Crepes Three Ways

We served our basic crepes with lemon curd and chocolate ganache. In addition, we made a greens and cheese filling and grilled them for a fun savory twist that can be served as an appetizer, light snack, or main course.

After crepes cool, they can be stacked and stored in fridge for a few days or frozen for a few months. When defrosting, set crepes on a cooling rack to defrost fully before trying to separate. Try adding herbs to your batter for a savory crepe or sweeten them with sugar or honey with cinnamon for dessert crepes.

Basic Crepe Recipe

Yields approximately 8 crepes.

Ingredients:

• 1 c milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c plus 1 T all-purpose flour
• 1/2 T melted unsalted butter, plus additional butter, if needed, to keep crepes from sticking
• 1/2 t salt

1. In a blender, combine milk, egg, flour, the 1/2 T melted butter and, salt - blend until smooth. Refrigerate 2 to 8 hours. Allowing the batter to rest settles the batter to help prevent crepes from tearing. You can start with the batter right away, just be gentle with the crepes while turning.
2. In a crepe pan (nonstick 8-inch pan works) over medium heat, melt 1 t of the butter to coat the pan evenly. Lift the pan at a slight angle and pour at least 2 T of the batter into the center, tilting the pan to spread the batter to the edges.
3. Return the pan to the heat and cook until the crepe is golden underneath, 1 to 2 minutes. You will also notice that the “glisten” from the batter goes dull on top, which is a good sign your crepe is ready to turn.
4. Using a chopstick, gently loosen the sides and flip the crepe over and cook just to finish off the crepe – sometime as little as 30 seconds. Transfer to a plate and cover. Repeat with the remaining batter. (use waxed or parchment paper in between crepes)

We experimented with skim, low-fat, and whole milk. The crepes made with whole milk seemed to be a little more sturdy, although every crepe was eaten with a very satisfied “yum.” If you are watching fat and calories, feel free to use a lower fat milk product. Alternative milks would work as well, such as rice, almond, coconut, or soy milk.

Whenever possible, we incorporated farm fresh eggs for the store bought large eggs. The eggs come in all sorts of beautiful colors and sizes, so we learned to substitute to get the right consistency.

If you like to cook with whole-wheat flour, try going 50/50 the first time and see if you like the texture. If you plan on replacing the entire amount of flour with whole-wheat flour, you may need to add a little more liquid to the batter. We made gluten-free crepes using several different kinds of pre-mixed GF flours and they worked great. If you elect to cook without butter, you can substitute with your preferred cooking oil.