Eggs make crepes stronger, which makes them less vulnerable to tearing. It also adds some taste if you like eggs.
If you have a good frying pan then you don't need them at all. You can make crepes with next to any type of flower without eggs or any egg replacement. Pure buckwheat on the other hand does not have gluten and might be more fragile.
In my experience "galettes bretonnes" are always with eggs, water and buckwheat, but without white flower or milk. I expect here the eggs are especially in use to make the dough less fragile.
I personally like to use forks when I'm breading, so that I don't have to keep reaching into the containers. I use a pair of forks in each containers, which I use to move the food around 'til it's coated, and then lift them to drop into the next container (important -- the forks should not go into the next container ... grab from one end, lower in, but release before the forks touch the stuff in the next one).
You can also use chopsticks or tongs, but I prefer the forks as I can use them to scoop up a bit of flour or breadcrumbs to sprinkle on the bare spots of whatever I'm breading.
Other tips:
- Prep all of whatever you're going to be breading first (assuming you're cooking alone, and don't have a helper). Having to wash up because your hand's all chicken-y really slows you down.1
- Never go backwards. Yes, some people like to go back into the flour, but if you're looking to be mess-free, don't do it.
- Shake off items before going into the next container ... you want a minimal coating of everything -- flour won't stick to flour, so shake off the loose flour before going into the egg. Let the egg wash drip for second or two before going into the crumbs, and shake off the loose crumbs before going into the pan. This will both create a crust that won't separate from the food as easily, but also prevents that growing cluster of crumbs forming in the third container.2
If you're looking to do some breading with the kids, and the kids are too messy, the crumb and flour can be placed into paper bags, and you drop items in, seal up the bag (fold over + binder clips), and then let the kids shake the bag. You might also be able to use containers with a tight-fitting lid. It'll slow you down overall, but it's no worse than the constant 'I want to help' pestering.3
1 You'd note that I said "hand" and not "hands." I keep a strict rule that whenever possible, I only touch raw chicken with my left hand, so that my knife hand never gets slippery (and so I can grab the phone if need be without washing up).
2 Some people also disagree with this step, as in the case of fried chicken, you don't get those extra crunchy bits on the outside. There is, however, a solution ... take the fork in the egg wash, and let it drip into the crumbs, then use the crumb fork to coat them, and lift them to the top of the container ... then set the item to be breaded on top of them as it comes out of the egg wash.
3 Before you worry about me suggesting that I have kids and I consider them pests, no, I don't, but I frequently cook at a friend's house and they do, so we have to set up the breading station away from the stove so that they can help (at home, the crumbs would be right next to the hot pan). Although some people put the crusted objects on a tray or wire rack and let the eggwash dry for a few minutes to reduce crust separation.
Best Answer
This recipe is way too low in gluten, or even gluten free. You need wheat flour (or flour of other very closely related species such as spelt) to get a batter which can rise and bake normally. Any flour which does not contain gluten is not capable of trapping the bubbles created by the baking powder, and the moisture of the batter cannot escape the dough through the solid, bubbleless batter. The mashed banana and jam made it worse.
The best thing to do would be to add pure gluten in proportions common to AP flour (9 g gluten to 91 g oat flour). You will get normal batter.
If you don't want to do that, you can try to engineer a gluten free recipe using xanthan gum or other thickeners capable of producing a gloopy texture. The engineering process will take anywhere up to a dozen tests to get the texture right, and you will need to work with precision (normal scale to weigh all ingredients, small-amounts scale for the xanthan intself). Most home cooks prefer to use an existing recipe instead of going through this.