Galette Bretonne (French Galette) Recipe

Follow this French galette recipe and bring galette bretonne to your table. Crispy-edged buckwheat crêpes of rustic origin, garnished with a savory blue cheese filling, are perfect for a weekend breakfast or weekday lunch.

Yes, again and again, crepes. Now here is a recipe for buckwheat crepes.

They are generally known in French as crêpes de blé noir, crêpes de sarrasin, or galettes de sarrasin where galette means "flat cake," and blé noir and sarrasin meaning is buckwheat in English.

Introduced in the 14th century and reaching its peak by the 19th century, buckwheat was grown in different regions of France with similar soil types, such as Limousin and Auvergne.

Nowadays, galettes bretonnes are made and eaten everywhere across France and beyond.

French buckwheat crepes, along with French crepes and chocolate crepes, are the ultimate part of a crepe bar if you ever consider hosting it.

What is galette bretonne?

Galette bretonne, or French galette is a thin pancake made with buckwheat flour, water, and salt and served with a savory filling.

It is a specialty of the Bretagne or Brittany - a beautiful region in France's northwest.

That is why these crepes are also called Brittany crepes, and crêpes bretonnes or galettes bretonnes in French.

In Britany, crepes bretonnes are cooked on a billig, a flat, round, cast-iron griddle forty centimeters in diameter, with no rim.

Since authentic French galettes are "nearly impossible" to cook in a regular crepe pan, many recipes include all-purpose flour. So, it is called an adapted version of galettes for home cooking.

Galette vs. crepe

In France, the crepes made with whole wheat flour are referred to as "crêpes de froment," meaning "wheat crepes" in English. They can be served with sweet or savory fillings.

Crepes made with buckwheat flour are called galettes which are "galettes de sarrasin" (or "crêpes de sarrasin") in French. And they are savory rather than sweet.

The French people are very selective over the difference between galettes and crepes, and ones should never be called the others.

Why you should try this recipe

• These buckwheat crepes are a beautiful and light alternative to traditional French crepes.

• They are made with basic ingredients and are quick and easy to make, even on busy weekdays.

• These savory crepes are the perfect breakfast option for starting your day off right. Brittany crepes are also a perfect idea to serve while hosting a crepe bar or a crepe party.

Ingredients

For ingredients and detailed instructions, refer to the recipe card below.

• Buckwheat flour: Use fresh, organic buckwheat flour. The buckwheat will give you an earthy, nutty flavor that will have you feeling full and energized all day long.

• All-purpose flour is added to facilitate cooking crepes. Since it contains gluten, it helps make the galettes more forgiving.

• Eggs: The recipe calls for large eggs at room temperature.

• Milk: Use either 2% reduced-fat milk or semi-skimmed milk, which is 1.7% fat.

• Salted butter brings the necessary amount of salt to the batter. If you use unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt.

How to make galette bretonne

To make the buckwheat crepe batter, in a large mixing bowl, place the two kinds of flour, mix them and make a well in the center. Use an egg separator and separate egg whites and yolks.

Add the yolks into the flour mixture and mix with a hand whisk, gradually pouring cold milk (photo 1).

Melt butter in a pan until lightly golden, add it to the batter, and continue whisking.

Use an electric mixer and beat egg whites until they are stiff. Gently add beaten whites into the batter, careful not to collapse (photo 2).

Cover the bowl with a tea towel, and let the batter rest for 1 hour.

Pro tip: Buckwheat crepe batter is thicker than classic wheat crepe batter. To test, pass a ladle through the batter, turn it, and pass your finger across it. The mark must hold for a few seconds.

To cook galettes, heat a carbon steel crepe pan or a nonstick crepe pan (skillet) over medium-high heat. Grease the base of the pan with a small amount of oil.

Mix the batter well, pour it into the center of the pan, and swirl it in a circular motion to get an even, thin layer.

Cook the galette on a hot pan for about 2 minutes (photo 3); flip it and cook the second side for another minute (photo 4). Continue with the remaining batter.

To make the blue cheese filling, in a saucepan, place sour cream, crumbled cheese, and butter (photo 5) and bring over low heat, regularly stirring (photo 6).

To serve, fold galettes and garnish them with blue cheese filling and pecans on top and slices of pear aside.

Expert Tips

1. Preheat the pan well before cooking crepes and brush it with oil between each crepe making. Discard the first crepe; it only serves to season a crepe pan and that it is hot.
2. Stir the batter while frying crepes since the flour tends to sink to the bottom of the bowl.
3. Replace Gorgonzola cheese made from cow's milk with another type of blue cheese, for example, French sheep's milk cheese Roquefort. 
4. Use raw or candied pecans to serve or replace them with freshly cracked walnuts.

Buckwheat crepes filling

The savory fillings for buckwheat galettes include anything from cheese and vegetables to eggs, meat, or even fish.

But the most traditional way to serve crepe bretonne is to make a combo - a regional treasure of Britany.

It consists of a fried egg, a slice of ham, and grated cheese (usually gruyère or comté).

Such the combo is called "la complète," meaning "the complete" in English, and such the galette is known as a galette complète (full galette).

In France, you could order a special summer combo that included fresh tomatoes; the rest of the year, you would enjoy cooked mushrooms added to the galette filling.

If you ever travel to the town of Rennes in France, you could order a galette saucisse meaning "hot sausage galette," in English. It is another authentic deliciousness.

If you like to host crepe parties, prepare different kinds of fillings to allow your guests to experiment and create their own savory crêpe (crêpe salée) or sweet crepe (crêpe sucrée).

Indeed, buckwheat crepes are traditionally savory, but you can also make sweet versions.

Storing and freezing

Store Breton galettes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

To freeze, place parchment paper between each buckwheat crepe, wrap the batch with double plastic wrap, then aluminum foil. Then freeze crepes for up to a month. 

To reheat, warm crepes in the oven at 350°F (175°C) or microwave until hot.

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Recipe card

The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.

The recipe was adapted from https://www.academiedugout.fr. It was originally published on February 20, 2018. The recipe has been revised to include improved content and photos.