Healthy breakfast crepes, a Mothers Day meal so easy a kid could make it

Healthy breakfast crepes, a Mother’s Day meal so easy a kid could make it

As a kid I loved to cook both with my mom and by myself. My mother encouraged me by ordering kids’ cookbooks from the Scholastic book flier. I even attempted to make my mom breakfast in bed on Mother’s Day, with my dad’s and sister’s help of course.

In junior high home ec class (did I just date myself?) I learned to make crepes. My French mother was thrilled to share Julia Child’s Crepe Fines Sucrees recipe from Mastering The Art of French Cooking, Volume One with me. It’s slightly complicated and uses orange liqueur, still it was the recipe we loved to use.

Colette’s Crepes

Makes 12 crepes

Ingredients:

Directions:

Put all the ingredients in a blender in the order listed. (To avoid getting egg shells in the mix, crack the eggs into a bowl, remove any shell bits, and then pour it into the blender.) Blend until smooth.

Remove the lid and scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula. Briefly blend the mixture again.

Set the covered blender in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or overnight. (Overnight is best.)

When it’s time to cook the crepes, heat an 8- or 9-inch shallow nonstick frying pan over medium heat. To tell if the pan is hot enough, wet your fingers and then flick the water on to the pan. If the water sizzles and jumps off the pan, it’s ready.

Melt a very thin pat of butter or soft spread in the pan and swirl it around to coat it. Use a silicon pastry brush to evenly distribute it.

Blend the batter again in the blender to smooth it.

For the first crepe, pour 1/4 cup of batter into a measuring cup and pour the batter into your heated pan. Immediately tilt and swirl the pan to evenly coat the bottom until the batter stops running.

Cook the crepe on the first side for about 45 seconds, then quickly flip it with a spatula and cook the other side for about half as long.

Grasping the pan securely, swiftly invert it so the cooked crepe will fall on to the large plate. Rub a little butter in the pan before cooking the next crepe.

Adjust the heat if they brown too quickly or slowly.

Healthy substitutes:

If you’re concerned about saturated fats, substitute a soft spread like I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter or Earth Balance for the butter.

Try using half whole wheat and half organic white flour instead of just white flour.

You can substitute 1/3 cup of egg white substitute for two of the whole eggs.

Instead of sugar, use stevia (Truvia or Pruvia) or another type of sugar substitute.

Tips:

When melting the butter or spread for the next crepe, dip a silicon pastry brush into the butter and brush it on the previous crepe so it wouldn’t stick to the next one.

Keep the crepes in a warm oven on a oven-proof plate.

Make the batter on Saturday night (you have to refrigerate it overnight) so you have crepes for Sunday morning. Pre-measured the ingredients and let the kids pour them into the blender.

Cooking crepes is a bit tricky. You have to be generous with the butter or spread, and make sure the pan is hot. Feel free to throw out the first crepe or feed it to the dog since it’s usually a mess. If you have older kids (10 and up) you can get them to make the crepes. If not, they’ll need dad to help out.

It takes a lot of time to make 12 crepes. Make sure the kids get an early start before everyone’s famished, or get dad to get two pans going at once.

Crepe toppings and fillings

Now it’s time to get the kids involved! In home ec class, we used powdered sugar and fresh squeezed lemon juice. You cannot believe how good this is. If you only have concentrated lemon juice in house, use a pastry brush to apply the juice then sprinkle the powdered sugar on top.

Other ideas for toppings are honey, jam, melted chocolate, Nutella hazelnut spread, cream cheese, sliced strawberries or thin banana slices. One of my kids’ favorite is agave nectar.

Get creative and have fun with your crepes!

Topping directions:

Apply your favorite topping to the crepe.

Fold in half. Then fold in half again.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and garnish with strawberries or raspberries and mint leaves.

For dessert crepes, you can drizzle a little melted chocolate on top, too.

Healthy crepe recipes