Chocolate Banana Crepes

Week 418. Spring 2024. I am 41 years old and standing in my kitchen — the Bench house kitchen, the one that held cancer and divorce and cinnamon rolls — and the stove is on and something is cooking and the house smells like fresh herbs and possibility and this is my life. This is the life I built.

The clinic was busy this week — spring puppies and summer emergencies and the constant, comforting cycle of animals who need care and humans who love them enough to bring them in.

Mason is 13 and navigating middle school with the quiet competence that has always been his way — focused, kind, certain of who he is in a way that took me thirty years to achieve.

Lily is 11 and riding horses with the fearlessness of someone who has never considered the possibility of falling.

I made spinach and feta frittata this week. The food continues. The food always continues. It is the thread that connects every week to every other week, every year to every other year, every version of me to every other version — the woman on the kitchen floor, the woman at the chemo recliner, the woman at the grill, the woman at the outdoor table under the string lights. All of them, connected by the food they made with their hands. All of them, me.

The frittata came together quietly that evening — the way most good things do now — and afterward, because Mason had been hinting for days and Lily had declared it “a dessert kind of week,” I made these Chocolate Banana Crepes. They are the sort of recipe that requires just enough attention to keep your hands busy and not so much that your mind can’t wander somewhere grateful. Standing at that stove, in that kitchen, folding crepes for two kids who are somehow already 13 and 11 — that felt like exactly the right thing to do with a Thursday night in spring.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 4 (8 crepes)

Ingredients

2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the pan
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas, thinly sliced
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chocolate hazelnut spread, for filling
Powdered sugar and whipped cream, for serving (optional)

Instructions

Make the batter. In a blender or large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, milk, flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, melted butter, and vanilla. Blend or whisk until completely smooth. Let the batter rest for 5 minutes.
Heat the pan. Place a 9- or 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Brush lightly with butter and let it heat until a drop of water sizzles on contact.
Cook the crepes. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into the center of the pan and immediately tilt and swirl to spread it into a thin, even circle. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes until the edges look set and the surface is dry, then carefully flip and cook for 30 seconds more. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining batter, stacking crepes with parchment if needed.
Fill and fold. Lay each crepe flat. Spread a thin layer of chocolate hazelnut spread or scatter a few chocolate chips down the center, then arrange a few banana slices on top. Fold the crepe in half, then in half again to form a triangle, or roll it into a cylinder.
Serve. Arrange filled crepes on plates. Dust with powdered sugar and add a dollop of whipped cream if desired. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Chocolate Banana Crepes — The Food That Connects Every Version of Me