Crêpes are fancy, delicious and easier to make than you might think. The real secret behind making perfect pancakes à la France, is RELAX!
Seriously. Someone should have told me to relax over the weekend when my freak out resulted in tears sizzling on a hot pan. My crêpes kept tearing and sticking, until I finally broke down, dropped to my knees and screamed, “It’s not possible! Vegan crêpes can’t be done! Damn you eggs!!”
Um, I might be slightly exaggerating, but there were some tears. In my clouded, panicked thinking I was trying to force my crêpes to flip before they were ready. So the second secret to perfect crêpes, is you’ve got to listen to your crêpes, people. They’ll tell you when they’re ready.
I filled these babies with caramelized bananas, but the options are endless. From plain old jam to exotic homemade hazelnut spread (the vegan’s Nutella), you can basically put anything in a crêpe and it will turn out delicious.
If you’re having a savory crêpe craving, omit the maple syrup and vanilla from this recipe and stuff with lentils or asparagus or anything else your heart desires!
Ingredients
Makes 12 crepes, serves 4
Crêpes
1 cup nondairy milk
1 cup water
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 small pinch kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons corn starch or arrowroot
Banana Filling
4 ripe bananas
4 tablespoons nondairy butter
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon rum
Method:
To make the batter, whisk together all the wet ingredients in a large bowl. Add the dry ingredients and whisk until everything is well combined. Get all the lumps out!
Heat a large pan over medium heat until hot. Using a pastry brush or wadded up piece of paper towel, paint the bottom of the pan with a thin layer of oil.
Pour ¼ cup of batter in the center of the pan. Swirl the pan with your wrist until you have a thin, wide somewhat circular shape. Or, using the back of a spoon spread the batter making concentric, circular movements as you inch towards the edge of the pan.
Allow the crepe to cook until the top looks dry and the edges start to pull away from the pan slightly, about 60 to 90 seconds. Carefully flip the crêpe with a large spatula, and cook for another 45 seconds. If the crêpe begins to tear or doesn’t release right away, let the first side cook for a little longer before attempting to flip.
Continue the process until all the batter is used.
While your crêpe-ing away, heat another large saucepan over medium heat. Slice bananas into half-inch coins. Add butter and sugar into the pan, and allow them to melt for one minute. Add in bananas and stir continuously for two minutes being extra careful not to burn the sugar. Take off the heat and stir in rum.
Spoon a few tablespoons of the banana mixture onto a crepe and roll into a cigar or fold in half and then in half again.
Top with strawberries, or a dusting of icing sugar, or chocolate sauce, or all three!
Images © Yvonne Penzakov for BitchBuzz.com