When it comes to Passover cooking and baking, my favorite flour is not the dreaded matzah cake meal, which can make baked goods dense and heavy. It’s teff flour. An ancient grain native to eastern Africa, teff is most familiar to Americans as the basis for injera, the spongy, fermented flatbread served at Ethiopian restaurants. But most of us know very little about teff beyond that.
Teff is a tiny seed native to East Africa that functions much like a whole grain in cooking. It is incredibly nutritious, with calcium, protein, vitamin C, fiber, iron, and no gluten. Teff is not hametz, or one of the five grains prohibited during Passover, but some do consider it to be kitniyot. If avoiding kitniyot is not part of your Passover observance, then the eight-day festival is the perfect time to familiarize yourself with this ancient food.
Whole grain teff can be made into a hearty porridge, but it is the flour ground from the seed that I love. Teff flour has a fine texture and a nutty flavor that tastes absolutely delicious with the one thing that helps me through the eight days of Passover: chocolate. Look for teff flour, such as that made by Bob’s Red Mill, at grocery stores with a wide selection of gluten-free products or online.
I have used teff flour to make Passover-friendly chocolate cake and brownies, but one of my favorite teff flour recipes are these crepes. Breakfast during Passover can be challenging, especially if, like me, you love a sweet start to the day. No pancakes! No waffles! But these teff flour crepes go a long way toward satisfying my sweet breakfast cravings.
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You can fill these chocolate-flavored crepes with anything you like, from Nutella to jam to whipped cream. I like to spread the still-warm crepe with butter and then add a sprinkle of sugar for a simple, not-too-sweet-but-still-super-satisfying breakfast or snack.
Note: The batter need to rest in the refrigerator for at least two hours and up to overnight, if you want to prepare it a day ahead.
