Last weekend my dad was here to visit for a few days, and that always means that I get spoiled on crepes. The man is basically famous for his crepe making skills, and naturally I'm always pushing him outside the box with interesting flavor ideas. We've done everything from red velvet to a more savory chive and cheese crepe. His go to combination is and has always been a plain crepe with a strawberry cream cheese filling, and trust me when I say that those are absolutely out of this world.
But... it's pumpkin season and I'm going to take full advantage of it. So, we ended up making these pumpkin spice crepes filled with a lightly sweetened cream cheese mixture. Yum! One of my wonderful cousins is a pumpkin spice fanatic just like I am, so I know she's going to have to talk my dad into making these sometime for her too! Sick'em Sam!
My dad and I differ quite a bit on our cooking styles. He doesn't typically lighten anything up. ...Except for when I make him, of course. *Grin* So, today I managed to sneak in a few swaps to lighten these bad boys up. First thing's first with using a whole wheat white flour, and swapping out some of the sugar for a sweetener. Next up was using a mixture of both egg and egg white and using a reduced fat cream cheese (which my dad didn't even know was a thing!)
Other than that, crepes are pretty straight forward. You should keep in mind that most places you get crepes in America are going to serve you thicker more 'pancake' like things that are overly sweet and way too indulgent for my tastes. These are more traditional French style crepes. They've even been approved by one of my dad's French customers who happens to be a crepe aficionado.
The added pumpkin puree to the crepe batter did leave us with a different texture to the crepe than maybe we were used to. They were a bit fluffier but none-the-less as delicate as they are supposed to be,
I topped my crepes off with a dusting of powdered sugar and some dark chocolate chips, because that's just what you do with pumpkin spice flavored things!
Skinny Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Crepes
TheSkinnyFork.com
The Skinny:
Servings: 9 • Size: 1 Crepe • Calories: 102.9 • Fat: 1.7 g • Saturated Fat: 0.4 • Carb: 11.8 g • Fiber: 0.8 g • Protein: 8.7 g • Sugar: 7.8 g • Sodium: 244 mg
Ingredients:
Crepes:
3 Whole Large Eggs, Lightly Beaten
6 Large Egg Whites, Lightly Beaten
1/3 C. Pumpkin Puree
1/4 C. Reduced Fat 2% Milk
1/4 C. Whole Wheat White Flour
2 Tbsp. Sugar
2 Tbsp. Natural Sweetener
1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 Tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice
Filling:
8 Oz. Fat Free Cream Cheese, Softened
2 Tbsp. Powdered/Confectioners Sugar
Directions:
Beat together the 3 Whole Large Eggs, 6 Large Egg Whites, 1/3 C. Pumpkin Puree, 1/4 C. Reduced Fat 2% Milk, 1/4 C. Whole Wheat White Flour, 2 Tbsp. Sugar, 2 Tbsp. Natural Sweetener, 1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract, and 1 Tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice.
Lightly coat the inside of a large skillet with non-stick cooking spray and begin to let it heat over a medium heat.
While you're waiting for the pan to heat up, stir the 8 Oz. Fat Free Cream Cheese and 2 Tbsp. Powdered/Confectioners Sugar together until well blended.
Once the skillet is hot, spoon out about 1/4 C. - 1/3 C. of the crepe batter onto the pan until it covers the bottom of the skillet.
Allow the batter to cook until it's looking dry and 'spongy' on the surface.
Place about 2 Tbsp. of the cream cheese mixture into the center of the crepe.
Roll or fold the crepe up and remove from the pan to serve right away.
We ended up getting 9 crepes with this recipe using my large skillet and 1/3 C. measurement for the batter.
