Trimmed Down Crepes

I tend to eat whatever I want. However I also tend to trim recipes down. I don't take out all the good stuff, but I'll remove some, lighten where it won't hurt, etc. In my house it's a delicate dance between health and taste. When I do it right I find a way to maximize both.

A perfect example of this is my crepe recipe. I made them Tuesday night because it was Fat Tuesday, or as it's known in England, Pancake Day. My husband  who is from England wanted his crepes.  However just because some people call the day "Fat Tuesday" it doesn't have to mean "Let''s get fat Tuesday".

I acquired the original recipe from my wonderful Desserts for Dummies book. The recipe called for an entire stick of butter, whole milk, 3 eggs, and a lot more sugar. I didn't want to buy bigger pants, so I had to trim the recipe. In order to keep the dessert feel to the crepes I still added real butter and sugar. I might be able to mess with it more, but I decided that was enough.

According to my rough calculations the original recipe was about 440 calories per serving while the altered recipe is 285 calories per serving. ( I tend to use http://www.calorieking.com/ and http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ to figure out calories in recipes. They're excellent websites and I suggest you check them out!)

The calories given are before you add toppings. Our favorite topping is a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar with a little lemon juice, with some strawberries on the side. We also make veggie trays to munch on while I cook up the crepes.

Here's the recipe as I've adapted it, serves 4:

1 1/2 cups cake flour
2 cups skim milk
1 zest of lemon
2 eggs, plus 1 egg white
1/4 cup of sugar
2 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Brown your two tablespoons of butter in your crepe pan or shallow frying pan. Set aside.

In your food processor blend eggs, flour and sugar until smooth. Then add the butter, blend some more. Then add the vanilla. Slowly add the milk in batches, blending in between. At the very end, add the lemon zest and stir in with a spoon.

Turn the crepe pan onto medium, and let it heat up. Now, you want the pan to have either non stick cooking spray on it. Or, you can do what I do, which seems naughty, but really uses only about a half tablespoon of butter. I open up one end of the stick of butter and quickly swirl it around the pan giving it a kiss of butter between each crepe. The reason I do this instead of the non stick spray is because it makes a better, prettier tastier crepe. Remember, my goal is to sacrifice calories without sacrificing taste!

Add the crepe batter to the pan, swirl around, wait until the edges turn brown, then slide a long spatula underneath and flip. Then,  wait 20 to 30 seconds and flip onto your waiting dish.

Add your favorite healthy toppings, share with friends, and enjoy!