Chocolate-Hazelnut and Strawberry-Cream Cheese Crepes

There is seriously nothing better than some delicious homemade crepes to start off your morning (or even end your day!). Every now and then I make these for my husband either for brunch or a weekday dinner. The cream cheese/strawberries and chocolate compliment each other beautifully and ooze delightfully out of each crepe. Add some ice cream and you have an amazing dessert! They are light, fluffy thin pancakes that can be served with either savory or sweet accompaniments. This is a great recipe to get your kids involved with; they can be in charge of filling their own crepes and adding different toppings. This recipe is a showstopper, but it is surprisingly simple to make. Just get your basic crepe making technique down, and the possibilities will be endless!

Servings: approximately 10 crepes

Ingredients:

2 large eggs

3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup cold water
1 cup flour
3 tbsp. melted butter
strawberry sauce (search for this recipe in the sidebar)
1/4 cup cream cheese
1/3 cup Nutella
fresh strawberries
whipped cream (search for this recipe in the sidebar)


Assembly:
Combine milk, water, flour, butter and eggs in blender and mix for 1 minute. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes. Microwave Nutella and cream cheese in separate bowls until soft (about 20 seconds). In a small, nonstick skillet heated on medium, pour in 1/4 cup of the batter and swirl around the pan. When the sides begin to crinkle, scoop this crepe into the garbage (you always want to toss your first crepe!). Pour another 1/4 cup in and swirl. After 1 minute, flip and cook another 30-45 seconds. Remove to a plate. Repeat until you have used all of your batter. While you are making crepes, spread a tablespoon of Nutella onto a crepe and roll it. Do the same for the cream cheese, adding 1 tablespoon of strawberry sauce before rolling. Garnish with fresh strawberries and whipped cream and serve immediately.

Homemade Strawberry-Balsamic Sauce

This yummy sauce is delicious atop cheesecake, flourless chocolate cake, shortcakes and brownies to name a few. It also complements french toast, waffles and pancakes. For a fancier use, try filling homemade crepes (coming soon!) with this sauce and a smear of cream cheese for a tasty and impressive brunch dish. Sweet and fragrant, fresh strawberries are cooked down with sugar and balsamic vinegar until they are soft and delectable. You can make this sauce with fresh berries in the summer or frozen berries in the winter, and it can be stored in the freezer for easy use on another date.
Ingredients:
1 10 oz. bag of frozen whole strawberries or 1 large container of fresh strawberries, sliced
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
salt
1/4 cup slurry (1 part cornstarch, 1 part cold water, mixed)

Assembly:
Mix water and sugar in a pot over medium heat. Add berries, vinegar and salt, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook, uncovered for 20-30 minutes until reduced by 1/3. Stir in slurry and raise heat to medium. Stir to desired thickness and remove from heat.