November 17, 2019

Maple Butternut Squash Dessert Crepes

If you like pumpkin pie, you’ll LOVE these butternut squash dessert crepes. The simple crepes are topped with a maple butternut spread, which is sweet, creamy, and decadent, and so good you’ll have to stop yourself from eating it by the spoonful. For a contrasting texture, walnuts give that bit of crunch and tiny bit of bitterness to add some complexity to the dish. Finally, homemade cinnamon flavored vegan whipped cream is just the metaphorical cherry on top of this quintessentially fall dessert. If you love vegetables for dessert as much as I do, than this butternut squash treat will be the highlight of your Autumn!

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How Long does it Take to Post a Recipe?

I get asked all the time how long it takes me to post a recipe- how many times I cook it, and how many variations I go through before calling it blog-worthy. As you might guess, there’s a lot of variation in how long it takes for a recipe to make it onto Very Vegan Val. Sometimes I have an idea similar to something I’ve made before, and I make and shoot it for the first time and it’s ready. Other times I make a recipe time after time, changing things until I get it the way I want (and sometimes giving up on the recipe entirely). I bring all of this up to explain how long it took me to make this recipe- two years. To be clear, I haven’t spent the last two years of my life making squash purees and flipping crepes. I worked on this recipe two years ago, and wasn’t ever able to get the recipe where I wanted it. It tasted delicious, but I was having trouble with the crepes. But I found other recipes, and soon forgot the maple butternut squash dessert recipe.

Fast forward two years, I’ve recently made my fuss-free, no wait, 5 ingredient vegan crepes and a great vegan whipped cream recipe, and the time was right for my maple butternut squash crepes. And let me say, I love this recipe so much, it was worth waiting two years to share it with you all.

Celebrating Maple? Try one of these Maple recipes!

How to Make Vegan Butternut Squash Dessert Crepes

These butternut squash dessert crepes have two main elements, plus one optional (but recommended!) element. The bulk of the work is in making the maple and butternut squash butter. You start with cooked butternut squash, and puree it with maple syrup. Once it’s nice and smooth, place it in a saucepan and slowly cook it down until it’s smooth and thickened. There will be a certain amount of splatter as it cooks, so watch out when stirring- if you have a splatter guard, you might want to use it, otherwise just stand back a little and keep the heat fairly low. The second component is the crepes, which are super easy to make- I even have a video if you’re a visual learner! The third component is a vegan whipped cream- I used this recipe and just added a pinch of cinnamon. You could also use store-bought whipped cream if you prefer, or just go without. Any way you do it, these maple and butternut squash crepes are delicious.

Maple Butternut Squash Dessert Crepes

Ingredients

1 butternut squash (1.5-2 lbs)
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1 cup walnut pieces
1 batch of Vegan Crepes
(Optional) 1 batch of Vegan Whipped Cream, with ¼ tsp. cinnamon added

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C). Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Set the squash in a glass baking dish, and pour half an inch of water into the dish as well. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the squash is fully cooked and easily pierced with a fork.
Remove the squash from the skin and place in a blender, along with the maple syrup, vanilla, and salt. Blend until totally smooth, then transfer the puree to a large uncovered saucepan. Heat to a gentle simmer and stir occasionally, and allow to cook down for 25-30 minutes, until it is thicker and silky.
Optionally, make the vegan whipped cream, and add ¼ tsp. cinnamon to the mixture. Next make the crepes, according to the recipe.
Assemble the crepes by spreading about 1 tbsp. of the maple butternut mixture on half the crepe, fold it in half, and again in quarters. Top with vegan whipped cream (if using) and a generous tablespoon of walnut pieces.

Notes

Note: This recipe creates more of the maple butternut spread than will be needed for 12 crepes. It stores well in the refrigerator, and can be used on crepes at a later date, or spread on toast, swirled into lattes, or just eat it straight!