Gluten Free Buckwheat Crepes

We have always liked making crepes, but to make a gluten free version was more than just simply swapping out flour with buckwheat. It required quite a few experiments and the end result is a straight-forward recipe that requires only four ingredients. That's right FOUR! Unlike other gluten-free recipes that use xanthan or guar gum, this recipe is really simple in terms of ingredients and steps. The basic ingredients are just: Milk, Eggs, Buckwheat Flour, and Oil. That's it!

This recipe is based on a volumetric ratio instead of a weight-based ratio. That means you don't need to use a scale. Instead, just half an egg shell and a 1/4 measuring cup will do. See what we mean in the video that we created below:

Gluten Free Buckwheat Crepes Recipe

Yield: 3 eggs made 9 crepes (the size of a dessert plate).

Time: 30-45 minutes

Crepe Ingredients:

• 3 Eggs
• 2% Milk
• Vegetable Oil
• Approx. 1/4 Cup Light Buckwheat flour
• ChocoVine (Optional - used for flavouring. Other flavourings such as Grand Marnier or a tablespoon of vanilla extract can also be used)

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Instructions

1. Crack eggs into bowl.
2. Reserve one half of an egg shell.
3. Fill the half egg shell with milk and pour into the bowl.
4. Repeat the previous step 5 more times.
5. Fill one half egg shell with oil and pour into the bowl.
6. Beat the egg, milk and oil together until well combined.
7. Pour about 1/4 Cup of buckwheat flour into the mixture and whisk well.
8. Pour in 1 shot glass of Chocolate ChocoVine (this is optional).
9. You may need to add a bit more flour (by the teaspoon) until the mixture is thick enough and flows a bit slower than water (like oil).
10. Heat up a small frying pan or skillet (we used an 8 inch one) on low-medium heat.
11. Add half a teaspoon of oil to the frying pan.
12. Use a paper towel to evenly spread the oil around (even if using a non-stick pan, it is advisable to coat the pan).
13. Mix crepe batter again to make sure that the buckwheat has not sunk to the bottom.
14. Scoop 1/4 cup of batter into the frying pan. If you see the batter vigorously sizzling initially, than the pan is too hot. Remove the pan from heat for a few minutes and turn down the heat.
15. While batter is still runny, tilt the pan around in order to evenly spread the batter.
16. The crepe is ready to be flipped when the edges of the crepe lift up a bit or the top surface of the crepe is almost dry.
17. Cook for another 10-15 seconds and remove crepe from pan.
18. Repeat steps 12 through 17 until all the batter is used.

Butter Sauce

We also wanted to try our hand at making a crepe cake and then drizzle butter sauce on top. A quick short story: our initial trial of a butter sauce recipe ended in a disaster as one of the recipes we tried involved mixing in egg yolk into hot melted butter! You can imagine what was the end result - buttered scrambled eggs instead of a sauce! The following recipe is not only easier but tasty without any scrambled egg bits. 

Butter Sauce

Yield: Approx. 1/4 cup of sauce

Time: 10 minutes

Crepe Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons of Butter
• 2 Tablespoons of Cream
• 4 Tablespoons of Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon of Vanilla ChocoVine (Optional - used for flavouring, you could use another liqueur such as Grand Marnier, or a tablespoon of vanilla extract)

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Instructions

1. In a small pot at low heat melt butter, sugar, and cream. 
2. Add in 1 tablespoon of the Vanilla ChocoVine (optional).
3. Stir until well combined.

You can assemble the crepes into a stack like we did and then pour the butter sauce on top. In terms of taste, there is no grassy taste of buckwheat. The crepes are super soft and flexible as you can see in the video and in the photos. You could also choose to spread nutella between each crepe layer and then pour the butter sauce on top, but we opted for just the butter sauce this time. The buttersauce with the addition of the vanilla ChocoVine wasn't too sweet or heavy, it still maintained its butteriness while giving you a hint of vanilla chocolate and white wine.  

Also, visit my last post about ChocoVine Pot de Crème for a delicious recipe and a ChocoVine giveaway! You can never go wrong with chocolate!