Hazelnut Butter Crêpes + Maple Cinnamon Roasted Apples {vegan}

Roasted hazelnut butter adds a flavour reminiscent of browned butter to these vegan crêpes — top with maple cinnamon roasted apples, extra hazelnut butter and a little coconut yoghurt or whipped coconut cream (or whatever your heart desires).

Crêpes! My all time favourite crêpe recipe used to be the one from Fanny Zanotti’s Paris Pastry Club cookbook. The ‘browned butter crêpes’. The browned butter in the batter added the most glorious toasty hazelnut flavour, and along with 2 whole vanilla beans made the crêpes something truly special and decadent. I made them every other weekend, then when I went vegan I struggled for a long time to create a crêpe recipe that matched those of my memory. I missed the subtle perfection that were Fanny’s crêpes.

So I got to work re-creating those crêpes in a plant-based way, and I was finally able to create a wonderful crêpe recipe after many failures – but that toasty hazelnut flavour from the browned butter was still missing! That is, until I decided to add the roasted hazelnut butter that I made into the crêpe batter in place of the oil. And just like that, the crêpes of my dreams were born. All toasty hazelnut and vanilla flavoured, thin and soft with slightly crisp edges, and that perfect golden patchy pattern decorating the top. Love at first crêpe.

You can make these with whatever toppings you’d like — my go-to is vegan butter, raw sugar and fresh lemon — but for this post I went a little bit extra and served them with maple cinnamon roasted apples and extra hazelnuts. 

Hazelnut Butter Crêpes + Maple Cinnamon Roasted Apples {vegan}

vegan, egg‐free, dairy‐free, soy‐free

Roasted hazelnut butter adds a flavour reminiscent of browned butter to these vegan crêpes — top with maple cinnamon roasted apples, extra hazelnut butter and a little coconut yoghurt or whipped coconut cream (or whatever your heart desires).

Servings 4

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Resting Time 1 hour hr

Ingredients

crêpes

• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 tbsp chickpea flour, this acts as a binder and egg replacer
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 cup oat/almond/soy milk, you may need up to 1/2 cup or so more to achieve the correct consistency
• 2 tbsp maple syrup, or 2 tbsp raw caster sugar
• 2 tbsp roasted hazelnut butter*, or sub 2 tbsp melted and cooled vegan butter
• 1 – 2 vanilla beans, seeds scraped, or 2 tsp vanilla bean paste / 1 tbsp vanilla extract

maple roasted apples

• 5 medium apples, cored and sliced into thick half moons, I like pink lady
• 5 tbsp pure maple syrup
• squeeze of fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp vegan butter, melted, or olive oil
• 1/2 – 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch fine sea salt
• crack or 2 of black pepper
• splash of bourbon, optional

serve

• extra hazelnut butter
• coconut yoghurt or lightly sweetened whipped coconut cream
• a little icing sugar to sieve on top optional
• the syrup from the apple roasting dish
• chopped toasted hazelnuts optional

Instructions

roasted apples

• Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F. Place the sliced apples on a lined baking tray or in a large roasting dish that can fit them in one even layer. Mix all of the other ingredients together in a little jug and pour over the apples. Toss well to make sure the apples are evenly coated.
• Bake for about 15 – 20 minutes (depending on the type of apples / how thick your slices are) or until the apples are tender but not mushy, basting the apples with the maple syrup as they cook. Turn the oven off or on the keep warm setting, and keep the apples in the oven while you cook the crêpes.

crêpes

• Whisk the plain flour, chickpea flour and salt together in a medium bowl and make a well in the middle.
• In a separate bowl or jug, whisk together the milk, maple syrup, hazelnut butter and vanilla beans seeds. Slowly pour the mix into the dry mix, gently whisking to incorporate until smooth. The batter should have a thick cream consistency. If it's too thick, whisk in a little more milk.
• Pour into a large jug, cover with cling wrap or a silicone lid, and rest the batter at room temp for 30 mins – 1 hour or in the fridge for 2 hours +. For best results, rest overnight.
• Heat a crêpe pan / non‐stick pan on a medium high heat. When the pan is heated up, brush the pan with a tiny bit of coconut oil/vegan butter and give the crêpe batter a gentle mix to combine. Pick up the pan, then with your free hand, pour about 1/4 – 1/3 cup of batter into the center of the pan and tilt and swirl it around to cover the pan with a thin layer of batter (if it is not spreading easily, you may need to add a little more milk to the remaining batter).
• Place the pan back on the heat. Wait until the crêpe starts to look set on top, and the edges a little golden, then lift up the edge to check that it's light golden brown in patches underneath (about 2 – 3 minutes). Loosen the edges of the crêpe with a spatula, then gently flip it over. You may need to use your fingers to help flip the crêpe over. Cook until the second side is set and light golden brown in places (about 1 minute). Remove from the pan, place on a plate and cover with a tea towel. Place in the warm oven while you repeat this with the rest of the batter.

serve

• Spread a little hazelnut butter on one half of a crêpe, then top with a scoop of the roasted maple apples. Fold the other half of the crêpe over the top, then fold in half again so you have a filled triangular crêpe pocket. Serve with a dusting of icing sugar and a scattering of chopped toasted hazelnuts if you'd like, a drizzle of the syrup from the apple roasting dish, and a scoop of coconut yoghurt or whipped coconut cream. I serve 1 – 2 filled crêpes per person.

Notes

Hazelnut Butter: Use store-bought or make your own with this recipe.

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: French

Keyword: Autumn, Breakfast, Crepes, Dessert, French

The apples were a natural pairing – it’s Autumn after all – AND the apples came from the same farm that the hazelnuts came from! I feel like that can only be a good thing for a recipe.

So after the apples had a quick bath in a maple-y cinnamon sugar mix and a roast in the oven, they came out all tender and caramelised and were happily folded up in the hazelnut butter crêpes along with some extra hazelnut butter. A scoop of sweetened vanilla coconut yoghurt, a dusting of icing sugar and a drizzle of the spiced syrup left in the pan from roasting the apples and they were all set. We served them for brunch on Sunday after the morning farmer’s market trip with big mugs of coffee swirled with creamy homemade almond milk.

They are super easy, though the frying of the crêpes may take some practice if you aren’t already attuned with the art of crêpe making – but you do need to rest the crêpe batter for at least 1 – 2 hours and preferably overnight if you can; whisk up the batter the night before, it only takes a few minutes, then in the morning you will be all ready to fry your perfect crêpes! The overnight rest really is best, an hour or two will do in a pinch but in my experience the flavour is no where near as complex and the texture falls a bit short compared to the ones that have been rested for a longer period.

Oh and, it goes without saying – these would be incredible served for dessert with some whipped coconut cream or ice-cream, like really really good. I’m planning on it this weekend. It’ll be a good time. I may even skip dinner… crêpes for dinner anyone?!