Oat

Remember those good ol’ fermented oats we made a while back? Well, here’s another way to eat them! I like to get protein in the morning (normally I don’t eat any grains at all in the am, but hey, the family is coming to visit soon and they’re all day grain types), so I thought making them into an egg-containing dish would do the trick for my satiety.

Crepe or Blintz? Either way, they’re gluten-free and nutrient rich.

These have all the benefits of the soaked oats themselves with the additional value of being stuff-able. In my family’s Ukranian/Polish tradition, that means sweet cheese and/or cherries, but I like to health it up just the tiniest bit, because canned pie filling is not a breakfast food in our thoroughly American house.

Whole Oat Crepes filled with, from the left: Fermented peach sauce, lemon zest and coconut sugar, ricotta whipped with cream cheese.

If you’ve never made crepes before, it’s all in the wrist. I’ve learned this from enough French mamas (not pros, just ladies who have a crepe tradition) to know that if you’re using the right (see also: small) amount of batter and a non-stick pan,* and you’re speedy, you’ll have excellent crepes. Except for the first one. The first one is always a mess, and that’s a great excuse to eat it while you’re standing at the stove.

Gluten-free blintz recipe for health and flavor

You can skip the filling of these gluten-free oat crepes altogether, or skip the sweetener in the batter and add a savory filling.

Soaked Oats Gluten-free Crepes

Serves 2 (approximately 6 small crepes)

Ingredients

1 cup of finished soaked oats (follow link for recipe)
1/4 cup milk (preferably whole)
1 egg
2 tablespoons maple or birch syrup
1 tablespoon butter or coconut oil

How-To

In a blender or food processor, puree oats and milk together until a smooth batter is formed. Add egg and syrup and blend very briefly, just until a uniform mixture has formed.
Put butter in a small, non-stick skillet and set over medium-high heat until butter has melted. Add 1/4 cup of batter and immediately lift and tilt the pan, until the batter is in a thin layer that totally coats the bottom of the pan.
Place the pan back over heat as quickly as possible, and look for bubbles to pop through. When you can shake the pan and the crepe slides around as a whole, it’s ready to be flipped. This takes about a minute on my gas stove, but it will take longer on an electric stove.
Flip the crepe and let the other side cook for about 30 seconds, again, until the whole thing slides easily around the pan. Slide the crepe out onto a plate and repeat with remaining batter.
Fill with your choice of filling (fruit, nut butters, chocolate chips if you’re splurging and enjoy warm.

*Sorry, nonstick haters, I feel you, but I have yet to find a substitute (nice try, cast iron) that does the trick, so I don’t sweat it for the occasional crepe batch.