Spring Crêpes Three Ways
Happy Spring, lovelies!
It’s time to break out of our winter food ruts, and I think I have just the thing. Crêpes! They’re light and can be filled with almost anything, but to get your imagination started I’ve created three recipes for you to try.
Now, vegan crepes. They’re not hard once you get the hang of them. The recipe I’m posting here comes from a veganized version of a standard “Eggless Crepe” recipe that’s floating around on the interwebs. I just subbed soymilk and Earth Balance for milk and butter. I also think it needs a little extra water, and I’ll point that out in the recipe below. There is also a really good crêpe recipe in Veganomicon, if you have that cook book, but it calls for chickpea flour. If you have your own favorite recipe, use that! Whatever works for you will work here.
There’s a little video below to get you started if you’re new to crêpes.
The great thing about these is that you can make absolutely everything ahead. They heat up in minutes, so it’s perfect if you’re cooking bunch or lunch for several people who all want different fillings. Simply place the cold crêpe in the pan, put the fillings on top, heat through, and serve. I make extra crêpes and keep them in the fridge for quick meals for the next day or two.
So, the fillings!
Asparagus Hollandaise
Asparagus season is here or will be shortly, and this creamy hollandaise-ish sauce is perfect with spring-tender stalks. I just quickly pan-seared them so they’d have lots of flavor without overcooking them. You can check out my guide to buying and prepping asparagus if you like. The sauce has an almond base, so if you have good blender, you should be able to throw it together in minutes. Nutritional yeast is optional, but it does give it a nice pale yellow color and as well as some flavor. If you leave out the yeast, you might want to add a little turmeric for color.
Wild Mushroom and Wilted Frisée
I’m a sometimes-mushroom person. Sometimes I love them, other times I eat around them. I find the less-common mushrooms to be the tastiest. I used king trumpet and chanterelle mushrooms in this crêpe, and man were they delicious. Morels are coming in season, and they’d be wonderful, too. You’re welcome to use more standard mushrooms if you want (cremini, portabello, button), but these fancier ‘shrooms were a real treat for me. I paired them with some wilted frisée (also called curly endive or chicory). It’s kind of bitter, but seems to mellow out with a quick sauté. It matches the mushrooms perfectly.
Berry Crêpes
I really wanted to use strawberries in this one, but alas, it’s not quite the season for them yet. The ones at my local store looked pretty sad. The raspberries, on the other hand, looked perfect. You can use any berry you like in these, along with a little sugar. The sugar melts a bit, making this crazy-easy dessert really very tasty. If you want, you can put a few tiny chunks of candied ginger in there as well. You don’t need berries at all; my absolute favorite all-time crêpe is a simple crêpe au sucre. Just sugar. Pure and simple.
Basic Crêpes
Makes 8-10
1/2 Cup Soymilk
2/3 Cup Water
1/4 Cup Earth Balance, melted
1 Cup Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1 Tbs Sugar (sweet crepes only, optional)
2 tsp Vanilla Extract (sweet crepes only, optional)
2 Tbs Water, to thin if needed
Place all the ingredients in a blender or in a bowl. Blend or whisk until smooth. Transfer to a 2 Cup measuring cup (for pouring) and refrigerate for 30 minutes. While the batter is refrigerating, prepare your fillings.
Asparagus Hollandaise
Fills 2-3 Crêpes
1/2 Lb Thin Asparagus, trimmed
1 Tbs Earth Balance
1 Pinch Salt
Black Pepper
Heat a large skillet (I used then cast-iron skillet for all of the fillings) over high heat. Add Earth Balance and asparagus. Cook for a few minutes, until asparagus are bright green, tender-crisp, and are browning in spots. Add salt and pepper, set aside.
Hollandaise Sauce
1/2 Cup Sliced Raw Almonds
1/2 Cup Hot Water
2 Tbs Earth Balance
2 tsp Lemon Juice
1/4 tsp Salt
2 Tbs Nutritional Yeast, optional (or 1/4 tsp turmeric for color)
1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard, optional
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until extremely smooth.
Wild Mushroom and Wilted Frisée
Fills 2-3 Crêpes
2 Tbs Earth Balance
1 Cup Chopped Chanterelle Mushroms
1 Cup Chopped Trumpet Mushrooms
1/2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
Salt
2 Sprig Fresh Rosemary, stem removed
1 Cup Chopped Frisée Greens
1-2 Cloves garlic, minced, optional
Slice trumpet mushrooms lengthwise, then lengthwise again.
Add the earth balance to a skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add trumpet mushrooms and saute until beginning to brown. Add chanterelles and rosemary. Turn down heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with a pinch of salt and balsamic vinegar. Remove mushrooms from pan.
Add garlic and sweat until tender. Add greens and cook until just wilted, one to two minutes. Remove and set aside with mushrooms.
Berry Crêpes
Fills 2-3 Crêpes
1/2 Pint Raspberries (or other berries)
Sugar
Berry crêpes are filled while the crêpes are still cooking. Add sugar and berries to the crêpe as soon as it is flipped. See below for more details about cooking the crêpes.
Making Crêpes
So now that you fillings are all prepared, and your crêpe batter has rested and chilled, we’re ready to make crêpes! I’ve made a video that outlines the whole process, but here are a few things you’ll need:
-A non-stick omelet or crêpe pan
-Cooking Spray
-A graduated spatula (the long flat kind you use for frosting cakes), optional
If your batter is too thick when it comes out of the fridge, stir in 2 Tbs of water to loosen it up.
Here’s how:
How to make Crepes from lolo on Vimeo.
Assembling and Serving
So now you have a stack of cooling crêpes and fillings that have gone cold. No worries. You can keep your fillings in a warm oven until you’re ready to serve, or even easier, warm them up with the crêpes at the same time.
When you’re ready to eat, place a crêpe back in a hot skillet (medium heat is fine) and add the fillings you want in the top. Cover the whole thing and wait a few minutes. You want everything to get hot, but you don’t want to cook the crêpe any more than it is. When it’s hot, fold the crêpe in thirds and serve. It should only take 1-2 minutes per crêpe to heat up, so you can make them to order for your friends and family.
Okay! So are you ready to make crêpes? I hope so, because typing the little circumflex is getting really annoying. Making crêpes is much easier than accenting them correctly, I assure you.
oh my God I cannot WAIT to make these.
I’m so disappointed in your crêpe making! Everyone can flip it with the pan if they try. Sure, there’s the fluke flipper that tosses it behind the stove, but even he/she can get it eventually!
Everything else is beautiful, though. ;)
Encouraging proper crêpe-flipping everywhere,
Rachel
Hah, well, flipping is fun, but it doesn’t affect the way the crepe turns out (unless you bungle the flip, which ruins the crepe!). I try to use the easiest methods that still produce good results so the recipe can be successful for as many people as possible. Flipping isn’t necessary, so I didn’t do it! :)
they taste even better than they look.
amazing.
Thanks for the great recipe! Those were the best and thinnest crepes I ever made! (Vegan and non-vegan!)
I have a question that overlaps with Starry’s — does it matter if I keep the batter overnight and make the crepes the next day, or is it better to just make the crepes then and keep ‘em in the fridge?
I’ve never had crepes! These look amazing, perfect for the beginning of spring!
I just discovered your blog last night and LOVE IT. I’ve been a vegan for 4 days, :) so I’m excitedly looking for anyway to still cook all the lovely things I enjoy cooking. I attempted the crepes today and they didn’t flip well and were too moist, which caused them to break and get sticky. Great flavor though! Any suggestions on what I did wrong and how to fix it? Thanks!
Sounds like they were undercooked/the burner wasn’t hot enough. Sorry it didn’t work out! And congrats on going vegan, that’s AWESOME!
These look amazing! I just might have to whip up a batch of gluten-free crepes for myself and my children since we don’t eat gluten due to celiac.
These are a great place to start. Yum.
I made the Asparagus Hollandaise crepes, and they turned out amazing. I ended up using sliced roasted almonds I had on hand and they added a ton of flavor to the sauce. Great idea!!
Wow, those look absolutely delicious!! I can’t wait to get home and make those. :) The asparagus look so yummy, as do the raspberries. My favorite!! I love making crepes.
These look so good, but I’m wondering if there is anything that I could substitute for the frisee in the mushroom crepes. I’m a little scared that I won’t like that because I’ve never had it. Is there anything less adventurous I could put in them?
Sure! Any greens would go great here. Spinach, kale, arugula, just to name a few. Whatever green you like, use that!
Wow! These are perfect! I made the asparagus hollandaise for lunch and it was so easy to follow. Thank you for sharing!
I made the mushroom crepes with spinach instead of frisee and they turned out amazing! Thanks for posting this recipe. :)
Delicious crepes can be combined by some jelly, some butter or some fruits maybe some vegetables , those can be either salad or sweet as you prefer. Definitely those are good for any moment for snack.
Pst, is that Pelle Carlberg playing?
Man, these look amazing! I’ve had vegan crepes before but this recipe looks like it will work better than the one I had. I am trying something similar on my blog too with breakfasty type vegan foods at Awesome Vegan Girl.
What an amazing picture of the asparagus! I was ready to reach through my screen and take a bite of the top! Wonderful site ~
Thanks Lolo…I used the crepes recipe for an easy summer brunch with tofu and veggies I had on hand. I will post some point soon.
The most delicious thing ever. My boyfriend is a huge crepes-lover and he didn’t believe me, when I said I’m able to make the most delightful crepes in the world. Then he tried them and fell in love with the over and over again. It became his favourite sweet dish in our home. Thank you so much for the recipe. It gave me the chance to make the impossible possible. Oh, and I would’ve never tried to eat crepes with asparagus. It’s like the best thing ever. <3
stunning!!!
Lovely pictures!
Tasted great but a tad greasy. Next time I think I will reduce earth balance by half