Raised from Scratch

growing up outside the box: alternatives to processed food and television

Buckwheat Flax Crepes & Spiced Raisin Mascarpone (gluten-free) October 20, 2012

Filed under: Breads,Breakfast,Dairy free,Dessert,Gluten Free,Pancakes — annalope @ 5:08 pm
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I have to thank Andrea Drugay for posting a recipe for Easy Flaxseed Wraps on her blog, which inspired a week-long obsession and several new recipes. The original recipe called for 100% flax, and it’s a delicious wrap, but in order to create a gluten-free crepe that I was happy with for breakfast or dessert, I decided to try using a little buckwheat flour as well. And because I’m always looking to incorporate more vegetables into my family’s diet, I tried first grated carrot, then grated zucchini and settled on the latter for this recipe. The crepes are simple to make, and the mascarpone makes them quite memorable, but it’s totally optional – the crepes are marvelous on their own, or filled with fresh peaches and cottage cheese or just bananas and a sprinkle of cinnamon for a healthy breakfast. No sugar is called for in the crepe batter, but a little pure maple syrup is of course a tasty complement if you’re in the mood for a sweeter treat. At the bottom of this post you’ll find a recipe scaled down to serve 1 person (2 small crepes), and more pictures of some of the many crepes I made this week.

Buckwheat Flax Crepes:

Crepes are gluten-free, sugar free and dairy free if using coconut oil

 

¼ cup buckwheat flour

½ cup flax seed meal

1 t. baking powder

1 t. ground cinnamon

¼ t. sea salt

2 T. coconut oil, earth balance or butter, melted

4 eggs

½ cup finely grated zucchini (about 1/3 medium zucchini)

2 T. water

Spiced Raisin Mascarpone Cream:

½ cup raisins

¼ t. cinnamon

1 whole clove or a dash of ground cloves

3 T. water

3 T. unsweetened pure apple juice, or water

½ cup mascarpone (Italian cream cheese)

In a small saucepan, combine raisins, cinnamon, clove, water and juice. Bring to a simmer and cook 6-8 minutes, until raisins are plump and liquid has been absorbed. Assemble crepe ingredients while raisins are cooking. Remove from heat, remove and discard clove and let cool.

In medium bowl, whisk together buckwheat flour, flax meal, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Pour in melted coconut oil or butter, add egg, water and zucchini, and mix well. Preheat a small nonstick pan over medium heat and lightly coat with coconut oil (a couple drops will do). Once pan is hot, pour ¼ cup crepe batter into the pan and quickly tilt the pan to evenly distribute the batter over the pan. Crepes should be thin – use just enough batter to cover your pan. Cover the pan and cook approximately 1 ½ – 2 minutes or until the batter has cooked through (no need to flip). Move crepe to a plate, lightly oil your pan again and repeat. Recipe yields 8 crepes.

Once you’ve given the raisin mixture a few minutes to cool (Remember to find and discard the clove!), pulse in a food processor 30 seconds. Move to a small bowl and fold in mascarpone, mixing well.

Serve crepes with the raisin-mascarpone cream, sliced bananas and a drizzle of maple syrup. Or forget the bananas and create a crepe cake, spreading the raisin-mascarpone cream between 4 or more layers of crepes and slice like a cake.

Amounts for 1 serving (makes 2 crepes):

1 T. buckwheat flour

2 T. flax seed meal

¼ t. baking powder

¼ t. spice (mix it up depending on your fillings)

Generous pinch of sea salt

½ T. coconut oil, earth balance or butter, melted

1 egg

2 T. finely grated zucchini

1/2 T. water

For Carrot Crepes: substitute finely shredded carrots for the zucchini

For 100% Flax Crepes: replace buckwheat with flax meal (3/4 cup total for full recipe)

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The Pancake Stands Alone September 29, 2011

Filed under: Breakfast,Pancakes — annalope @ 5:07 am
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As a kid my mom whipped up a batch of crepes for dinner once a month for me and my three siblings.  We each filled our own thin pancake with jam or jelly, rolled it like a burrito, doused it in powdered sugar and inhaled our creation as quickly as possible without choking on powdered sugar dust. No one seemed concerned with the amount of sugar inside or outside the pancake and, not surprisingly, this was a favorite meal for us kids. The recipe for the thin crepes was always made with Bisquick, just like all the other pancakes we made at home. It was the way Grandma had made them, and Mom followed suit teaching me the recipe by the time I was ten. What I’ve come to realize though is that Bisquick pancakes, like most super-refined products, taste unremarkable and require large amounts of jam, butter, or syrup to make them edible.

So my original love of pancakes must have come from the sugar my parents permitted me to load on top of them, but today my appreciation for the simple pancake is something different entirely. Over the years I have refined my love of the humble pancake and the cravings come now more than ever. The reason they never grow old? – No Bisquick, no standard recipe, no rules. Total creative freedom every time I grab the mixing bowl. And because they’re so easy to make healthy, there’s no guilt when eating to my heart’s content, no heavy belly dragging me down, no sugar crash. When quality ingredients are used, the pancake stands alone, no sugar coating necessary.

The pancake possibilities are endless, the results available to taste test in mere minutes, flavor and consistency alterable as you fry and sample. Think outside the circle; pancakes taste better (at least to kids) when shaped like turtles, balloons, snakes, trees and letters. It’s easy to incorporate a variety of whole grains, protein and fruit into your batter, giving you a secretly nutritious breakfast that doesn’t leave you reaching for the syrup bottle and won’t leave you eyeing the couch after eating.

Cinnamon Walnut Pancakes with Crystallized Ginger

1 cup white whole wheat flour

¼ cup buckwheat flour

¼ cup quick cooking oats

3 T. flax meal (ground flax seeds)

½  – ¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour (depending on preferred consistency)

¼ t. salt

1 T. baking powder

1  ½ t. ground cinnamon

1 cup milk or milk alternative

¼ cup unsweetened applesauce

1 ½ t. pure vanilla extract

2 T. maple syrup

2 large eggs

1 T. melted Earth Balance vegan spread or butter + extra to fry

½ cup chopped walnuts

3 T. chopped crystallized ginger

Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl (wheat flour – cinnamon). Combine liquid ingredients (milk – butter) in a quart sized measuring glass, or just make a well in your dry ingredients where you can whisk them together. Gently mix together. Add walnuts and ginger and mix gently once more.

Preheat your frying pan over medium heat, adding just enough butter or Earth Balance spread to coat your pan. Once it’s hot…you know what to do. Stay close to the pan and remember to coat with butter between batches.