Crepe Tradition & Recipe

For as long as I can remember I have wanted to know how to make crepes.  My kids as well have asked for me to make them for breakfast.  I really don't know why it took me this long to try. I'm thinking it could have something to do with the fact that I knew once we made them we would want them every chance we could get. 

Crepes are something you only order in restaurants right?  That is what I used to think but the answer to that is no, not at all.  Crepes turned out to be very easy to make.  I really don't know how healthy or unhealthy they are, I just know that I have a very hard time just stopping at one.

With my kids getting older it is getting harder to impress them on a Holiday and I though that this would be a great opportunity to start a tradition of having crepes.  It has been very successful and trying to stick to having them on a Holiday morning for breakfast has helped me not gain 10 pounds eating them.

So back to how to make them.  My family gave me a cordless crepe maker for Christmas which makes it even easier and I love how quick you can make them.  If you don't own a maker you can  make them in a smaller frying pan.  I haven't done it this way but you would definitely have to use a non stick pan.  Butter the pan real well and have a spatula to help turn the crepe.  They cook very quickly.

The recipe I used was in the instruction book that came with the maker.  The only thing I did change was I added a tsp of vanilla.

BASIC CREPE BATTER



4 Large eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4th teaspoon salt

Whisk together the eggs and milk. In a seperate bowl combine the flour and salt.  Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in 1/2 of the egg mixture and whisk til smooth and repeat with the other 1/2 of the egg mixture.

The instructions said to strain the batter to remove the lumps.  While I can see the purpose in doing this I haven't done this yet and they have been fine.

The filling we love the most is a cream cheese filling.  .

CREAM CHEESE FILLING

1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese room temp.

1/2 pint heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

Beat cream cheese until smooth and then add 1/2 pint of the heavy cream and 1/2 cup sugar. Continue beating until creamy and smooth.

Ok, so the crepe is probably not that bad for you but the cream is another story... but oh so yummy.  I found myself just eating the filling while the crepes cooked.  See why we can only make these on Holidays. I want to try making cream puffs and fill them with this cream cheese mixture.  It would pipe perfectly into a cream puff.

My next challenge is to now find a savory crepe recipe.  We were recently in Logan and passed a restaurant that only served crepes.  We didn't get a chance to eat there but it started me thinking about all the possiblities.  If any of you have a suggestion for me let me know.  Have fun trying this recipe and yes they do taste as good as they look. 
~Lisa