“I love crepes,” Soter Vineyards’ head chef Clayton Allen says. “I love to make them. I love to eat them. Sweet, savory, all of it.” In this recipe, he teaches us how to make a wholesome version of this light but satisfying comfort food. “These are in the more typical savory style,” he says.

This recipe calls for buckwheat flour, which is gluten-free. “A seed flour that has no gluten allows the steam to escape from the batter as it cooks,” explains Allen. “As you roll the batter over the holes that form, more batter fills those gaps, and the result is a lace pattern on the cooked side that is reminiscent of your grandmother’s doilies. That’s how you know you did it right.”

A bit of advance planning is key here; you’ll need to let the batter rest in the refrigerator overnight before cooking the crepes.

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Buckwheat Crepes

Yields: 15 to 20 crepes

• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup water
• 6 large eggs
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• ¾ cup buckwheat flour
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup melted butter 

For the batter:

Add milk, water, eggs, salt, buckwheat flour, all-purpose flour and melted butter to a blender container and blend on low speed for one minute and then on medium speed for another minute. 

Pour batter into a clean 2-quart container, cover and refrigerate overnight.

To make crepes:

When you’re ready to make crepes, remove batter from refrigerator and place near cooktop, along with a 2-ounce ladle, heatproof serving plate and pieces of parchment paper to prevent cooked crepes from sticking together.

Heat a 6- to 8-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When skillet is hot, take it off the heat, holding it with one hand (leave the burner on), and with the other hand, ladle 2 ounces of batter into skillet and begin swirling it around so that batter covers itself. (Note: If batter seems too thick in the skillet, stop and mix another ⅓ cup of water to batter in container before making additional crepes.) When batter has set, and you can no longer swirl it in the skillet, put skillet back on the heat for another minute to finish cooking crepe.

To remove cooked crepe from skillet, gently tap it out onto serving plate. If crepe begins to stick to the pan, use a rubber spatula to help remove it. Place a piece of parchment paper sprayed with a bit of nonstick cooking spray between each crepe and keep cooked crepes a warm place for up to an hour, until ready to serve.