BUCKWHEAT CREPES
Vegan Buckwheat Crepes
Are you a crepe or pancake person? I admit I am on the fence - that means I’ll take whichever you give me, they make me equally happy. The other members of my household are French Crepes voters, so I tend to make these more often than the American style pancakes.
Admittedly, when you talk about pancakes, the small and fluffy version is often more revered. Is that because a pile of pancakes, stacked high with sauce being poured from the top, is so much more instagrammable? Maybe. But let’s face it, the French Crepe is just as delicious, and don’t we all enjoy adding our favourite fillings and then rolling them up and biting into a smorgasbord of flavours, with sugar or chocolate sauce dripping off both ends.
FLOUR
This recipe uses buckwheat flour, thus making the crepes gluten free. You can substitute with other flours, but they may not be gluten free anymore.
BATTER
Ingredients are very similar for both, only that the Crepe batter needs to have more liquid and thus be runnier, which will allow us to spread it wider and thinner in the pan. Crepe batter also doesn’t requite any rising agent like baking powder.
Personally I do not add any sugar to the batter as there tend to be enough sweet things piled on top of the finished Crepe, but that is a personal preference.
TIPS AND TRICKS
A comment I often hear is that ‘the first one never works out’ - I believe there are two reasons for it:
Firstly, I think we are often not patient enough (yes, I am including myself here!) and we pour the batter into the pan when it is not hot enough, and then we try to flip the crepe over too early. So be patient - let the pan heat up just that little bit longer and wait just a minute or two longer before you flip the crepe over.
Secondly it is also important to grease your pan a little before you start. For this reason, some of the oil in the recipe is actually for greasing the pan.
Good news if you want to make this for breakfast - you can in fact make the batter ahead and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days. Take it out an hour before preparing the Crepes, and give the batter a good stir before you start.
Want to make a batch before everyone arrives at the table? No problem. Place the finished Crepe between baking paper and cover with kitchen towel so they won’t stick together. You can also then place the platter with the finished Crepe in between paper in the oven at a low heat of 50C/120F.
Made too many? Doesn’t usually happen in my house, but if it does, I place the Crepes in between sheets of baking paper like above and then into a zip lock bag, which goes flat into the freezer. To defrost, simply take them out, let defrost at room temperature (usually only takes a few minutes) and then heat them up in a hot pan for 2 minutes from each side.
TOPPING
Let your imagination run wild here. Classic French options are of course sugar or Nutella (have you even been to France if you haven’t ordered “Une Crêpe au Nutella s‘il vous plait”?). Fruit, yoghurt, maple syrup, jam, chocolate sauce, nut butter, icing sugar, pumpkin puree are just some ideas. Add chopped nuts or seeds. Or maybe you prefer savoury Crepes? I’ll let you decide, the recipe does not contain sugar so you can use it for both sweet and savoury versions. If you make them, I would love to know your favourite way of eating them below.
Buckwheat Crepes with Berries
Vegan Buckwheat Crepes
Ingredients
- 120g buckwheat flour
- Pinch of salt
- 2 chia eggs
- 250ml plant milk
- 70ml water
- 25ml vegetable oil
Instructions
- Sift the flour into a bowl, add in the salt.
- Make a well in the middle and add your chia eggs. Mix well.
- Gradually add in the milk and water mix and whisk well.
- Stir in the oil.
- Optional: Add in sweetener and vanilla extract.
- Leave to stand for 10-15 minutes.
- Lightly grease a 9" non-stick pan and heat over medium to high heat. When the pan is relatively hot, ladle about 1/4 cup of batter into the middle of the pan. Swirl the pan to distribute all the batter evenly.
- Cook for about 3-4 minutes. Flip over and cook for 2 minutes from the other side.
- Stack the pancakes between baking paper and cover with kitchen paper to keep warm. Best enjoyed right after preparation.
Notes:
You can use regular flour or spelt flour instead of buckwheat flour. Ideally use a neutral oil in order not to add any extra flavour to the batter.
Buckwheat Crepes Pinterest Pin