Naleśniki – Polish Crepes – Vegan Mofo

Happy first day of Vegan Mofo!

I wanted to start things off with one of my favourite childhood memories.When I was little one of my fondest morning memories is when my mom would make naleśniki (Na-leh-shniki.) Watching her make them always seemed so magical because what was once a liquid, seemed to defy gravity – clinging to the pan, changing colour, and turning into something delicious. I would sit at the kitchen table, we would listen to the CBC, we would talk, all while she made breakfast.

There would be two typical fillings, a sweetened cheese one made with quark or some kind of stewed fruit or jam. My favourite of course, would be one with fruit, so that’s what I made this morning, finally, for my own family.  When my mom made it, it was topped off with a vanilla sugar thick cream – this morning I made a quick cream with maple syrup, coconut yogurt, and some vanilla bean.

Before I went vegan, she would use a piece of bacon to grease the pan,  but eventually, once I went vegan she would still make ones for me with oil, filled with fruit, and dusted with icing sugar. Lucky me!

Smacznego! (which means bon appetit! or enjoy your meal!)

Naleśniki – Polish Crepes

Makes 8 naleśniki

Ingredients 

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tsps prepared Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer mix
• 1 cup unsweeteend soymilk
• 3/4 cup boiling water
• a pinch of salt
• 3 tsp a light vegetable oil (I used canola)
• Filling; stewed fruit or your favourite jam
• Topping:
  • 1 cup of your favourite non-dairy yogurt
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • half of the inside of a vanilla bean or a splash of vanilla extract

Pre-heat a large pan on medium heat.

Mix all ingredients together in a blender – and blend for 30 seconds on high – and then it’s showtime.

Measure out 1/3 cup of your batter, pick up your pan with one hand, and get ready to pour and rotate as quickly as you can.  I used a 1/3 cup measure to pour batter onto the pan – it will be ready to flip after about a minute. Batter will curl at the edges and look slightly dry.

Flip it, and after another minute remove from pan and place on a plate. Cover plate with another plate and repeat until you have no batter left – should make approximately 8 pan sized naleśnik.

Now the filling, so, honestly, I wanted to make a sweet cheese filling with some silken tofu – but the one I bought yesterday looked like it had been frozen, which wouldn’t have had the texture I was looking for, so I shifted gears and used a jar of plum jam my mom had sent me a few months ago. It was perfect, but any stewed fruit or jarred jam will do – apple, plum, apricot, pick your favourite!

Please join me for more Polish Vegan Recipes throughout the month of October! And connect with me on instagram or facebook for more great vegan stuff or behind the scenes action!