Buckwheat Crêpes With Apple Compote and Walnuts
Lightly sweetened with molasses and topped with fruit and nuts, these delicate pancakes make a nourishing breakfast or dessert.
- Serves
4
- Time
1 hour, plus 4 hours resting the batter
Dr. Marie-Pierre St-Onge grew up eating buckwheat crêpes in Quebec and knew she wanted to include a recipe for them in her book, Eat Better, Sleep Better, because the hearty grain is a fantastic ingredient for supporting healthy sleep. Here, the thin, delicate pancakes are lightly sweetened with a splash of nutrient-rich molasses, then filled with a spiced apple-walnut mixture for an extra dose of melatonin and omega-3 fatty acids. Serve this dish as a sweet (but not-too-sweet) breakfast or lunch, or swap out the yogurt for ice cream and serve smaller portions for a cozy dessert. The batter may be made ahead of time—it keeps well in the fridge for several days, and you can fire off a crêpe or two as needed throughout the course of a week. The filling can be prepped in advance as well; microwave it for 30 to 60 seconds to rewarm before using.
Adapted from Eat Better, Sleep Better: 75 Recipes That Unlock the Food-Sleep Connection by Dr. Marie-Pierre St-Onge and Kat Craddock. Copyright © 2025. Available from Simon Element.
Featured in “Want to Sleep Better? Pay Attention to Your Gut” by Betsy Andrews.
Ingredients
For the crêpes:
- 1 cup buckwheat flour
- ¼ cup molasses
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- ½ tsp. kosher salt
For the apple-walnut filling:
- 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1 Tbsp. almond oil (or substitute light olive oil), plus more for oiling the crêpe pan
- 1 Tbsp. molasses
- 3 firm apples (such as Honey Crisp or Granny Smith), cored and thinly sliced
- 2 tsp. cornstarch
- ¾ tsp. ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp. ground ginger
- ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
- Kosher salt
- ⅔ cup coarsely chopped walnuts, divided
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt, for serving (optional)
Instructions
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Step 4
- Make the crêpes: To a blender, add the buckwheat flour, molasses, egg, buttermilk, and salt and process until smooth. Transfer to a bowl or a liquid measuring cup, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 3 days.
- Make the apple-walnut filling: To a large skillet over medium heat, add the butter and oil. When the butter begins to sputter, stir in the molasses, then add the apples, cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are just tender and the juices are bubbling and thickened, 12–14 minutes (if the apples do not release much liquid and the mixture is dry, stir in ¼–⅓ cup of cool water and cook until the apples are tender and coated in a glossy sauce). Remove from the heat, stir in half of the walnuts, and keep warm while you cook the crêpes.
- Thin the crêpe batter by whisking in ¼–½ cup of cool water (it should have the consistency of a melted milkshake). Heat a large (at least 9 inches) nonstick or well-seasoned carbon steel skillet over medium. Soak a paper towel in oil and use it to very lightly grease the surface of the skillet. Pour a scant ¼ cup of the batter into the skillet, then immediately swirl to make a very thin pancake (pour any excess batter back into the bowl). Cook until the edges just barely begin to pull away from the sides of the skillet, 1–2 minutes, then use a thin spatula or your fingers to flip the crêpe and cook until just set, about 30 seconds more. Turn the pancake out onto a heatproof plate and cover with a clean, dry kitchen towel while you continue cooking the rest of the batter, stacking the crêpes atop each other as you go.
- Fold 2 crêpes in quarters and place on a plate. Tuck a quarter of the apple filling into the folds, sprinkle the crepes with walnuts, and top with a tablespoon of yogurt if using. Repeat with the remaining crêpes (there should be 8 crêpes total) and filling and serve warm.
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