Project Description

We love crepes.  Whole wheat crepes provide a touch of earthy flavor, are nutritious, and yet still light and delicate.

Whole Wheat Breakfast Crepes

Serves 4-6.
Adapted by Phoebe Plank from marthastewart.com

Ingredients

For crepes:

• 1 cup Community Grains Hard Red Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 4 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted) + 2 tablespoons butter for greasing the pan

For filling:

• 4-6 eggs (1 per person)
• 8-12 slices bacon (2 per person), sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, de-stemmed
• 1 cup shredded gruyere or fontina cheese
• 2 cups packed spinach, lightly sautéed or blanched
• Salt & pepper to taste

Cooking Instructions

1. Make the crepe batter: In a blender, combine flour, honey, salt, milk, eggs, and 3 tablespoons melted butter. Puree until mixture is smooth and bubbles form on top, about 30 seconds. Let batter sit at least 15 minutes at room temperature (or refrigerate in an airtight container, up to 1 day; whisk before using).
2. Bring a skillet to medium heat. Cook the bacon until just crispy, spoon out and transfer to a paper towel. In the excess bacon fat fry the parsley for 3-4 minutes, until crispy and set aside.
3. Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium. Lightly coat with butter. Hold skillet above the stove and add about 1/3 cup batter while you swirl to completely cover bottom of skillet. Cook until underside of crepe is golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Loosen edge of crepe with a rubber spatula, then with your fingertips, quickly flip.
5. Turn heat to low and immediately assemble the crepe. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of gruyere in the center of the crepe. Break an egg into the center and then arrange bacon and spinach around the egg. Sprinkle with fresh thyme.
6. Now the underside should be somewhat cooked. To form a square, flip each side up back onto the toppings, sticking it to the wet egg. It is helpful to pat creases into the crepe before flipping it up.
7. Make sure the heat is low, and cover the skillet until the white of the egg is cooked through.
8. Sprinkle the fried parsley, salt and pepper, and serve immediately.

Note: If you don’t want to make each crepe to order, you can prepare all of the crepes in advance without the toppings. Then assemble them (with the bacon, egg, cheese, and thyme) on a cookie sheet and bake at 325ºF for 10-12 minutes until the whites are set.

Variations: The same crepe batter is also excellent with sweet toppings such as Nutella, maple syrup, the classic butter/sugar combination, and whipped cream. Once you’ve flipped the crepe once, begin to sprinkle or spread the sweet toppings on half of the crepe. Once the underside is lightly browned, fold it into a triangle (in half and in half again). Top it off with a dash of the same ingredients or some whipped cream!