A little over one year ago I shared my recipe for making French crepes (I’m so happy that it has become one of the most popular recipes on my blog — it’s has over 18,000 Pins!!) and today I’d like to share with you another take on the traditional crepe. This new flat pancake recipe is made using a mix of whole grain oat flour and fine hemp flour. I’ve previously shared my love and recipes for both of these super healthy and nutritious flours. You can read all about hemp flour here and these are some recipes using oat flour.
I created this wheat free (gluten-free) crepe recipe because after having to basically omit wheat from my diet, I wasn’t happy about not being able to eat as many (wheat) crepes as I wanted. While I still occasionally make a batch of wheat crepes these hemp-oat ones have been satisfying me and leaving my belly quite content. They differ in taste and slightly in texture, but I never complain. The process for my hemp-oat crepes is similar to the wheat ones: the ingredients are measured, mixed well, allowed to sit and then the batter is swirled onto a hot crepe pan that has been coated with melted butter, and the crepes are cooked to perfection. Just like both of my wheat and buckwheat crepes, these too can be filled with any of your favourite sweet or savoury fillings.
As someone that has to be careful about simple carbs and starch intake, this crepe recipe is perfect. Though oats are starchy, the whole grains and even regular oats are slowly digested and this avoids blood sugar spikes. If you do a quick gluten-free crepe recipe you’ll find that so many of them are made using any or a combination of starchy and simple carbohydrate flours like corn starch, potato starch, rice flours, tapioca flour, and/or arrowroot flours. The sad thing about all of those flours is that they are nothing but simple starches, which your body converts to glucose which can then get converted to extra fat that your body won’t burn up. Did I mention how bad these simple starch flours are for your blood sugar? It’s not something many think about but we all should — specially if you are diabetic, have prediabetes or suffer from reactive hypoglycaemia.
Ok let’s get cooking!
- 80 gm whole grain oat flour (the one I use has a slight coarse texture)
- 1 tbsp or 10 gm hemp flour
- pinch of sea salt
- 1 medium egg weighing about 60 gm
- 75 ml or ¼ cup whole fat milk
- 75 ml or ¼ cup water
- butter
- crepe pan or frying pan sized 21cm or 8.25 in crepe pan
- Eggs
- hot sauce
- I like to use a stick blender for these crepes. First, crack the egg into the stick blender container, on top of it add the flours, salt, milk and water. Blend until well combined. Allow to sit for 10 minutes.
- Heat the crepe pan or regular pan over medium high heat, melt a little bit of butter, just enough to lightly coat. Scoop batter into a ladle, pour it into center of pan. Lift the pan and swirl the batter until you've created an even sized circle. Cook until the crepe begins to come away from the pan's edge. Flip and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. The crepe will be slightly crispy around the edges, cooked through and browned slightly. Remove from pan, set aside and continue making crepes until all batter has been used up. Add a little more butter to the pan if needed.
- Serve with a fried egg in the center for a Meatless breakfast, lunch or dinner. Additionally a sweet filling may also be used to create breakfast or dessert.
As I previously stated, these crepes are not the traditional French pancake but they are still great tasting. The funny thing is that while the butter is melting and cooking the crepes it smells exactly as the regular wheat ones. I love that the nutty tastes of these hemp-oat flour crepes compliments perfectly with a fried egg or with a fruit filling. These delicious hemp-whole grain oat flour crepes won’t spike your blood sugar but they will spike your tastebuds and leave your belly very happy. You simply must give this recipe a try to see for yourself. Enjoy!
Come back tomorrow for a fun giveaway and check out the archives for more Meatless Monday recipes.
Fabulous crêpes! An original combination of ingredients. I’d love to try experimenting with hemp flour…
Cheers,
Rosa
Thank you Rosa! I hope you can give hemp flour a try, it’s such a great ingredient to eat and to experiment with. Enjoy:)
This is definitely my type of breakfast! These crepes sound really healthy. Never tried hemp flour before, I will search for it here. I’m not sure if I can find it though.
Thanks and enjoy Zerrin!
Never tried hemp flour. Wondering if the texture of the crepe changes with this type of flour. Your pics look great…and I’m eyeballing your book for some pointers.
Hi Shana! The hemp is very fine flour with no gluten so it won’t bind like other flours. The oat flour doesn’t have gluten but it does bind better than hemp — the egg helps with the binding of the flours. Because this is not a wheat crepe the texture is thicker (denser) than ordinary crepes. Regardless, they are still quite tasty!:)
Delicious looking meatless dish!
Thank you!:)
Even though they are the traditional French crepes, they still prove that you make the most beautiful crepes. These are hearty but yet delicate. You’re right – all they need is an egg and a little hot sauce and the orange color of those yolks tell me we’re talking free range, natural feed chickens. :) Love this breakfast!
Aw,thank you so much MJ!:) I agree, just an egg and hot sauce is all one needs for these crepes.
I always prefer a savory breakfast over a sweet one, and this would be perfect! Great info on the various gluten free ingredients as well – I do have to watch out for stuff that makes my blood sugar spike, so I am just getting into finding subs like this – thanks!
Hi Donalyn,
I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one who prefers a savoury breakfast. So we have the same health concerns, since you’re getting started my advice would be to stay away from nearly all foods marked gluten-free. Good luck and enjoy!:)
Yum, this recipe looks fabulous! I’m especially loving the looks of that runny fried egg, mmmm.
Thank you Tina!:)
These crepes are gorgeous. I have never worked with hemp… new one for me to try. :)
These certainly look different with their dark colour. I must investigate hemp flour. I like how you have made a little container for the egg.
Why hemp flour? What does it do to the taste, texture, nutrition?
I used it because I wanted a gluten-free flour and it’s one of the ones I had on hand. :) The texture is fine and the taste is a bit nutty, it also adds a nice hue to the crepes. Hemp is very nutritious and that is one of the main reasons why I love using it in my cooking.
Thanks!