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A big thank you to my dear friend Monica for introducing me to these crepes! Monica is originally from Brazil and last year when we met, I shared with her my Paleo diet. I told her how breakfast was my problem since I didn’t have a lot of options being on AIP and hence couldn’t have eggs either. When I told her that I could eat yuca/cassava and things made from cassava flour, she immediately started telling me about these brazilian tapioca pancakes that I could make. Her verbal description and explanation did not help me much and I couldn’t really understand how one could make a crepe or a pancake out of just flour! But Monica was persistent and after she and I parted, she sent me an youtube video link of this recipe! I watched it and was sufficiently intrigued to try this recipe out!
Then followed several tries and finally I started getting a hang of it. Yes this recipe is a bit tricky but those who know me know that I can’t leave a challenge! Don’t get discouraged – actually the challenge was more because whatever recipe videos I saw did not show the exact proportion of water that needed to be added to make the wet dough powder. All the recipes were vague about it. I think this is partly because the wet dough called as tapioca flour hydrated (“Massa pronta para tapioca”) is available to buy in Brazil and probably Brazilian stores in US too (not sure). But anyways, my scientific background came to good use here and after a lot of trials, I figured out the exact water quantity and standardized the recipe using a well-known and trustworthy brand of tapioca flour (Bob’s Red Mill). Btw, make sure you use tapioca flour and not cassava flour for this recipe. Tapioca flour has only the starch part from cassava and that is what is needed for this recipe.
So I have been making this recipe for almost a year now. So why didn’t I post this recipe yet? Well, as I told you, this recipe is a bit tricky and I therefore wanted to do a video of me making it before I posted the recipe. I think this is one of those recipes where watching the video is an absolute must! Not only is it useful to watch to understand the process better but you have got to watch it for the sheer beauty of the whole thing too! Seriously, this is fascinating stuff – you are making crepes out of wet flour not batter you see? Got it? So do watch the video 🙂
And what about the filling? What are some examples of fillings? Since I mostly like to eat these for breakfast, I usually make this berry compote/filling and stuff the crepes with that! Ooh so delish! Check out my recipe for an easy and delicious mixed berry compote that I just posted. But you could also stuff with a lot of savory stuffings like shredded chicken or beef and veggies etc. You could also add mashed avocado with veggies and or fruits with nut butter etc. so many possibilities! Monica tells me that traditionally in Brazil, a lot of cheese is added! With or without cheese, these are absolutely delicious and irresistible! I love having them with some grass-fed butter on top! Yum!
Hope my video makes you want to try making these! Let me know in the comments below if you try this recipe! Tchau! (bye in Brazilian portuguese)
- ¾ cup Tapioca flour
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ¼ cup water
- coconut oil for greasing the pan
- Take a large mixing bowl and add the tapioca flour and sea salt to it. Then add the water little bit at a time and using your hands wet the flour with the water. Even after using all the water you should only get a wet powdery dough. (If your dough looks sticky then add more flour ; Watch the video above to get the idea how the dough should look)
- Next take another bowl and place a fine mesh sieve over it. Now slowly sieve the wet powder from above step through the sieve until you have a very fine powder.
- Heat a stainless steel pan or a non stick pan on the stove for about 5 minutes on low to medium heat (about level 6). Now take a large serving spoon and take about 2 tbsp of the powder and sprinkle slowly onto the pan to form a circle. Quickly using your spoon spread the powder to form a complete round (with no gaps in between) --> Watch the video above to see how this should be done.
- Cook the crepe / pancake for about 1 full minute and then slowly flip using a spatula onto the other side. Cook for 1 more minute and then transfer to a plate.
- Repeat process to make more crepes/pancakes.
- Serve crepes / pancakes with filling of choice.
Sharing this recipe over at the Paleo/AIP Weekly recipe Roundtable hosted by Phoenix Helix.
