Want to know how long it's been since I made crepes? Years!!! My oldest son had to be reminded what a crepe was. Shameful, I know. Since our family started eating gluten free the idea of crepes was just a distant happy memory. I mean seriously, how do you make soft, pliable, delicate, delicious crepes with gritty gluten free flour blends or nut flours?
As it turned out... these grain free, gluten free, Paleo crepes taste just like their gluten-crepe cousins!
Instead of using some complicated, starchy blend or heavy nut flours, I just picked two lightweights. Coconut flour is the dried and ground meat of the coconut - the lightest of the nut flours. However, from my experience coconut flour by itself never works. So I added some arrowroot flour (sometimes called arrowroot starch). Arrowroot is a plant, whose seeds are ground into a fine, powdery flour. It's often used to hold gluten free baked goods together because of it's elastic qualities.
What you end up with is the real thing - crepes!
If you're still wary about making crepes because you can never get them just right...don't worry, the first one (or two in my case) are just for practice. Once you get the hang of it the rest will come out looking good. Besides, they'll taste great no matter what they look like, so just nibble on your...uh..."practice" one while you make the rest. (Speaking from experience.)
To get a nice smooth, even texture - one that will help the crepes look their best and flip the easiest - I whipped all the ingredients in a blender. It will also make them even more light and fluffy.
Another tip is to use an 8" nonstick or cast iron skillet. No matter how much coconut oil you use in a stainless steel, they will still stick! And don't limit yourself to breakfast on these bad boys either. They may make a mean PB&J wrap, but you can also stuff them with chicken salad, ham and cheese, BLT, or whatever else you can dream up.
The Perfect Grain Free Crepes!
Makes about a dozen 8" crepes
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup arrowroot starch/flour
1/8 tsp. finely ground sea salt or pink salt
3/4 cup almond milk or almond coconut milk blend
4 eggs
Coconut oil for the pan
- Add all the ingredients into the blender and pulse until it's completely blended. Heat your pan on med-high for several minutes to be sure it's evenly heated.
- Drop about a 1/2 - 1 teaspoon coconut oil in the pan move it around as it melts.
- Pour about 1/4 - 1/3 cup crepe batter into the hot pan rotating the pan in a circular motion to move the batter, making a thin 6-8 inch layer.
- Cook for about 30 seconds then gently lift one side with a spatula, and using your fingers to help, flip it to the other side and let it cook for another 30 seconds or so.
- Slide onto a plate and repeat the process for the remaining batter.
Serve with any combination you want:
nut butters, fresh fruit, jam, cottage cheese, real maple syrup, whipped coconut cream, or chopped nuts
Enjoy!