Name: Panqueques con Dulce de Leche (Crepes with Dulce de Leche)
Total time: PLACEHOLDER
Cuisine: Central & South American
Ingredients: 1 large egg; ¾ cup all-purpose flour , sifted; ¾ cup whole milk; 2 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 8 pieces and softened; 1–2 cups dulce de leche; Confectioners' (powdered) sugar (optional)

Why This Recipe Works

This recipe was originally published in Gaby's Latin American Kitchen. From Gaby Melian: Panqueques are distant cousins of French crepes. The French version of a crepe is a thin, pale round disk often folded in fourths to serve, resembling a tiny handkerchief. The Argentinean version, which is my favorite, of course, is a little more forgiving. You can make your panqueques as thin or thick as you like, with a lot of browning. We roll ours up into tiny logs for serving. When I was a kid, my brother and I could never wait for my mom to finish making all the panqueques, so she would make the first one, cover it with dulce de leche, roll it, and cut it in half for the two of us to split. Against her advice, we would eat it with our hands, dulce de leche dripping down our arms. To this day, those were the best panqueques I have ever had.

Instructions

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg until well combined. Add half of the flour and half of the milk. Whisk until well combined.

Add the remaining flour and milk and continue whisking until well combined and smooth. Let the batter sit for 5 minutes.

In an 8-inch nonstick skillet, melt 1 piece of the softened butter over medium-high heat. Pour a ¼ cup of batter into the skillet and tilt the skillet slowly until the batter forms a thin, round layer and completely covers the bottom of the skillet (see photo, “Cómo hacer los panqueques (How to Make the Crepes),” below). Cook until the bottom is golden brown, about 1 minute.

Use a spatula to carefully flip the panqueque. Cook until the second side is golden brown, about 1 minute.

Carefully slide the panqueque from the skillet onto a plate. Return the skillet to medium-high heat and repeat steps 3 and 4 with the remaining butter and batter, stacking the panqueques on top of each other on the plate. You should have 8 panqueques total. Turn off the heat.

Working with 1 panqueque at a time, use a small offset (icing) spatula to spread 2 tablespoons to ¼ cup of dulce de leche over the panqueque. Use your hands to roll the panqueque up into a log and place it on a serving platter. Repeat with the remaining panqueques and dulce de leche.

Add a spoonful of the confectioners’ sugar (if using) to a fine-mesh strainer. Use the fine-mesh strainer to dust confectioners’ sugar evenly over the panqueques, gently tapping the side of the strainer to release the sugar. Serve.