Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Gluten Free Crepes

Monday is usually grocery day for me. I was meandering through the aisles, checking out the produce... and what did I see? Strawberries! Apparently, it is strawberry season in California. :) I am still looking at over 2 feet of snow outside my window. Seeing those strawberries gave me a glimmer of hope that someday winter will end, and I will be picking my own strawberries - in about 5 months. Agh! I can't wait that long for fresh strawberries! So, I picked out a container of plump, juicy, red berries. They looked great, and I couldn't wait to figure out what to do with them.


We were watching the food channel (a popular one here), and someone said something abut crepes. My husband is worse than a pregnant woman when it comes to cravings. If someone mentions any food, he's got to have it. Well, I jumped online to search 'gluten free crepes' ('cause there's no wheat flour allowed here!) I don't know what I'd do without the internet. I found a recipe, threw it together in my blender and put the blender in the refrigerator so it was all ready for morning. Seriously took me 5 minutes.

I cooked them up in my little cast iron skillet the next morning. A smear of chocolate pudding, a pile of strawberries, a sprinkle of powdered sugar to make it pretty, and you have one awesome breakfast! :)

Gluten Free Crepes
1 1/4 cups milk (coconut or almond milk)
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons melted butter OR coconut oil
1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour mix **
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder

** gluten-free flour mix- 1 cup brown rice flour, 1 cup sorghum flour, 2/3 cup potato starch, 1/3 cup tapioca starch.

Crêpe Batter- Pour milk, egg, melted butter OR coconut oil and vanilla into a blender pitcher or a medium mixing bowl. Whisk the dry ingredients together and add to the blender or mixing bowl. Blend or whisk just until combined and smooth. The batter should be the consistency of thin pancake batter. Add more milk, one teaspoon at a time if the batter is too thick.

To Cook Crêpes- Heat a low-sided 8-inch skillet or crêpe pan over medium high heat. Add 1/4 teaspoon oil to the skillet and brush to coat the bottom of the skillet. (Do this before making each crêpe) Pour 1/4 cup of batter into the heated skillet. Swirl the skillet until the bottom of the pan is covered with batter. 
 
Cook the crepe for about 1 minute- the crepe should be barely moist on top. You'll want to try to flip it sooner, but DON'T! Let it get nice and brown, or it'll flop instead of flip.

Use a thin spatula to loosen the edges of the crêpe, slide the spatula under the crêpe and gently flip it upside down.

Cook for about one more minute, just until golden and transfer crêpe to a cooling rack or plate. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Now, you can do whatever you like with it. Slather a pile of them with butter and real maple syrup, or spread it with jam, spread with peanut butter or Nutella (yum!), throw a banana in there and roll it up. Saute some onions and mushrooms for a scrumptious savory crepe! The possibilities are nearly endless! Here's what I did:
chocolate pudding...!
fold...

fold again...

make another one!

make it pretty and take a picture! :)


These were SO EASY to make! I'm going to add these into my necessary cooking list. I think they're better than tortillas. Roll them up with ham and cheese, or peanut butter and jelly, or peanut butter and banana (my kids loved this one!)

A couple of notes: Make sure your pan is nice and hot before you start. I didn't have to grease my pan in between crepes (gotta love cast iron!) I used a muffin scoop to ladel the batter. I got 12 crepes with this recipe. Right after you drop the batter in, you have to swirl the batter around the pan. Do it gently, and keep rotating the pan until the batter kind of 'dries up' and you can't swirl it any more. And if the first one flops, keep trying, you'll get it. Make sure to let it cook really well on the first side. If you try to flip it before it's ready it will tear all apart and make a mess - let it cook a little longer. It will let you know when it's ready.

Happy crepe making!

5 comments:

  1. yum Karen this looks amazing.... might have to go gluten free here too lol. keep on writing.

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  2. Yummy! Those look amazing Karen! So glad you made a blog too, now I can feel more connected to you from "afar". Love ya and miss ya lots!! Aunty <3

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  3. Hey Karen, Just read all your entries! Love the blog. An inside look at a wonderful Wife and Mom! God is really blessing you in your endeavor, keep it up. By the way I love the pillows! They are so cute. Love to you all! your other Auntie!

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  4. Thanks, it means a lot! It's good to be 'connected'. Miss you all. :) Love your blog too, MaineFarmGirl! ;)

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