Crepes with bananas and home-made hazelnut chocolate spread

Name: Crepes with bananas and home-made hazelnut chocolate spread
Cook time: 30 min
Yield: 4-6
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 250g plain flour, sifted; 550ml full-cream milk; 2 eggs; 1 tbsp caster sugar; pinch of fine sea salt; ½ tsp ground cinnamon; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus extra for cooking; 2 bananas, sliced, to serve

Julia Busuttil Nishimura

June 21, 2024

For best results, let the batter rest overnight, ready to cook in the morning.William Meppem

easyTime:< 30 minsServes:4-6

Crepes are a weekend favourite in our house. I make the batter and let it rest in the fridge overnight, ready to cook the next morning. A proper crepe pan makes life easier, but a regular frypan does the trick.

One of the ways I like to eat them is with this home-made hazelnut chocolate spread and slices of banana. The spread isn’t completely smooth like some of the store-bought ones but is more akin to the texture of a velvety nut butter.

Ingredients

250g plain flour, sifted
550ml full-cream milk
2 eggs
1 tbsp caster sugar
pinch of fine sea salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus extra for cooking
2 bananas, sliced, to serve

FOR THE HAZELNUT CHOCOLATE SPREAD

150g dry-roasted hazelnuts
1 tbsp caster sugar
½ tsp sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
15g Dutch-process cocoa powder
60g chocolate (70 per cent cocoa solids), melted

Method

Step 1
Place the flour, milk, eggs, sugar, salt, cinnamon and vanilla in the large bowl of a high-speed blender and blitz until smooth. Alternatively, whisk together in a large bowl. Pour in the melted butter and blend or whisk until incorporated. Cover and allow to rest in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or, ideally, overnight.
Step 2
For the hazelnut chocolate spread, place the hazelnuts, sugar and salt in a high-speed blender and blitz for 6-7 minutes or until the hazelnuts have released their oils and become a fairly smooth nut butter; scrape down with a spatula, as needed. How long this takes will depend on your blender. Add the vanilla, cocoa powder and melted chocolate and continue to blitz until smooth and well-combined. Transfer to a jar and set aside at room temperature.
Step 3
Warm a frypan or crepe pan over medium heat and when hot, add a little butter. When foaming, pour in about ¼ cup of the batter and immediately swirl the pan to spread the batter thinly over the base. Cook for one minute, or until golden, then flip using a spatula and cook the other side for 30 seconds. Transfer to a serving plate and spread a little butter over the crepe. Repeat with the remaining batter, greasing the pan with extra butter between crepes. Continue to add a little butter to each crepe as you stack them.
Step 4
Serve the crepes with the hazelnut chocolate spread and sliced banana.