Avocado Shrimp Bites
The blinis are the part people ask about. They’re small, soft yeast pancakes, a little puffy, and they taste completely different from the dry crackers most shrimp bites sit on. The batter needs an hour to rest so the yeast can do its thing, which is the perfect window to make the guacamole and prep everything else. Cook them over low heat. Mine always burn when I rush it with the burner turned up.
The shrimp take two or three minutes in a hot pan, tops. Pull them the second they turn pink and curl, because overcooked shrimp go rubbery and there’s no fixing it. Keep the guacamole chunky and heavy on the lime so it doesn’t brown while it waits. Then it’s just stacking: blini, a spoonful of guac, one shrimp, a toothpick through the middle.
Avocado shrimp bites built on soft homemade blinis, with chunky lime guacamole and a seared shrimp on top. They take about 40 minutes of actual work, plus an hour for the batter to rise. Plan on about 20 bites, enough for six people as a party appetizer.
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Stir the yeast into the lukewarm milk and let it sit for 5 minutes. Add the flour, eggs and a pinch of salt, and whisk until you have a smooth, thick batter. Cover the bowl and leave it somewhere warm for 1 hour, until bubbles show on the surface.1 teaspoon active dry yeast, 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole milk, 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 2 large eggs, 1 pinch salt
- Halve and pit the avocados, scoop them into a bowl and mash with a fork, leaving some chunks. Stir in the lime juice, red onion, half the pepper flakes and the paprika, then season with salt and pepper. Press plastic wrap right onto the surface and refrigerate.2 ripe avocados, 1 lime, 1/2 red onion, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, salt and black pepper
- Heat a nonstick skillet over low heat and wipe it with a little butter or oil. Drop in tablespoons of batter to make rounds about 2 inches wide. Cook until bubbles pop on top and the bottoms are pale gold, about 1 1/2 minutes, then flip and cook 1 minute more. Repeat with the rest of the batter and let them cool on a rack.1 teaspoon butter or neutral oil
- Pat the shrimp dry. Heat the olive oil in the skillet over high heat and add the shrimp in a single layer. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, turning once, just until pink and curled. Take the pan off the heat, toss in the parsley and the rest of the pepper flakes, and season with a little salt.20 large shrimp, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
- Spoon a small mound of guacamole onto each blini, set a shrimp on top and push a toothpick through the shrimp into the blini to hold it in place. Serve right away.
Nutrition
Notes
If you're short on time, use store-bought mini pancakes or blinis and skip straight to the guacamole. The blinis can be made a day ahead and kept in an airtight container.
You might also like our Easy Cucumber Salmon Bites.
made these for new years and everybody loved them. i cheated and bought the mini pancakes at the store, still looked super fancy
the blinis were a little tricky, first batch was too thick. once i thinned the batter with a splash of milk they came out great
added a little cilantro to the guac and a squeeze of lime over the shrimp. so good, will def make again