Whole Wheat Crepes + Breakfast Bar Options |

It was a Wednesday afternoon, and I was sitting down to make a meal plan. The kids excitedly gathered around me, wanting to give their input on our next week of meals.

Breakfast was the first order of business. I’d grown so tired of our not-as-healthy-as-I’d-like options (too many days, the kids were making homemade oatmeal cookies or coffee cake because it was easy and they liked it — not horrible, but…). We needed a new plan.

After much googling of ideas, and hating most of them, we came up with our simple “Breakfast Bar” idea. We would make whole wheat tortillas, and stuff them with various toppings, both sweet and savory. The kids were thrilled.

As we were planning our filling options, I realized that for our sweet choices, we’d be better off using crepes instead of tortillas! And so, our breakfast plan was born.

The next day, we looked over several crepe recipes, gave one a shot, and tweaked it a bit until it was just how we wanted: light, fluffy, and incredibly tender, with great flavor.

It was love at first bite for the kids, who probably each ate 5 of them. The rest (of our quadruple batch…) were placed in the freezer for other breakfasts.

(One of the kids sneaked into the garage to pull them out and eat them first thing the next morning, that’s how good they were.)

Whole Wheat Crepes Recipe

Whole wheat crepes are awesome. They’re largely based on milk and eggs, with a bit of flour in them to form a thin batter. They use very little sweetener, too, so they’re very healthy.

If you don’t do grains, you can easily swap in coconut flour (just use less; I’ll note that below). These can easily be dairy-free as well. Eggs can’t really be swapped out though, so these won’t work for those with egg allergies.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour (or 3 tbsp. coconut flour)
1 cup milk (raw or coconut)
3/4 cup water
1 tsp. sea salt
2 tbsp. raw honey
3 eggs

Directions:

Step 1: Add all the ingredients to a blender

Step 2: Blend until smooth

Step 3: Scrape down sides (flour may not all be incorporated), then re-blend

Step 4: Heat a pan on medium heat, then add a small amount of butter and swirl around

Step 5: Pour a small amount of batter in the pan, then swirl it around to cover (about 2 tbsp. in an 8″ frying pan)

Step 6: Allow it to cook until the edges begin to turn golden brown, then very carefully flip it over and cook for just another few seconds

Step 7: Remove from pan and serve immediately, or cool and freeze for later use

Please note — the first 4 – 5 that you make will likely stick and create an awful mess. This is normal! Keep adding butter before each crepe and as the pan gets well-greased and properly heated, the crepes will stop sticking.

Don’t feel like a failure when your crepe comes out as a ball of eggy mess…that’s just how it goes. I used two different frying pans so I could get through the batches faster, and both had the same break-in time…even though I started the second one after I got into the rhythm on the first one. It’s just how it is.

The Breakfast Bar

We’re using tortillas for this for our savory fillings, as I mentioned at the beginning of the post. I’ll share that recipe soon, too. We’ve been trying to perfect a tortilla recipe for awhile…and I think I have finally done it. Story for another day….

The theory behind this breakfast bar is that if we take the time to prep both the tortillas and crepes, and the fillings on the weekend, we can have a filling, healthy breakfast all week with minimal work. Win. Go as fancy or simple as you’d like; we have a lot of options because we have a lot of people to feed. Might as well do a lot of different things than a little bit of one or two things. (Less complaining of “I don’t like that!” that way…)

Sweet Fillings

Almond butter
Chocolate-hazelnut butter (make your own)
Other nut butters
Jam or jelly
Banana
Strawberries
Whipped cream (make your own)
Chia seeds
Hemp seeds
Coconut cream
Coconut shavings

Use these to create your own combinations! We liked strawberries and cream (pictured above). Some of the kids enjoy chocolate-hazelnut butter (it’s like real food Nutella) with banana. Get creative!

Savory Fillings

Mushrooms
Peppers
Onions
Sweet potatoes
Sausage
Bacon
Eggs
Tomatoes
Basil
Chives
Other fresh herbs
Refried beans
Black beans
Cheddar
Mozzarella

We like these combinations:

Traditional: Egg, bacon, and cheese

Pizza: Sausage and mushroom with mozzarella and Italian salsa

Southwest: Peppers, onions, ground beef or sausage, black beans, cheddar

We serve, on the side, my immune-boosting smoothie made into popsicles, and sometimes these cheesy potatoes. (If you’re interested in the immune-boosting smoothie, that recipe is coming soon too.)

That’s it! This has simplified our mornings (and made them tastier, too). My kids love sweet breakfasts — and I love that these are all naturally sweet with fruit and honey, not sugar. I love savory breakfasts, and am very happy with my new ‘pizza’ burrito!