The Gluten-Free Buckwheat Crepes You Will Want To Make Every Weekend

Danny teases me that I get crushes on grains and flours. It’s true. Teff, millet, and oats — I’ve gone through love affairs with all of them. But buckwheat is my enduring love (as a flour, of course). The raw groats make for a nutty-flavored flour with some of the same qualities as wheat.

I don’t know why everyone is not in love with buckwheat. In the northern part of Maine, Americans who are descendants of French colonists still prize buckwheat highly.

These crepes are a wonderfully easy way to start the day with a savory breakfast. (Thank you to David Lebovitz, my favorite Parisian resident, for the inspiration for this recipe.)

Serves 4

Preparation

1. Make the batter. Add all the ingredients to a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour the batter into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and chill. For best results, chill the batter overnight.

2. Prepare to make the crepes. The next morning, remove the batter from the refrigerator. Let it sit on the counter and come to room temperature, about 45 minutes. Stir up the batter. It should have the consistency of heavy cream or well-stirred coconut milk. If the batter is thicker than this at room temperature, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of milk.

3. Cook the crepes. Set a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. When the pan has come to heat, add a tiny amount of fat — less than a teaspoon — to the pan and wipe it over the entire surface of the pan.

4. Pour about ¼ cup of the batter into the middle of the pan, then lift the pan off the heat to swirl the batter around to cover the entire surface of the pan. You should have just enough time to coat the pan evenly with batter before it starts cooking. Let the crepe cook for 1 minute, then lift up an edge with a rubber spatula. Flip the crepe with the spatula. As you feel more experienced, you can simply use your fingers to grab the crepe and flip it. Cook for 30 seconds on the other side.

5. Serve the crepes. Slide the crepe off the pan and repeat the process with the remaining crepe batter until they are all cooked. Serve the crepes immediately.

6. We like to fill ours with Gruyère and a little prosciutto. You might like sauerkraut and some scrambled egg. Really, a crepe is the perfect container for your favorite food. If you want sweet crepes, add a couple of teaspoons of honey to the batter before you set it in the refrigerator.

Feel like playing?

If you have whole buckwheat groats, you can use those here in place of the flour. Put the whole groats in the blender with the other ingredients and let them sit in the blender overnight. In the morning, the groats will be so soft that you can blend up the batter on the spot.

Grain-Free Flour Mix

Some folks who are gluten-sensitive find that they do better without grains at all. There’s no need to fear you will never eat banana bread again. We have a grain-free mix for you.

Makes 1 kilogram (approx. 2 pounds)

Preparation

Put the flours and starch in the bowl of a food processor or stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Whirl them together until they are one color. You now have a flour blend. Store it in a large jar or container. You can now make any recipe in the book below.