Matcha Crepes Recipe

Dessert for breakfast is one of the great pleasures to start your day. And arguably crepes make the best sweet thing for breakfast. A light French pancake you can fill with chocolate, cream, or fruit? What more could you want? Daily Meal recipe developer Deniz Vergara shows us how to put a modern twist on an old classic. "The special ingredient in these crepes is the matcha powder," Vergara explains. "It not only gives a green hue to the crepes, but also a distinct earthy flavor."

"I like to create recipes that are somewhat familiar to people with a unique twist," explains Vergara. "My children really like matcha ice cream so I thought it would be fun to incorporate matcha into something new for them."

Start off your shopping trip by buying a bag of flour, followed by a small bag of sugar. Get a small carton of eggs, a carton of milk, and a stick of butter. You will also need a container of clarified butter, though you could also use a bottle of cooking oil. You also need a container of matcha green tea powder. "If you've never had matcha, it has an earthy, grassy, slightly sweet, and bitter flavor," explains Vergara. Next, get some salt and a bottle of vanilla extract. 

For a filling option, Vergara suggests you get a container of vanilla Greek yogurt and some honey.

Start off by melting the butter. "I usually melt the butter in the microwave but you can also do it on the stovetop," Vergara suggests. She also notes, "Using milk and room temperature eggs helps the melted butter incorporate without solidifying. You can put whole eggs in warm water for a few minutes if you don't take them out of the fridge ahead of time!"

Combine the melted butter with the flour, sugar, matcha powder, salt, eggs, milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. "Simply add all to a bowl and whisk until smooth," explains Vergara. Keep combining until it becomes a smooth batter. If the matcha powder clumps up, push it through a fine mesh sieve. Once it's thin and fully combined, let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. You can also just cover it and refrigerate this mixture for up to two days.

Now that your mixture is ready, it's crepe-making time. Start off heating an 8-inch pan over medium heat. Add about ½ teaspoon of clarified butter or oil once the pan's hot. Then start cooking the crepes, ¼ cup of the batter at a time. Pour in the batter and tilt the skillet in a circular motion so the crepe batter evenly covers the skillet. Cook until it's mostly set, then flip and cook until golden brown on the second side. If you need to, adjust the heat to make sure they are more golden than brown.

Once the first crepe is done, put it on a plate. Repeat the process with the rest of the batter, adding more clarified butter between crepes to help them cook and ensure they don't stick. Stack each on a plate, covered by a towel. Once they're all cooked, roll them. To make the filling Vergara suggests, mix ¼ cup of vanilla Greek yogurt with 2 teaspoons of honey and 1 teaspoon of match powder in a bowl. Keep mixing until it's a smooth cream. Vergara also likes "whipped cream (vanilla or with some lemon zest) or chocolate syrup."

Fill each crepe, then roll and plate them. Bring the dish to the next level by topping it with some sliced strawberries and chocolate syrup and enjoy your sweet breakfast or dessert!