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    Home » Sweets

    Acorn Flour Crepes

    Published: Apr 1, 2019 Modified: Feb 16, 2023 by Alan Bergo This post may contain affiliate links 1 Comment

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    If you process acorns, and make your own acorn flour, you have to try acorn flour crepes. They're easy to make, and you can serve them sweet or savory.

    Acorn flour crepes recipe

    I love the taste of acorns, but I don't use much of it at one time, since acorn flour is heavy, dense stuff, almost like nut meal, but more starchy and dense. I typically use it in a blend for most recipes.

    Crepes are great all-around, but they're really well suited for acorn flour for a number of reasons. First, crepes contain a good amount of egg, so gluten is really a non-issue--you can make a crepe out of just about any flour.

    Even so, acorn flour, even bolstered by egg, will still make more delicate and brittle crepes than other flours (buckwheat, for example) so I like to cut it 50-50 with another flour to strengthen it and give a more durable crepe. Secondly, flavor. Acorn flour has a good, potent flavor, and cutting it in half won't diminish it too much.

    Cooking acorn flour crepes
    Acorn flour crepe recipe
    Acorn flour crepes recipe

    Lastly, as I mentioned, acorn flour is dense, heavy stuff. After eating something made with it, you're going to feel it. Since crepes are nice and light, they're a great way to use some acorn flour and not have to take a nap afterwords.

    They're also thrifty, just ½ cup of acorn flour will make 6 crepes--plenty for a couple people to have their fill. That being said, since they're nice and light, after you spread one with butter and jam, piping-hot out of a skillet, you may reconsider sharing them. Oh, and if you aren't familiar with how to make acorn flour/meal, I outline the cold-leaching process here.

    Acorn flour crepe with bananas, yogurt, blueberries and maple syrup
    Sweet crepes with bananas, yogurt, and wild blueberries drizzled with maple syrup are excellent.

    I outline a few restaurant tricks in the recipe below, but just to hammer it home, here's the big points

    Chef's Crepe Tips

    • Use a nonstick pan--no compromise here.
    • Allow the crepes to steam covered with cling film or something to hold in moisture to ensure tender, pliable crepes.
    • Cook the crepes on one side only to avoid them becoming crisp and brittle.
    • Allow the crepe batter to rest, preferably overnight--especially important with acorns, since soaking helps the nut meal to hydrate and soften, if you cook with the batter right away the crepes will be more brittle.
    • Master swirling the pan to distribute the batter evenly--this will take a few tries
    • The first acorn crepe you eat should be butter, and maple syrup only, before you get too creative

    Serving

    Crepes are super versatile, and one of the few things that are good for any meal of the day--sweet or savory. Here's a few ways you might try them:

    Sweet

    • Filled with sliced bananas, a dollop of yogurt, maple syrup and hot blueberries
    • Filled with jam and cream cheese, and rolled up
    • Folded in half twice, and drizzled with butter, maple syrup and crushed, toasted nuts
    • To really taste the acorn, fold them up and serve with nothing more than butter and maple syrup

    Savory

    • Filled with scrambled eggs and chopped peppery greens like arugula or watercress
    • Use like injera: tear the warm crepe and use it as a utensil to scoop up curries, etc
    • Filled with chopped, cooked greens and some grated melty cheese like gruyere
    • Filled with greens, a dollop of ricotta, egg, and a pinch of nutmeg and baked like canneloni
    Acorn flour crepe with avocado, bacon and watercress
    Savory versions are good too, this was just a buttered acorn crepe with a watercress salad, avocado, and a few slices of bacon. Eating the crepe alone like a thin pancake will make the acorn flavor shine.
    Acorn flour crepes recipe
    Print Recipe
    4.67 from 6 votes

    Acorn Flour Crepes

    Crepes made from acorn and your choice of alternate flour. Makes about 7 crepes depending on how many you mess up at first.
    Prep Time15 mins
    Resting time2 hrs
    Total Time2 hrs 15 mins
    Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
    Cuisine: American, French
    Keyword: Acorn, Crepe
    Servings: 4 Servings
    Calories: 238kcal
    Author: Alan Bergo

    Equipment

    • 8 inch non-stick pan

    Ingredients

    • ½ cup all purpose flour or equivalent
    • ½ cup cold leached acorn flour
    • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
    • 1 teaspoon sugar for sweet crepes (optional)
    • 2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter or other fat
    • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk or water
    • 2 large eggs
    • Oil as needed for cooking—a tablespoon or two (see note)

    Instructions

    • Make sure the acorn flour is very fine—I like to sift it, then grind again. Combine all ingredients except the acorn flour in a blender and puree until smooth, then add the acorn flour and continue blending. Transfer to a container and allow to rest overnight, or at least for an hour or two.
    • To cook the crepes, lightly grease or spray an 8 inch non-stick pan, and get it hot—very hot. When the pan is smoking lightly, try making your first crepe by drizzling in a generous ¼ cup of batter, swirling the pan so it reaches out to the edges—if it doesn’t look great, don’t worry—you’re going to have some time to perfect your technique,
    • The first crepe is often scrap since even though the pan is hot, t’s not hot enough to really get going. Typically by crepe 2 or 3, you’ll be in business.
    • Cook the crepes on one side only, transferring them to a plate with a spatula gently as they finish cooking, stacking the crepes on top of each other. When all the crepes are done, cover the plate or platter with cling film so they steam and remain soft and pliable, which is the secret to tender, flexible crepes. Alternately, eat the crepes straight away, with your choice of garnishes.

    Notes

    Lightly grease the pan 

    You don't need a lot of oil to cook your crepes, and too much oil can cause them to cook incorrectly. The best thing to use is a stingy amount of panspray, or a greased butter wrapper.

    Using other "flours" 

    There's enough gluten in the all purpose flour to support using other alternative flours here instead of acorn. Dock seed flour, ground mushrooms and plenty of others will work. 

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1crepe | Calories: 238kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 97mg | Sodium: 368mg | Potassium: 113mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 297IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 2mg
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Val Rossman

      October 10, 2021 at 11:02 am

      5 stars
      OMG. These were my first recipe with my first batch of acorn flour. Did not disappoint! I did the over night rest on the batter. Loved that it let the flavor profile of the acorn shine through the delicate texture. No issues cooking perfect crepes, but not my first rodeo with them. Seems to be a mast year for acorns around here. I can see I am going to be gathering all that time will allow. I am sold on them even though the leaching process is a bit laborious. Recipe is a keeper!

      Reply

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