Gluten-Free Crepes
Crepes are not only delicious and versatile, making gluten-free crepes is also fast and easy. I love crepes for their versatility — they can elevate almost anything to become an elegant meal. Crepes can also be used to make sweet and savory blintzes, as well as savory Italian Cannelloni.
Crepes are one of my earliest food memories from when I was a small child living in Rockland County, New York, in the 1970s. The Paramus Mall was about 1o minutes from where we lived, and they had a crepe restaurant there. On occasion, my parents would take us there. I can still remember my favorites were the ham and cheese crepes for dinner, and, for dessert, they had crepes that were filled with a long solid block of vanilla ice cream and topped with fresh strawberries. I was in heaven.
Gluten-Free Crepe Cooking Tips
Cooking gluten-free crepes is really no different than cooking ‘regular’ crepes. You can use a special crepe pan or any nonstick eight to 10-inch sauté pan or frying pan. The trick is to heat your pan slowly and evenly, lightly coat with butter, and cook until the crepe is set and the edges are just starting to brown. You will know it’s ready to flip when there is no more sheen on the top, and you can pick it up to flip. You barely need to cook the second side; in fact, some chefs don’t.
As with all of my recipes, this recipe will work with any 1:1 gluten free flour blend, such as King Arthur Measure for Measure, Better Batter, Cup4Cup, Bob’s Red Mill, Presidents Choice, Doves Farm or either of my copycat 1:1 flour blend recipes.
Fillings
Savory Crepe Ideas:
Ham & cheese
Mushrooms in cream sauce
Spinach & cheese
Tomato basil & cheese
Thanksgiving leftovers
Smoked salmon, cream cheese and capers
Braised short rib
Sweet Crepe Ideas:
Jam
Sugar & butter
Nutella & banana
Peanut butter and anything
Sauteed fruit
Ice cream topped with fruit
Greek yogurt & fruit
Cinnamon sugar
Lemon juice & confectioners’ sugar
Lemon curd
Whipped mascarpone
Pie filling
Ingredients
- 200 grams eggs (4 large)
- 240 grams milk (or plant milk)
- 120 grams 1:1 gluten-free flour blend
- Butter as needed for the pan
- pinch salt*
- 1 tablespoon sugar* (if making sweet crepes, optional)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla* (if making sweet crepes, optional)
Instructions
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Combine the eggs, milk and flour, and whisk until everything is uniformly combined with no lumps.
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Let the batter rest for half an hour, uncovered, at room temperature (or up to one day, covered and refrigerated).
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Depending on which flour you use, the batter may thicken. If it thickens so much that you cannot easily swirl in the pan, you can thin it with a little milk.
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Heat your pan over medium-low heat. Add a little butter, enough to cover the pan with a thin coat. Pour in just enough batter to coat the bottom as you tip and tilt the pan (about ⅓ cup). Alternately you can use a crepe spreader if you have one.
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Allow the crepe to cook for a minute or so, untouched, until it's set. Then gently turn it, and briefly cook the other side. It only needs 10 seconds or so. If, after cooking the first crepe, you would like them to be thinner, add a little milk to the batter until you have the consistency you like.
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Turn them out onto a plate, and hold at room temperature, covered, for up to several hours.
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Fill, and serve as desired.
Recipe Notes
* If you're going savory, you can add ½ teaspoon of salt (and you can replace the milk with chicken stock or water, if you wish). If you're making sweet crepes, add one tablespoon of sugar and ½ teaspoon of vanilla (or any other extract you like).