Buckwheat Crepes with Chocolate Yogurt

One of the many beauties of crepes is that you can fill them with whatever you like, whether that’s sweet or savory or something in between. And by varying the kind of flour you use to make the crepes themselves, you can tweak their base flavor to suit your mood. Want a nutty, rich-tasting crepe? Use teff, buckwheat, or chestnut flour. How about a mild crepe that would work with any filling? Try brown rice, sorghum, millet, or corn flour. For a decidedly savory crepe, go with chickpea or potato flour. In a chocolate kind of mood? Use unsweetened cocoa powder as one of your flours…and maybe throw in some coconut, too. Mesquite flour lends crepes a caramel flair; plantain has a hint of the tropics. Your options are endless.

Although I often make savory crepes intended for lunch wraps and chutney roll-ups, I made these for breakfast and filled them with chocolate yogurt and some blackberry jam. The whole-grain-ness of the crepe + the protein-rich whole-milk yogurt makes for a deliciously satisfying breakfast…and you can make both elements ahead of time and simply roll them at the last minute. Quick breakfasts can be classy and easy!

Buckwheat Crepes with Chocolate Yogurt
This crepe recipe makes about 12 crepes; the yogurt is enough for 2 servings. Feel free to downsize the crepe portions or upsize the yogurt portions as desired. I like to make a full batch of the crepes so that I have some leftovers to enjoy however I like.

For the crepes:
1/2 cup brown rice flour*
1/2 cup buckwheat flour*
1 1/2 cups whole milk, preferably from grass-fed cows
2 eggs, preferably from pastured hens
Dash of sea salt
Butter or ghee for cooking the crepes, preferably from grass-fed cows

For the chocolate yogurt:
1/2 cup whole-milk plain Greek yogurt (Fage is my favorite)
2 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 T. maple syrup

To make the crepes, whisk all of the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Get out a (or two or three) 7″ nonstick crepe pan and place a dab of butter in the pan. Heat over medium heat — I go with mark 4 out of 10 on my electric burners — until butter has melted and is sizzling. Pour in 1/4 cup of the crepe batter and cook for 2-3 minutes or until crepe is set on top and browned on the bottom. Use a heatproof spatula to flip over the crepe and cook the second side for another minute or two or until equally browned. If you’re adventurous, by all means go ahead and flip that sucker up into the air to turn it over. Just don’t do that directly over the burner! It’s much easier to rescue a misdirected crepe from a cool element than a hot burner.

Place the cooked crepe on a wire rack. (If you put it on a plate, it’ll collect condensation and get soggy.) Make a second crepe in the same pan using the same technique. I find that I have to put a fresh dab of butter into my crepe pan every other crepe to keep them from sticking. Leftover crepes can be stacked in a sealed container and refrigerated for a week.

To make the yogurt, use a fork to thoroughly mix the ingredients in a bowl. Leftover yogurt can be kept up until the “expires by” date on the original package.

When you’re ready to assemble your chocolate-filled crepe, just spoon some yogurt onto the center of the crepe, roll up, and enjoy!

* These are gluten-free flours. If you’d prefer to make wheat-based crepes, substitute 1 total cup of spelt, kamut, and/or whole-wheat flours for the brown rice and buckwheat.

Stacked Crepe Torte

Today’s post is more of an ideas post than an actual recipe, but it’s an idea that you can take in uncountable directions, be that sweet or savory or as a main dish or a dessert. Another neat thing about this culinary concept is that you get to play the part of a pastry chef as you spread several layers of filling between stackable crepes. Unlike most pastries, however, a crepe torte is a lot more forgiving of less-than-professional techniques (which, when it comes to making pastries, mine certainly are) than just about any pastry you could name.

What I’m talking about is a stunningly simple — yet elegant! — idea: a layered torte made of stacked crepes with a savory or sweet filling in between them. As long as your chosen filling has a thick, spreadable, and non-runny consistency, you’re golden. (Salsa would obviously escape its crepe layers and spill back onto the plate, but guacamole would not.) From hummus to a thick and chunky tapenade, you can layer away to your heart’s content. If you wanted to go the sweet route, you could whip some fresh cream and alternately layer it into the crepes with some fresh fruit. Or you could make a rich chocolate ganache and layer that in, then top the torte with some crushed nuts and a drizzle of honey mixed with cinnamon.

No matter what kind of filling you choose, just be sure to use a sharp and thin knife to gently cut the torte into pieces — a big and/or dull knife would smash the layers down and make the filling squish out. Also, while you can certainly stack a batch of standard 6″ crepes, you might prefer to use a 9″ pan when you cook the crepes so that you’ll have a larger layer to work with later. This recipe for crepes will work for either size.

Stacked crepe tortes like this one I made with puréed smoked salmon and fromage blanc — the latter reminds me of smooth cottage cheese — will last for up to 4 days in the refrigerator. You can also make the crepes a day or two ahead of time if you like, then stack and serve just before company arrives. (Or just before you get hungry for lunch or dinner.)

Enjoy!

Buttermilk Crepes with Wild Salmon & Goat Cheese

‘Tis the season for fresh wild salmon … and, while you’re at it, smoked wild salmon, too.  Wild salmon is already far more flavorful than most other fish, and when it’s smoked, it’s an even salmonier version of itself. (Which is a good thing to me!) And in a new twist on “surf & turf,” I found that smoked wild salmon pairs surprisingly well with soft, full-flavored goat cheese — the earthy/tangy quality of the cheese is a nice contrast to the smoky/rich character of the fish.  For this unusual and easy lunch, I also included crunchy raw onion and crunchy toasted walnuts as a contrast to the soft crepes, salmon, and cheese.  (Contrasting textures can be just as important and memorable as contrasting flavors!)

You can make any sandwich you like out of these crepes, of course — since one batch makes a dozen or so crepes, you might want to make some into PB&Js, or you could fold fresh fruit and whole-milk Greek yogurt into them, or you could use them for other savory fillings (how about pesto and grilled veggies?).  Leftover crepes can be refrigerated for up to a week.

Buttermilk Crepes with Wild Salmon & Goat Cheese

For the crepes:
3 eggs, preferably from pastured hens
1 1/4 cups buttermilk, preferably from grass-fed cows
1/2 cup + 2 T. brown rice flour*
1/2 cup millet OR sorghum flour*
Dash sea salt

For the topping:
Smoked wild salmon
Thinly sliced onion
Toasted chopped walnuts**
Soft goat cheese, crumbled
Minced fresh dill

Whisk all of the crepe ingredients together in a large bowl. Get out a small 6″ nonstick crepe pan and heat a pat of butter over medium heat until the butter is sizzling. Add 1/4 cup crepe batter and cook undisturbed for 2 minutes before lifting up the crepe slightly to see if the underside is golden brown. If it is, flip the crepe over and cook for another minute. Slide finished crepe out of pan and onto a rack to cool.

Continue cooking the crepes in batches — using two pans if you have them — until you’ve used all of the batter. You’ll probably have to add another pat of butter every third crepe or so. If the crepes seem to be getting too hot and cooking too fast, reduce the heat by a notch or two. I find that the stove gets hotter as I continue, plus one of my pans seems to cook the crepes more quickly than the other does. Just keep an eye on each crepe and adjust accordingly as you go along. Finished crepes can be used immediately, or you can allow the crepes to cool completely and then stash them, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to a week. You might need to warm leftover crepes slightly before using them later on if you want to roll or fold them.

Layer the finished crepes with the toppings, making as many layers as you want. I like the look and ease of an open-faced, two-crepe-high stack — more than three crepes gets to be a bit unwieldy. Serve promptly.

Enjoy!

* These are gluten-free flours. If you’d rather make wheat-based crepes, substitute 1 cup + 2 T. whole-wheat, spelt, or kamut flours (or any combination of those).

** To toast walnuts, heat the coarsely chopped nuts in a small sautée pan over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes or until the walnuts are fragrant and starting to brown. Shake the pan occasionally to help them toast evenly, and don’t forget about them on the stove — burnt walnuts taste terrible! They can go from perfectly toasted to bitter and charred in a few seconds, so as soon as you see that they’re browning (and as soon as you can smell them!), slide them onto a cool plate to halt the toasting process.

Gingered Mango Crepes

Until I took my first bite of this fruit-filled crepe, I had forgotten about blintzes, but then fond memories of the frozen blintzes from Trader Joe’s came rushing back.  If you haven’t had a blintz, though, don’t worry — you’ll still be amazed by how creamy, rich, and sweet these crepes are.  Happily, they’re a lot easier to make than a blintz (no re-frying needed) and only require four ingredients: frozen mangoes, Greek yogurt, a sprinkling of ginger, and crepes.

Crepes can be kept for up to 5 days in the refrigerator, so you can make a double batch and then have Gingered Mango Crepes whenever you’d like.  If you make neutral crepes — don’t put in any sweetener, and use flours that can go sweet or savory — you can use the same crepes to make dinner, too.  I used the other half of this batch to make savory crepes stuffed with Indian-spiced brown rice, peas, spinach, garlic, onion, and halloumi cheese.

Gingered Mango Crepes

Sliced mangoes, either frozen or fresh
Sprinkling of ground ginger
Crepes (see recipe below)
Sprinkling of sucanat or palm sugar
Whole-milk Greek yogurt

Place mangoes and ginger in a large skillet and simmer over low heat, uncovered, for about 15 minutes to allow the flavors to meld. Do not let it come to a boil. Spoon mango onto crepes, then top with sucanat/palm sugar and yogurt. Fold or roll up crepes and serve immediately. So simple!

To make the crepes:

1/2 cup brown rice flour OR sorghum flour*
1/2 cup millet OR amaranth OR corn flour*
3 eggs, preferably from pastured hens
1 1/4 cups milk, either dairy, coconut, nut, or grain
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Dash of sea salt

Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl, adding 2 T. sucanat or palm sugar if you’d like your crepes to be more on the sweet side. (I did not since I also wanted to use the crepes for savory dinners.) Note that you can mix the batter up to 24 hours in advance if you’d like and then refrigerate it until you’re ready to make the crepes; the flavor will become richer upon standing.

Place a little pat of butter or a slight drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil into a 6″ crepe pan and place over medium-low heat for 1 minute. Add 1/4 cup batter to the pan and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until you can see little bubbles forming on the surface. Use a heat-proof spatula to lift up an edge of the crepe to see if the bottom is golden brown. If/when it is, flip the crepe over and continue cooking for another minute or until that side is golden brown, too. Slide the finished crepe onto a cooling rack or large plate. Continue making crepes 1/4 cupful at a time until you’ve run out of batter, adding a little butter or oil to the pan now and then if the crepes are starting to stick.

Note that you may have to turn down the heat as you continue to cook the crepes since the pans will keep getting hotter and hotter. I find that I’ve notched down the heat once or twice by the time I’m on my third crepe. (I usually start at mark 4 out of 10; eventually, I wind up at mark 2 or so.) Also, you can make multiple crepes at the same time if you have multiple 6″ pans. Bear in mind that pans may heat differently, so you may have two different heat levels going on as you proceed. One of my pans, for example, makes perfect crepes on mark 2 with hardly any oil; the other needs mark 4 and a decent drizzling of oil. You can make crepes on larger pans, but they’ll probably be odd-sized with uneven edges. The 6″ pan keeps the edges defined as a perfect circle.

Final note: try to arrange cooling crepes in a non-overlapping way so that they don’t stick to each other. I lay mine out on two cooling racks for at least 20 minutes to let them completely cool before I stack them in a large container or bag. If you’re going to eat them all immediately, then stack them on top of each other with a paper towel in between so that they’ll stay warm and pliable.

Enjoy!

* These are all neutral-tasting flours (as opposed to bean flour, which to me is firmly in the savory, “dinner crepe” category), so you could mix and match them any way you’d like. You could also use whole-wheat, kamut, or spelt flour, although if you want gluten-free crepes, stick with gluten-free flours like the ones listed in the recipe.

Open-Faced Crepe Sandwich with Avocado Cream

Sometimes the condiment makes the sandwich, other times the condiment is a well-behaved backdrop to the sandwich.  Either way, you might as well go for a condiment with potential (i.e., not supermarket mayonnaise, which is at best made with low-quality oil and at worst made with a slew of unpronounceable chemicals).

One of the easiest creamy condiments to make is avocado cream.  The “cream” part of the name stems from using whole-milk Greek yogurt, but you could skip the yogurt and still wind up with a creamy, rich spread for your sandwiches.  All you need is a ripe avocado and a wedge of lemon!

Open-Faced Crepe Sandwich with Avocado Cream

Crepes (see “Mastering Crepes the Easy Way” for a basic recipe)
Your choice of veggies (here I used green beans and corn)
Avocado
Lemon or lime juice
Sea salt
Whole-milk Greek yogurt (optional)

Prepare your crepes or pull some leftover crepes out of the fridge. (I generally make a dozen at a time and then keep them for up to a week in the refrigerator, eating them as sandwiches, snacks — they’re great spread with hummus! — breakfasts, desserts topped with fruit and yogurt, etc.)

Next up, choose your veggies. They could be anything from raw carrots cut into matchsticks to fresh green beans to handfuls of fresh lettuce (or all of the above). I used fresh green beans and corn, simmering the beans for 5 minutes and then draining them and simmering an ear of corn for 3 minutes and then slicing the kernels off of the cob and into a large bowl. Whatever veggies you choose, make sure they’re in bite-sized pieces. Gently mix the veggies in a bowl.

To make the avocado cream, mash a ripe avocado. Add fresh lemon or lime juice (about 1 tsp. per avocado) and a sprinkling of sea salt. Stir in the yogurt (about 2 T. per avocado), tasting and adding more yogurt if you’d like. Note: both the acidic citrus juice and the acidic yogurt will help keep the avocado from turning brown, so if you make too much avocado cream, you can keep it in the fridge for a day or two by covering the top with plastic wrap. The less air that gets to it, the better — lightly press the wrap against the surface of the cream and try to avoid creating any air bubbles.

Top the crepe with avocado cream and then with your veggies. You could add leftover cooked meat if you’d like, too, or seafood or nuts. Avocadoes are a very versatile condiment.

Enjoy!

Peach & Ginger Crepes

When I get on a kick, I get on a kick — I can happily eat the same thing for several days in a row if I like it.  It’s even better when the dish/ingredient being eaten is multipurpose-able.  After all, leftovers are the ultimate convenience food!

Crepes are my most recent food fixation: first the savory fish tacos, now sweet fruit rolls.  Seeing as the typical crepe recipe makes 10 to 12 normal-sized crepes (six inches across as opposed to the gargantuan twelve-inchers you find in Europe), I thought I’d make some non-tacos with the second half of the batch.  These fruit-laden crepes can be served as breakfast, dessert, or snacks, and as usual, you can customize them to fit your fancy.

Sweet Fruit Crepes

Chopped fruit of your choice +

Creamy ingredient of your choice (yogurt, cream cheese, whipped cream, coconut cream/whole coconut milk, etc.) +

Spice of your choice +

Sweetener of your choice +

Crepes (see “Mastering Crepes the Easy Way” for a basic crepe recipe)

Bonus ingredient: chopped, toasted nuts

The pictured crepe holds chopped peaches, coconut cream, ginger, and a drizzle of honey.

Line the center of a crepe with your chosen combination of ingredients, gently roll up crepe, and enjoy!  If you’re serving a crowd and would like to create a crepe buffet, set out a variety of cut-up fruits and spices and allow the guests to choose their own fillings.  How’s that for a creative party pleaser?

Soft Taco Crepes

Sometimes you might be in the mood for a crunchy taco, sometimes you might want a soft taco.  The only problem with the latter is that it’s hard to find Qualitarian soft taco shells — the majority of the store-bought ones have all kinds of chemicals in them to keep them soft and supple.  And even though I love making my own tortillas, they fall more into the “crispy”  category than into the ” soft”  one.

Enter an elegant and practical solution: French crepes.  Because these thin, easily-rolled pancakes are not dependent upon gluten to make them work, you can use whatever flour you’d like when making them…such as corn.  Or rice, or potato, or chickpea, or whatever flavor you’d like to use to accent the filling.  (Corn = Mexican, rice = Asian, chickpea = Indian, etc.  Buckwheat flour is traditionally used to make Russian blinis.  You get the idea.)  Leftover crepes can be used to make a round PB&J, or you could fill them with hummus and slivered raw veggies for a quick lunch.  Or fill the crepes with fruit and drizzle them with maple syrup for breakfast.  Once you’ve made them once or twice, you’ll love the versatility and flexibility of one of the world’s most delicious flatbreads.

Soft Taco Crepes

The crepe recipe makes about a dozen crepes; top them with as much filling as you’d like.  Just remember that if you add too much filling, you won’t be able to roll up the crepe!

Canned black beans, drained, or freshly-made dried beans (Eden beans are canned in BPA-free cans)
Corn kernels, fresh and simmered for 3 minutes or frozen and thawed
Freshly-chopped cilantro
Crepes (see “Mastering Crepes the Easy Way” for recipe)
Fresh-style salsa (Garden Fresh is my favorite)
A sharp dry-ish cheese, such as sheep’s-milk Feta, crumbled or grated
Chopped avocado

Mix equal proportions of beans and corn in a bowl. Add as much cilantro as you like (or leave it out if you’re not a cilantro fan). Lay out crepes and top them with the corn and beans. Spoon salsa over that, then sprinkle on cheese. Finish by topping with chopped avocado.

Roll up your taco (if you haven’t overstuffed it the way I always do) and enjoy!

Note: to make these into fish tacos, just include some cooked mild-tasting fish in the filling.  You could even use canned albacore.

Fusion Enchiladas

Things are not always as they seem, not even in the world of cheese.  Having grown up eating my share of pizza, I thought I knew what mozzarella tasted like, but when I took my first bite of mozzarella di bufalo — made of 100% buffalo milk — I realized I’d been missing out on true mozzarella all along.

Given how much I’ve always enjoyed lasagna, I thought I’d experienced the full flavor of ricotta, too.  Then I tried ricotta salata last week and was surprised once again:  for one thing, it was from Italy and therefore made of sheep’s milk (cow-milk ricotta is more common in the U.S.), and as its name implied, it was indeed salty.  It was also a fairly dry, hard cheese, yet one that didn’t taste overly sheepish.  Reminded me of Greek mizithra.

I had a feeling the ricotta salata probably wouldn’t be the best melting cheese…and it wasn’t.  Nonetheless, its intriguing salty tang and dry, almost crunchy texture works on baked dishes and pastas.

For these “enchiladas,” I used leftover savory crepes that I’d made with a 50/50 split of corn flour and brown rice flour.  I happened to have leftover roasted pepper, too, so I sautéed some zucchini rounds, simmered some broccoli heads (5 minutes and they’re ready to be drained!), and added those to the peppers for the filling.  It was a truly simple dish:  I rolled the filling in the crepes, topped them with fresh-style salsa, sprinkled some grated ricotta salata on top, and baked the whole thing at 350 degrees F for about 15 minutes.  (The cheese won’t melt, but it will get just a bit brown and crispy.)

You could use ricotta salata as a topping for a wide variety of sprinkle-and-bake meals, from casseroles to lasagnas to frittatas.  (And you could fill those crepes with anything you’d like, too. )  The salty dryness of ricotta salata also means that it contrasts nicely with sweet, crunchy fruits like pears and apples.  Give it a shot — it’s bound to be a new cheese experience!

A Trio of Savory Crepes

Ask any European–a savory, stuffed crêpe makes a great lunch.   You’ll find sweet crêpes at the corner crêperie, too, but there will be just as many (if not more) on the savory menu.

The pictured trio includes:  one crêpe wrapped around scrambled eggs, one filled with Parmesan and Asiago cheeses, and one stuffed with a chunky tomato-based Indian sauce I had served alongside salmon the night before.  You could just as easily fill them with fresh salsa, roasted veggies, shredded chicken, or any other leftover you might have in your fridge.

Savory crêpes simply entail using spices or herbs rather than sugar/sweeteners.  For this batch (which happens to be gluten-free and egg-free), I whisked together 1 1/2 cups of chickpea flour, 1 tsp. fine sea salt, 1 tsp. cumin, 1 1/2 cups water, and 1/4 cup melted butter.  (If you are not a big fan of cumin, substitute paprika, dried basil, or any other spice/herb that strikes your fancy; if you’re on a dairy-free diet, use coconut oil instead of melted butter.)  Let mixture sit for about 20 minutes, then cook in a well-greased, six-inch crêpe pan in 1/4-cup batches.  See Mastering Crêpes the Easy Way for more in-depth details on how to fashion the perfect crêpe.

Your leftover crêpes will keep for three to four days in the refrigerator–just let them completely cool before storing them in a ziploc bag.  A small piece of paper towel on top of the stack will help reduce moisture and therefore will retard mold.  You might also want to put a piece of waxed paper between each crêpe to prevent them from sticking together.

Happy stuffing!

PB& J Crepe

Crêpes are classy, versatile…and easy. You can make savory ones to use as a substitute for toast (spread them with natural nut butter and organic jam to make an adult version of PB&J) or as a stand-in for an English muffin (top them with eggs and breakfast sausage). Fill them with cheese and seafood and then bake them to make the most unique casserole dish your dinner guests will have ever seen. Or you can make them suitable for desserts simply by adding a few tablespoons of sugar. Sauté fruit, fold it into the crêpe, and drizzle honey over the top for a sublime dessert. If you’re really daring, you can attempt Crêpes Suzette in your own kitchen: the crêpes are bathed in orange juice and orange liqueur and then set on fire. Talk about a spectacle!

Crêpes can be used in an endless number of ways. First, though, you’ll need to whip up a quick batch to have on hand. (You can refrigerate them for up to a week.) Two things are critical for crêpe-making: a good six-inch crêpe pan and a heat-resistant, flexible spatula. Once you’ve gotten some experience under your belt, you can make larger crêpes (the larger ones are more difficult to work with) and you might be able to dispense with the spatula in favor of old-fashioned flipping, but at the beginning, make sure you have a small pan and a spatula that won’t melt in the heat. If you have more than one six-inch non-stick pan, try using them all — two seemingly-identical pans might not behave the same way when it comes to crêpes. One of mine is absolutely terrible and never cooks the damned crêpes while the other pan makes a perfect one every time and doesn’t even need any oil. (I’m guessing that the second one transfers heat better and has fewer microscopic nicks in its surface.)

Basic Crêpe Batter (makes about 10 crepes)

1 cup flour (since crepes do not rely upon gluten to hold their shape, you can use any combination of any whole-grain flour that works for you)*
2 T. sucanat (only use if you want sweet crêpes; omit for savory crêpes)
Pinch sea salt
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk (can be dairy, rice, coconut, or nut milk–whatever you prefer)
2 T. melted butter OR extra-virgin olive oil (plus more for oiling the pan)

Combine flour(s), sucanat (if using), and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the center and add the eggs. Add the milk and butter and whisk everything together, starting in the center of the well. If you’re using gluten-free flours, you can energetically whisk for as long as you like until you have a perfectly smooth batter. If you’re using wheat-based flours, whisk a bit more gently. (The longer you whisk/beat/stir a wheat-based batter or dough, the more the gluten component of it forms. More gluten formation = a tougher end product. Gluten-free cooks don’t have to worry about that.)

Heat the crêpe pan over medium heat and add a few drops of oil or a pat of butter. Add a scant 1/4 cup of the batter and quickly tilt the pan so that the batter runs all over the bottom of the pan. Let it cook for about a minute or until the edges begin to curl back from the pan and are faintly brown. Use the spatula to lift the edge, then peek underneath to see if it’s golden brown. (Purists might consider this cheating, but I say all’s fair when it comes to making crêpes.) If it is, slide the spatula underneath the crêpe and wiggle it around until the crêpe is free of the pan. Use the spatula to flip the crêpe. Cook for another 30 seconds, then check to see if the pan-side-down side is brown. If it is, promptly slide the crêpe out onto a wire rack and let cool.

As you cook the crêpes, you may have to adjust the level of heat and the amount of butter you put in the pan since you don’t want the ever-hotter pan to burn your crêpes. Also, if your pan is showing some signs of wear, it may require a bit more butter. The most important thing in the process is do not walk away from the cooking crêpes — they burn very quickly. Now is not the time to start cleaning the mixing bowl.

Store crêpes in a tightly-closed container in the refrigerator. They’re wonderful served chilled or reheated, and remember: your imagination is the limit when it comes to topping/filling them.

Enjoy!

* You may wish to base your flour selection on whether you’re going to use your crepes in a sweet or savory setting.  Bean flours, for example, are best for savory uses.  Grain flours can be sweet or savory.  Nut flours can be sweet or savory, but they’re probably not the best choice for making crepes because nut flours probably won’t be fine enough — crepes should be thin, delicate, and flexible (that makes them easier to flip and fill), so you want to use finely milled flours when making them.  Cornmeal, for example wouldn’t be the greatest choice, but whole-grain corn flour would.