ROTW, Week 23 - Crepes with Nutella

This Friday was Brandon's birthday, and though we didn't get to celebrate with proper enthusiasm on Friday night, we did try to do it justice on Saturday.  To finish off a delicious meal, I tried to make something fancy for dessert: crepes.

Crepes are one of those things that seem really hard (case in point, I walked around the rest of the night with a big grin on my face saying, "I made crepes!" every 5 seconds.) but that really?  It wasn't that bad.  I managed to make these 1/2 way into a bottle of champagne. (Or maybe I don't think they were bad because of the champagne?  God only knows.)

As I like to do in the case of food requiring precision, and where helpful tips are the difference between failure and success, I turned to Alton Brown for this recipe. He knows his stuff.

Crepes with Nutella, from Alton Brown.

I made a half-recipe, and even with 2 mistake crepes in the beginning (flipped too early) we had 2 halfsize ones each.  Which seemed just right.

• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup flour
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• Butter, for coating the pan

For the crepes:

In a blender, combine all of the ingredients and pulse for 10 seconds. Place the crepe batter in the refrigerator for 1 hour. This allows the bubbles to subside so the crepes will be less likely to tear during cooking. The batter will keep for up to 48 hours.

Heat a small non-stick pan. Add butter to coat. Pour 1 ounce of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly. Cook for 30 seconds and flip. Cook for another 10 seconds and remove to the cutting board. Lay them out flat so they can cool. Continue until all batter is gone. After they have cooled you can stack them and store in sealable plastic bags in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for up to two months. When using frozen crepes, thaw on a rack before gently peeling apart.

*Savory Variation Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs, spinach or sun-dried tomatoes to the egg mixture.

*Sweet Variation Add 21/2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of your favorite liqueur to the egg mixture.

To make the crepes with Nutella, simply spread nutella on the warm crepes, and fold them in half.  I sprinkled with powdered sugar, which was completely gratuitous.

Enjoy!