Buckwheat is delicious and especially when used for these crepes. There are a couple of ways to prepare and use these types of crepes. They depend on whether the crepe is to be used “open faced”, as in the classic galette bretton (“pancake from Brittany”) type crepe dish, or rolled. Since 100% buckwheat flour creates a very friable and delicate crepe, trying to flip these results in torn pieces of crepe. When I was doing the research for these blogs on crepes, I ended up with a bowl full of torn messed up buckwheat crepes before I found the answer. I had wondered why some recipes used 25% buckwheat flour and 75% all-purpose, and others 100% buckwheat, with everything in between. Then I noticed that those recipes that rolled the buckwheat crepes used al-purpose flour and buckwheat flour and it dawned on me that this added the gluten necessary to hold the crepe together so it can be flipped and rolled.
This first recipe uses 100% buckwheat flour and is the classic galette bretonne crepe. The crepe is cooked on only one side, the fillings added and the galette is folded over onto the fillings forming a square. This is the type of crepe I had in St. Barts. Although I give one filling following this recipe, you can use almost anything. Any type of cheese, eggs, ham, bacon, sausage, spinach and other ingredients will all work. Things like sausage and bacon need to be cooked before adding to the crepe.
French galette bretonne Buckwheat crepe
Equipment
- crepe pan
Ingredients
- 2 Eggs large
- 1½ cups whole milk
- 2 TBSP unsalted butter melted
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 cups Buckwheat flour
Instructions
- In one bowl add eggs, milk and butter. Mix thoroughly with a hand held mixer or whisk.
- In another bowl add the buckwheat flour and salt. Whisk well.
- Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Use a hand held mixer or whisk and mix well.
- Let the batter sit for 30 minutes at room temperature.*
- Heat the crepe pan over medium to medium low heat.
- Is using a non-stick pan you do not need grease. If not non-stick use a cooking spray such as PAM.
- Pour about 3-4 ounces of batter onto the hot crepe pan.
- Using the Rateau (crepe spreader), spread the batter around the crepe pan. Continue to spread the wet batter until you have a fairly uniformly thin crepe.
- Fill the crepe as described in the next recipe. Fillings are only limited by your imagination.*
- Once filled and folded, carefully remove the crepe with a large spatula, laying it onto the serving plate.
Notes
The following recipe is simple and has few ingredients. I love onions, and this one includes browned sweet onions. As I said the filling is only limited by your imagination.
Galette bretonne crepe savory filling
Ingredients
- 4 ounces Gruyere cheese grated
- 1 large egg beaten well*
- 1 handful baby spinach
- 1 dollop sour cream
Instructions
- Once you have poured the buckwheat batter onto the crepe pan, add the cheese, leaving a circle of cheese with the middle clear.
- Pour the egg in the clear circle.
- Cook until the cheese melts and the egg sets.
- Add the spinach on top of the egg, then the dollop of sour cream.
- Cook for a few minutes.
- Fold the 4 sides of the galette over forming a rough square. Leave the middle open for a more pleasing presentation.
- Serve.
Notes
French Buckwheat Crepes with All Purpose Flour for Rolling
The buckwheat crepe that can be used for rolling up a filling follows. There is a need, as I said, for gluten to keep the crepe together. This recipe works very well. Again the filling in only limited by your imagination.
French Classic Buckwheat Crepes for Rolling
Equipment
- 1 crepe pan
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1½ cups whole milk
- 2 TBSP melted butter
- ¼ tsp Sea Salt
- ½ cup King Arthur All-Purpose Flour
- ½ cup Buckwheat Flour
Instructions
- In a bowl mix the eggs, milk and melted butter well with a hand held beater or whisk.
- In a seperate bowl, add the all-purpose flour and the buckwheat flour. Whisk it well.
- Mix the flour into the wet ingredients. Whisk this well.
- Let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Whisk the batter each time you are pouring the batter onto the crepe pan.
- For a non-stick pan crepe pan, you don't need the fat.
- Cook the crepe on one side until well browned. Then flip it over and cook the second side until just browning.
- Place the crepes on a plate. If you are going to keep them there for any length of time, place a piece of waxed paper between each crepe. The buckwhest crepes tend to be sticker than the all-purpose flour crepes.
I love onions so the following filling is just onions. Fry them slow until they are well carmelized. They will shrink down significantly, so 2 large sweet or Vidalia onions will shrink down to a little over 1 cup of fried and carmelized onions. Spread a little sour cream on the crepe, top with the onions, roll up and heat in the oven. Then enjoy.
French rolled buckwheat crepe filling: Sweet Onion Filling
Ingredients
- 2 Sweet onions sliced thinly*
- 2 TBSP unsalted butter
- ¼ tsp Kosher salt
- ¼ tsp Freshly ground white pepper
- sour cream about 1 TBSP per crepe
Instructions
- Place the butter in a frying pan and melt. Once melted add the onions.
- Fry the onions until just begining to brown.
- Add the salt and pepper and mix well.
- Place the crepes in the oven until warm.
- Remove the onions from the pan.
- Spread a TBSP of sour cream over the crepe then top with about ¼ cup of the onions. Roll up the crepe.
- Serve immediately if the crepes are hot. You can warm the crepes in the oven at the warming setting. Once warm, fill the crepe, roll up and enjoy.
Notes
The type of filling that can be added to a rolled crepe is, as I have said throughout these blogs, only limited by your imagination. However, I feel there are a few things that result in better dishes. Do not add too much to the crepe. This is true for pizza as well. 3 or 4 ingredients should be a limit for almost all crepes you might make. Adding too much to the filling can overcome the soft taste of the buckwheat, and also hide other tastes of the dish. Further, if you use intense spices, keep these at a minimum as well. Spices such as curry, chilis and others should be used judiciously. These, of course, are my suggestions and you are free to make the spiciest most complex crepes you wish.
