Every Saturday, without fail, we make a stack of buckwheat crepes for a morning feast. What was once a ‘special’ day tradition reserved for birthdays and Christmas has become our weekly ritual to welcome us to the start of the weekend.
Crepes are really quite quick and easy to make once you get the hang of them. The batter should be thin enough to swirl easily around the pan, which also makes the crepes light and lacy. Watching and waiting until the batter has just turned opaque lets you know the perfect time to flip them. A little butter between each crepe keeps things moving smoothly.
I always like to make more crepes than we really need which means you can have a delicious, almost instant breakfast on Sunday or Monday morning too; plus a couple of tightly rolled crepes spread thinly with a little nut butter or jam make an excellent lunchbox addition for Monday morning tea – not having to think about what to pop in the lunchboxes on a Monday morning is a present I really appreciate giving myself every week.
My favourite buckwheat crepe recipe has evolved over the years into this one, which makes a thin, delicate crepe that is easy to roll and light to eat. We fill the table with yoghurt, fresh berries or berry compote, all the jars of jam and always, always a jar of our favourite homemade chocolate hazelnut butter all served a few hearty cups of tea.
Pop on some jazz and settle in; there’s no better way to start the weekend.
Saturday Morning Buckwheat Crepes
I thoroughly recommend using two frying pans to cook the crepes, which halves your cooking time and gets you feasting at the table ASAP. With a little practice it’s quite easy to get into a rhythm alternating pans – while one is cooking you can be buttering and swirling the batter in the other.
My Saturday morning life is better with a crepe pan; I have a steel one which is light and easy to swirl – my second pan is just our usual, small sized frying pan which does the job nicely enough too.
Exactly how much batter to use for each crepe will depend on the size of your pan, the thinness of your batter and how quick you are to swirl – practise makes perfect and the more crepes you make the easier it becomes.
Use a little more or a little less water depending on how thin you would like your crepe batter to be. I find it more reliable getting a delicate crepe with a thinner batter, which seems to make swirling the batter around the pan that bit easier.
For each crepe I use ladle filled to about a third with batter , which would be somewhere around 1/3 cup per crepe. Experiment with how much batter feels right to you and you will get to know exactly how much to use for your perfect crepe.
Keep any extra crepes covered on a plate in the fridge for 3 – 4 days; they can be reheated very quickly in a pan (10 seconds on each side will do) to make them warm, pliable and ready to roll again.
Makes around 18 x 18cm diameter crepes which feeds a family of four handsomely on a Saturday morning with enough crepes leftover to welcome you into the week with a few leftovers.
You can increase the recipe in 1/3 increments (extra 1/2 cup flour, 1 egg, 1/2 cup water, 1/3 cup milk) to make even more, or double the recipe if you are feeding a crowd.
1 1/2 cups (270g) light buckwheat flour
3 large eggs
1 1/2 – 1 3/4 cups (360 – 420ml) water
1 cup (240ml) whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
butter for greasing the crepe pans
Whisk together all the ingredients in a large bowl until completely smooth – if you are having trouble getting rid of any lumps you can use a hand-held stick blender to make the mixture smooth, or make the mixture in a blender.
Heat one or two small frying pans over medium heat until hot. Turn your kitchen exhaust fan on, if you have one, or open a window – cooking crepes can get a little bit smoky while you get the temperature of the pans and your rhythm just right..
Once the frying pans are hot use a butter knife to smear a little butter over the base of each frying pan – a little swipe each time should be enough. Use a ladle to pour some of the batter into the hot frying pan and immediately swirl around the pan to the edges – it should almost cook on contact.
Place the pan back on the heat and allow to cook until the crepe looks opaque all over, around 30 – 35 seconds. Run a silicone spatula around the edge of the crepe to loosen, then flip the crepe and cook on the other side for around 5 – 10 seconds. Slide onto a warm plate and repeat the process until all the batter is used up.
Serve with your favourite toppings such as vanilla yoghurt and some quick berry compote, a wedge of lemon and a little sugar, caramelised banana and sour cream, or any and all of your favourite jams.
A delicious, easy feast you can cook yourself every weekend. Whisk together all the ingredients in a large bowl until completely smooth – if you are having trouble getting rid of any lumps you can use a hand-held stick blender to make the mixture smooth, or make the mixture in a blender. Heat one or two small frying pans over medium heat until hot. Turn your kitchen exhaust fan on, if you have one, or open a window – cooking crepes can get a little bit smoky while you get the temperature of the pans and your rhythm just right.. Once the frying pans are hot use a butter knife to smear a little butter over the base of each frying pan – a little swipe each time should be enough. Use a ladle to pour some of the batter into the hot frying pan and immediately swirl around the pan to the edges – it should almost cook on contact. Place the pan back on the heat and allow to cook until the crepe looks opaque all over, around 30 - 35 seconds. Run a silicone spatula around the edge of the crepe to loosen, then flip the crepe and cook on the other side for around 5 - 10 seconds. Slide onto a warm plate and repeat the process until all the batter is used up. Serve with your favourite toppings such as vanilla yoghurt and some quick berry compote, a wedge of lemon and a little sugar, caramelised banana and sour cream, or any and all of your favourite jams. • gluten free • cooking with kids • weekend ritual •Saturday Morning Buckwheat Crepes
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