The bananas whispered to me, "Make me into crêpes." (Yes, I will use the circumflex. It's not everyday that I get to use it corrêctly.)
At first, I was really apprehensive. I recently had a bout of stomach issues. (Some how I ingested some gluten. I don't know what for sure, but my body let me know that I definitely DID.) So the idea of me eating some possibly heavy deterred me.
I'm so glad I changed my mind.
Please note that, in my first crêpe batter, I dealt with my botched ATK flour mixture. I actually had switched the amounts of tapioca flour and potato starch around. While that didn't dramatically change the taste and texture of my food, I noticed the batter was a lot clumpier. Not massive chunks, but little bits of misshapen globules that was residue in my mixing bowl. It made me wonder if the melted butter was too hot and cooked the eggs.
Those two ingredients--the eggs and the melted butter-- are the most fickle yet most important ingredients for making these crêpes.
The eggs, along the the milk (it calls for whole milk, but it easily works with 2%), will be separate from the dry ingredients and well incorporated with each other.
Then! The butter has to be melted, and that always takes finessing. First, make sure to have the butter sitting out to slowly warm up. The less time that the butter can spend in the microwave, the better. I usually have to do about 20 seconds in the microwave, and then stir up the rest of the remaining clumps with the remaining heat of the melted butter. But don't put that in yet! No no no no. There's a process. There's this fine line between hot liquid and clotted too-cool-for-the-room butter.
You pour in half the liquid into the dry ingredients, stir that around (no clumps), THEN you add the melted but cooled butter, stir that around (no clumps), and finally adding in the rest of the of the liquid (no clumps!). Actually, I've yet to have a batter that hasn't had residue. It may just be the nature of the crêpes. I'll keep working on it.
The heat from the skillet is such a hard thing to get right. You don't want to wait forever with little heat, but if too hot, the crêpe will turn into a brown crispy frisbee. Like a pancake, you want to look for those slightly browning edges before you flip the crêpe over. Also, I don't know if this is the same with others' batters as well, but the batter will become a little translucent as it's cooking on the other side after I've flipped it. When it's more translucent, that's usually the cue that both sides are done.
So far, I've yet to have a bad combination with crêpes. And that's saying a lot!
Here are some of the combos I've done:
This recipe is definitely a keeper.
Those two ingredients--the eggs and the melted butter-- are the most fickle yet most important ingredients for making these crêpes.
The eggs, along the the milk (it calls for whole milk, but it easily works with 2%), will be separate from the dry ingredients and well incorporated with each other.
Then! The butter has to be melted, and that always takes finessing. First, make sure to have the butter sitting out to slowly warm up. The less time that the butter can spend in the microwave, the better. I usually have to do about 20 seconds in the microwave, and then stir up the rest of the remaining clumps with the remaining heat of the melted butter. But don't put that in yet! No no no no. There's a process. There's this fine line between hot liquid and clotted too-cool-for-the-room butter.
You pour in half the liquid into the dry ingredients, stir that around (no clumps), THEN you add the melted but cooled butter, stir that around (no clumps), and finally adding in the rest of the of the liquid (no clumps!). Actually, I've yet to have a batter that hasn't had residue. It may just be the nature of the crêpes. I'll keep working on it.
 |
| First try |
 |
| Looking nice! |
 |
| Getting warmer |
The heat from the skillet is such a hard thing to get right. You don't want to wait forever with little heat, but if too hot, the crêpe will turn into a brown crispy frisbee. Like a pancake, you want to look for those slightly browning edges before you flip the crêpe over. Also, I don't know if this is the same with others' batters as well, but the batter will become a little translucent as it's cooking on the other side after I've flipped it. When it's more translucent, that's usually the cue that both sides are done.
So far, I've yet to have a bad combination with crêpes. And that's saying a lot!
Here are some of the combos I've done:
- bananas and peanut butter
- bananas and nutella
- bananas, nutella, pecans and a little cinnamon
- strawberries and nutella
This recipe is definitely a keeper.
Oh! I forgot to mention how they tasted! Those crêpes were light, yet filling. The batter was thin with a slight crunch. The crêpes didn't feel like folded pancakes; they didn't overwhelm the filling. Some of my friends thought the gluten-free crêpes that they had were better than others with flour. They said the gluten-free crêpes didn't have that "gummy quality" to them, but still had substance. Success!
ReplyDeleteI love savory crepes! My favorite is sautéed chicken and vegetables. I usually use mushrooms and just barely warmed up spinach. Then I drizzle a little aioli sauce with a touch of lemon. Soooo good!!!
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