Gluten-Free Crepe Recipe (with Chocolate!)

I love to experiment with grains.  The reason?  Well, when I look into my daughter's lunch box, all I see is wheat, wheat and more wheat, and I think, "no wonder there are so many gluten and wheat intolerance's". I truly think we have overdone it. 

Most people that I know who are in their 30s can compare and recall eating all the same snacks and lunches: Ritz crackers, cheese and crackers, peanut butter and jam sandwiches.  But nowadays, there are so many different kinds of snacks on the ever-expanding grocery store shelves, that our children will likely not be able to agree on which snack item was the most popular.  Even all the main brands of cookies and crackers now come in "minis" and are pre-packaged for lunches. 

In addition, our choices are now limited because we can no longer send anything with nuts in it to school (nor anything that "May contain" nuts); so wheat-based products are the easiest option. Also, no one is baking Rice Krispie squares anymore because nearly all the moms are working and have limited time to bake. I work from home and seem to constantly be cleaning, child-rearing or working and I have no time for baking wheat-free snacks except on the weekends.

So I like to change things up on the weekend, and give my kids a breakfast or lunch with non-wheat foods, just to ensure that they are not overdoing it with any one type of grain.

As a result, I have been converting a lot of crepe recipes to 'gluten-free'. Crepes can be made quickly and easily, and the lack of wheat is not noticed by my kids. The best one I found that converted easily to gluten-free was the Homemade Crepes recipe, which was in the Chatelaine Magazine this month (May 2013, Page 109).  The recipe called for all-purpose flour, so I modified the recipe and used a gluten-free flour mix. The results were perfect! The best part about this recipe, was that you could not taste the grittiness that often occurs with gluten-free flour blends because the recipe was rich with eggs and milk (so rich in protein, which is great for the kids!).

RECIPE: Gluten-Free Crepes - All Natural and Delicious!
(adapted from Chatelaine Magazine, May 2013 issue, www.chatelaine.com)

You need:

• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup milk (any percentage - I used skim once and homogenized another time)
• 1/2 cup Gluten-Free Flour Mix (I used a brand called "Purely Bulk", which also has Chia and Sprouted Flaxseed in it or you can use rice flour or spelt flour, which is non-gluten free but still non-wheat)
• 1 tbsp Grapeseed Oil, Canola Oil, or melted butter
• 1 tsp granulated sugar or agave syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions:

1. Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat.

2. Whisk eggs in a medium or large bowl.  Add in the milk, gluten-free flour, oil, sugar and vanilla and whisk or blend with hand mixer until there are no lumps.

3. Pour 1/2 cup batter into the centre of the hot pan.  Immediately spread around into a circle with a spatula or lift the pan and tilt in a circle until you have the shape that you want.

4. Cook only about 30 seconds until edges are lifting from pan and flip.  Cook only another 30 seconds or so until crepe is golden. Transfer to a plate.

5. Once the crepes are all on the plate and somewhat cooled, spread a large circle of chocolate spread (see below for the kind I used) and add a strip of all-natural peanut butter down the centre.  Roll up.  Alternately, use a hazelnut spread like Nutella or PC brand (see below again for comparison of the two brands).

For the chocolate spread, I used President's Choice Dark Chocolate spread - they come in 400 gram jars and the ingredients are pretty natural with no 'modified' or 'hydrogenated' oils and real vanilla extract (no artificial flavour or colours!).  On top of the dark chocolate spread on some of the crepes, I added some MaraNatha No Stir Peanut Butter (this is not a paid plug for them, it is just my FAVOURITE peanut butter EVER and I eat it every day because it is all natural and partially organic and SO smooth). But another choice is the President's Choice Chocolate Hazelnut Spread.  Compared to Nutella, I prefer PC's product because it does not contain any 'modified' oils and it has real Bourbon vanilla. Nutella's ingredients include Modified Palm Oil and Vanillin, which is artificial flavouring. Again, this is not a paid endorsement for PC, my kids liked Nutella so I searched for a healthier solution and PC's Hazenut Spread came out on top with their ingredients.

And of coure, you can always just make this recipe with wheat (just replace the gluten-free flour above with all-purpose flour), and you can also make this a meal by filling the crepes with chicken, lettuce and veggies or an egg and cheese, or whatever you like!

You can contact me at ultimatechocolateblog@gmail.com if you have any questions about the recipe above or feel free to leave a comment below.