In Brittany 100% buckwheat crepes are EVERYWHERE. They’re found in restaurants, at street vendors and in every supermarket chain. As a gluten-free person traveling in France, buckwheat crepes became one of my go-to foods.
Crepes in Brittany
In Brittany 100% buckwheat crepes are call galettes and are always considered a savoury food item. Crêpes on the other hand are made with wheat and are filled with sweet toppings. So if being gluten-free is important, then be sure to check for authenticity as many of the tourist-focused restaurants will mix a little wheat flour into their galette batter for a more mild flavoured crepe. Ask if the crepe is made with blé (wheat) or sarrasin (buckwheat). To make things even more confusing buckwheat can also be called blé noir (black wheat).
The galettes in Brittany are all made with just 3 ingredients: salt, water and buckwheat flour. I interviewed a street vendor, who explained that a 24 hour sourdough ferment was necessary to get the right flavour. However, to make a simple sourdough based buckwheat crêpe requires a well-seasoned nonstick crêpe pan with a special crêpe tool for flipping.
The easiest way to make a crêpe at home is to add fat and eggs to give them stability and stop them from sticking. Even homemade crêpes in France can be made with butter and eggs. So we can all enjoy the flavour of a soured 100% buckwheat crêpes without all the special cooking tools.
100% Buckwheat Crepes
Buckwheat crepes are traditionally gluten free, sourdough fermented and delicious! Here’s a recipe that brings the flavours of Brittany into your kitchen with a simple to make homemade crepe recipe.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4-5 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Sourdough
- Cuisine: French
Ingredients
Sourdough Ferment
- 1 cup buckwheat flour
- 2 cups water (chlorine free)
Remaining Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Mix the flour and water in a glass container and leave it somewhere warm to ferment for 12-24 hours. Buckwheat is very quick to catch a sourdough starter, so it won’t take long before it starts to bubble.
- When you are ready to make the crepes, add in the remaining ingredients and mix well.
- Preheat a cast iron pan or non-stick pan on medium until it is hot.
- Ladle on a small amount of batter. It should be liquidy enough to spread into a thin layer right away. However, you don’t want it too thin or it will be difficult to flip.
- Once it has started to bubble and the middle of the crepe has begun to dry out, flip the crepe over and allow to cook for another minute on the other side.
- Fill and serve immediately.
Notes
- Traditional crêpe pans
are flat cast-iron circles with a long spatula
(affiliate links.) I just used my cast-iron frying pan
and regular spatula
, which worked with this recipe.
- Light buckwheat flour
is nice for crepes (like in my photographs.) However, dark buckwheat flour will give your crepes a beautiful purplish shade and an earthy flavour.
- Traditional fillings for buckwheat include: cheese, bacon, sausages and scrambled eggs. Sweet fillings are also nice. Try chocolate spread with fresh fruit and cultured whipping cream.
are flat cast-iron circles with a 
(affiliate links.) I just used my cast-iron frying pan
and regular spatula
, which worked with this recipe.
is nice for crepes (like in my photographs.) However, dark buckwheat flour will give your crepes a beautiful purplish shade and an earthy flavour.Keywords: dinner, dessert, traditional, galettes, gluten free, sarrasin, Brittany, summer, spring
These are great! Any idea why these are quick to ferment, while trad white flour takes so much longer?
★★★★★
Thanks! I think it works so well because buckwheat just naturally had a sourdough starter, similar to teff and some other seeds.
We made these this evening. Ferment was 24 hours, then I put the batter in the fridge for a day before we cooked them. They mostly worked well, but we did have one at the beginning and a few at the end that stuck to the pan and ended up falling apart. Very tasty, though! Served them with an egg-tomato-coconut curry and a green bean-cabbage moong dal. We did the 1X batch for 3 of us, made 3 smallish crepes each – might do a bit more next time.
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I couldn’t get these to ferment! I left them covered in a glass bowl on the counter for over 24 hours. Any advice?
I used Yupik brand buckwheat flour, it’s a dark variety. Not sure if that makes a difference?
I usually use dark buckwheat (just used light for the photos because it looked nicer). You can still make the crepes even if they haven’t fully fermented. You might be surprised to discover a sourdough flavour anyways. Enjoy!
If I’m using discard from my starter, how much total starter should I use in this recipe?
This recipe is based on a quick, self-starting buckwheat sourdough. After about 24 hours it should be the right sourness. If you want to use discard, then just add a 1/4 cup of discard replacing 2 tbsp of flour and 1/4 cup of water. (Or scale up if you’re making a larger batch). Then only let it ferment for 1 to 2 hours to avoid making really sour tasting crepes. 🙂 Enjoy!
I covered the batter with A rubber banded flour sack towel, then placed in oven with dehydrator heat lid set on 95 degree, since my house was too cold to ferment the last batch. Instead of butter, I used walnut oil. Crepes were amazing! Thank you for the recipe.
★★★★
Walnut oil sounds delicious!
Yummy, thanks! I didn’t know it was so easy to ferment buckwheat flour. I tried this recipe with a flax egg (vegan) but think it was too runny or I need more flipping practice. Better after I added an additional tablespoon of ground flax.
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It is quite a runny batter. However, it sounds like having a slightly bigger flax egg worked. Thanks for sharing!
I found the water to flour ratio to be too high when it comes to the water. The mixture was too watery and I couldn’t save the pancakes.
Hum… I’ve made these a ton of times. It’s actually a favorite recipe. The batter is quite runny… but I wonder if maybe your flour had a different hydration ratio? I’ve made it with both dark and light rye. However, if you used dark rye with more husk than typical it might not absorb as much liquid? Sorry, it didn’t work for you!