I was approached by a coworker to make allergy friendly crepes for their annual volunteer appreciation breakfast. They wanted something that was especially special, gluten free and dairy free. I suggested a caramel apple crepe, because generally you can’t find a diary free caramel anywhere, so this would be a real treat for those who haven’t had caramel in a long time.

The crepe itself was easy, a traditional French Chantily crepe is made with cornstarch, which is naturally gluten free. I replaced the milk with oatmilk, because I found that it helped to give me a slightly thicker batter, and I was good to go!

The filling was also easy. I took apples, spices and a little starch and basically went with an apple pie filling. I added the apples in 2 stages, so that I could have a few that really cooked down into almost a sauce, but so I’d also have apples that were firmer for a variety of textures.

The caramel was a bit more challenging. Traditionally all caramel is, is sugar that has been melted and then balanced with fat AKA dairy (usually butter and cream). So not having access to butter or cream for this project, I used a little bit of coconut milk. Over a few practice batches I was able to succeed.

Overall, the event was a success, people enjoyed and were pleasantly surprised with the crepe, and I’ve got another great story to tell and remember!