dough.
- Place into preheated oven and bake 35 min at 375°F until the phyllo dough is crisp and golden.
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