How to Make Crepes & Blintzes

How to Make Crepes & Blintzes

How to make crepes or blintzes. Crepes are adaptable for making an exceptional meal quickly from basic ingredients that you already have on hand.

Have you had one of those company pancake breakfasts where the cook just keeps filling the platter but never gets to sit down to enjoy the meal? The first pancakes get soggy while the next batch is being cooked so there really is no other way to ensure a perfect pancake breakfast, without the cook standing over the griddle. But I have a solution. Make crepes instead.

Crepes allow the cook to join the rest of the family around the table. They are thinner than pancakes, cook faster, and can be made ahead, while the family does the other morning chores. Crepes don’t get less appetizing as they warm in the oven while the rest of the batter is cooked. They can be turned into blintzes or served with fruit toppings, whip cream, and chocolate shavings, like waffles.

What’s the difference between crepes and blintzes?

Crepes are a thin egg-rich pancake and blintzes are filled crepes that are sometimes recooked after filling. Blintzes can be filled with sweet or savoury fillings. Creamy ricotta cheese is a favourite filling but don’t limit your options to just cheese. Since the blintzes are assembled just before serving, everyone can sit down together and enjoy the conversation.

Crepes make a meal that is substantial enough for brunch, company breakfast, or even a breakfast-for-dinner. Why not add crepes and blintzes to your scratch cooking repertoire and make use of this versatile staple?

How to make crepes

The basic recipe for crepes or blintzes is the same. You begin by making a crepe, a thin pancake. If you wish to serve crepes, the thin pancakes are simply topped with fruit, cheese, or whipped cream and served. If you wish to serve blintzes, the topping is put inside the crepe, rather than on top, and the blintz is rolled up. Some refry the filled blintzes to heat the filling and crisp the outside, before serving. That’s an extra step that I didn’t do for this recipe.

Keep in mind that the recipe is very versatile, provided you keep the proportions the same. You can substitute milk, or nut milk for the yogurt, try alternative flours, add lemon zest or another extract for some extra pizazz. Substitute the maple sugar with the same amount of maple syrup, honey, organic sugar or even omit the sweetening. Crepes are as adaptable as tortillas for making an exceptional meal quickly from basic ingredients that you already have on hand.

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Whole wheat crepes recipe

Yield: Makes 8 crepes

Time: Preparation: 5 minutes Cooking time: 20 min.

Ingredients:

4 large eggs

1 cup of yogurt

2 tbsp. melted butter or olive oil

1 cup of whole wheat flour, freshly ground

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tbsp. maple sugar

Method:

In a small bowl combine the eggs and yogurt and beat well to completely combine the eggs into the yogurt. Add the vanilla and maple sugar, and mix well. Add the freshly ground flour and mix well. (here’s the grain mill I used to make the flour). There should be no lumps. (Don’t use self-rising flour in this recipe.) The batter will be very pourable. If you use freshly ground flour, allow the batter to rest for 10 minutes before cooking the crepes. Freshly-ground flour will absorb some of the liquid in the recipe. If you use all-purpose flour you can start cooking the crepes immediately.

Heat a crepe pan or 8 inch skillet over low-medium heat. Add 1 tsp. of coconut oil to the pan. Heat until it sizzles. Drop the batter 1/3 cup at a time into the centre of the skillet. Pick up the frying pan and tilt it back and forth to spread the batter around the pan, thinning out the batter and filling the bottom of the skillet.

Cook briefly until the bottom is golden brown. Flip the crepe and cook the second side until it is lightly brown. Remove from the pan and put into a warming oven. Repeat with the remaining batter adding more oil as necessary, until all the batter has been cooked. Keep them warm until you are ready to assemble the blintzes.

Now let’s turn these basic crepes into an amazing weekend breakfast:

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Recipe: Maple Cheese blintzes with fig and goji berry sauce

Serves 4

Total time: 30 minutes including the time to make the crepes

Ingredients:

8 crepes prepared using the recipe above

 

Filling:

1 ½ cups of ricotta cheese

2 tbsp. Maple Valley organic maple syrup

1 tsp. vanilla

Sauce:

6 Made in Nature Calimyrna figs, chopped

¼ cup Made in Nature goji berries

1 cup of water

 

Topping:

½ cup of Now Foods raw walnuts, toasted briefly

 

Method:

Prepare the crepes according to the above method. Keep crepes warm until you are ready to serve the blintzes. The sauce and the filling can be prepared while you are cooking the crepes.

 

Sauce:

Add chopped figs, goji berries, and water to a small saucepan. Simmer together until most of the water is absorbed by the dried fruit, about 5 minutes.

Filling:

Combine ricotta cheese and maple syrup together into a smooth, creamy texture.

To assemble:

Layout a crepe on a plate. Place two tbsp. of the filling onto the top half of the crepe/blintz. Roll the crepe from the top toward you in jelly-roll fashion. You’ve transformed the crepe into a blintz. Set it on a plate. Repeat. The serving size is two cheese blintzes. Top with fig-goji berry topping. Sprinkle with walnuts for crunch. Serve.

Do you want to make your own ricotta cheese from scratch? Check out my recipe for homemade ricotta cheese.

Other #HotForBreakfast recipes from Joybilee Farm:

Gluten-free cereal with figs and almond butter

Breakfast Muffins:  Maple Walnut and Goji Berry Muffins