Crepes with Strawberries, Bananas, and Chocolate Peanut Butter Sauce

 You’ll have to forgive me for getting February’s theme started in late January – I am usually very good at following rules – but when Streusel suggested chocolate (she was clear that she wanted this theme “even though Valentine’s day is stupid”), I figured we should get moving ASAP.

 

My brother suggested that I credit him as my muse for this recipe. If it’s not clear, my brother is a dork, though I grudgingly acknowledged he’s a dork with good ideas. Though – absolute truth be told – my dad was the one who started the crepe-making theme that is now running wild through my family (across three states, no less!).

 

When our family was together for Thanksgiving, my dad made savory crepes from a recipe he found in the New York Times, and served them for lunch as the wrap for various salads (tuna, egg, and chicken, if memory serves). The crepes were quite tasty, but fussy I assumed, so I didn’t think much more of it.

 

Fast forward to last week, when my brother mentioned that he’s been making crepes quite a bit, since – as it turned out – my niece and nephew had loved them. Brian’s (the crepe making muse we’re discussing) crepe utilization had ranged from savory wraps to sweet filled crepes, to even a thinly layered cake made of stacked crepes interspersed with buttercream. He also mentioned that they are super easy to make, and that he had a copy of Dad’s recipe. This got me thinking about chocolate month, and how much I’d like to eat a crepe covered in chocolate sauce (the peanut butter was a last minute addition following a thoughtful online recipe search).

 

Here’s what I love about this recipe: they’re decadent enough for dessert, yet filled with fruit, so you could call it a hearty breakfast if you wanted to. We actually ate ours for breakfast (that’s not the surprising part) but included plain greek yogurt (sweetened with a little honey) on the side to make it feel a little more “appropriate” for morning time.

 

 

 

While there’s a few steps along the way, the whole thing can be put together in about a 1/2 hour, maybe a little longer the first you make it. Obviously any fruit can be used, and like I mentioned, it’s great with yogurt too. Some chopped nuts would also be a lovely addition, and I bet other folks would even put whipped cream on top (not me! I think it’s a vile substance but I hear others go for it).

 

 

Below are the recipes for the crepes and peanut chocolate sauce (which I didn’t mention earlier but lordy is it delicious and is intensely chocolate with a hint of PB flavor).

 

To assemble, you’ll want a to slice up a few bananas and strawberries, depending on how many folks you are serving. I like to stuff the crepe with fruit on the inside and outside, because why wouldn’t I? In the photo above, the chocolate sauce is drizzled lightly, but in real life I wasn’t so dainty.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Unmeasured Crepes

The New York Times.

As you’ll see if you follow the link above, there is no unit of measurement that they provide. Along with the NY Time’s original recipe, I also included what I did below, which resulted in about a dozen crepes.

 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 vessel whole raw eggs 
• 1 vessel all-purpose flour
• 1 ¾ vessel whole milk
• ¼ vessel melted sweet butter
•  A dash to a pinch of salt

 I used: 4 large eggs, 1 cup flour, 1 3/4 cup 1% milk, 1/4 melted, unsalted butter, and a pinch of salt

 

1. Beat the eggs. Add the rest of the ingredients, and whisk. Add a bit of salt, and taste. If you don’t want to taste the eggs raw, heat a pan, drizzle a bit of the batter into it, then taste it cooked. (note: my batter was a bit lumpy – it didn’t make a difference in how the crepes looked, but it bugged me, so I whirred the batter with my immersion blender, which worked perfectly)
2. Heat a nonstick pan, or put a lightly oiled one over medium heat. Add a ladleful of batter, just enough to thinly coat the bottom of the pan. Cook until the edges just begin to brown, probably about 30 seconds. Flip — this is not at all delicate, though it seems as though it should be — and cook about 10 seconds. (note: I have an awesome 9.5 crepe pan that I got for free from Analon – thanks guys! – but according to my brother, any small skillet will do. My pan is non-stick, but I did feel like I got slightly better results when I sprayed the pan lightly with non-stick cooking spray)
3. Cook as many crepes as you want, stacking them on a plate and covering them with a cloth towel until you’re ready to eat.

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Sauce

from Bon Appetite

 

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Posted on January 31, 2016
This entry was posted in breakfast, brunch, chocolate, desserts, vegetarian and tagged chocolate, easy, fruit.