Growing up I had no idea what a crepe was. What I did know was “Thin Cakes”. They were my Dad’s most famous dish and everyone in our family looked forward to thin cake Saturdays when he would stand at the stove-top with an enormous bowl of batter and a few hot skillets in front of him. The rest of us would stand around the island just waiting to be next in line for a hot one to land on our plate- we topped them with butter and maple syrup and rolled them up burrito style. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized what we were eating were crepes! Some people are intimidated by crepes, but they couldn’t be easier. Like many foods, success is really in the technique. So below I’ll show you some of my tips to get perfect crepes every time. I’ve also used fancy recipes and fancy equipment, but this recipe is the most basic form that any home cook can make. Chances are you have everything you need right now! Eggs, sugar, oil, flour, and milk.
Ingredient and Equipment Notes
- Eggs – use large or extra large eggs. If using small eggs, you might want to add an extra!
- Melted Butter or Canola Oil – either one works just fine. I use oil more often because it’s easier without the step of melting, but butter adds great flavor.
- Sugar – Use regular granulated sugar. I use more for sweet crepes and less for savory crepes.
- Flour – All purpose flour works great, though for a more traditional (and gluten free) French crepe you can try buckwheat flour.
- Milk – Any milk will do, though the lower the fat content, the more fragile the crepe. For casual eating at home, I use what’s in our fridge (1%) but if I’m planning ahead for a special occasion, I’ll use whole milk.
- Toppings/Fillings– Crepes are wonderful filled with either sweet or savory fillings. At the end of this article, I’ll share some of my favorite fillings for both options.
- Pan – there are all kinds of fancy machines and pans, but honestly a simple non-stick skillet works just great. I prefer a 10″ size. This simple crepe pan is a favorite, here!
Instructions
- I like to combine all ingredients in a blender, it’s quick and easy and mixes the batter smooth! If mixing by hand though, you’ll want to combine the wet and the dry together slowly, at first creating a thick mixture so you can get all the lumps out, and then adding the rest of the liquid until smooth.
Note: Your batter will be very thin. A very common mistake people make with crepes is adding too much flour because they’re used to a pancake or waffle batter consistency. Growing up making these with my Dad, he always told me the consistency was the key and he was right!
2. Heat a nonstick skillet to medium heat. I like an 8-10″ pan. There are all kinds of fancy crepe machines, but a basic nonstick skillet works best for me. You can vary the size depending on how large you want the finished product. I keep a stick of butter with the wrapper half off right next to it for easy greasing. It’s essential that your pan is pre-heated before you put the batter in. I give the pan a quick rub with the stick of butter and then while holding the pan with my left hand, I pour batter with my right, tilting and turning the pan as I pour to get just a thin layer of batter on the pan surface. Then I place the pan down on the stove.
You don’t need to actually measure the batter, you just want to pour it in, but in case you’re needing a visual, I’ve noted that you’ll need roughly these amounts for the skillet size:
8″ skillet: 2 1/2 Tablespoons batter
10″ skillet: 3 1/2 Tablespoons batter
Cooking and Flipping: A flexible rubber spatula is what I use most. Look at the edges of my crepe in the picture below. It doesn’t take long at all for the crepe to set. the Top surface will go from looking wet to dry, and you’ll see little lacey edges around the edge of the pan and you’ll be able to run the edge of your spatula around the entire edge of the crepe. One you can do that and it easily lifts, you can then flip. I use my spatula to gently lift up the edge and then I grab it with my fingers and just flip it over.
Cooking the second side literally only takes about 15 seconds and after that you can flip it onto a plate. Either keep them warm in the oven or stack them and let them cool.
Thin Cakes: In our house growing up a thin cake was made in the largest pan we had. They were as big as the plate. And they’re eaten hot off the skillet. Right when it gets plopped on your plate we rub it with butter and then drizzle with maple syrup and roll it up.
If you want to take a more traditional route , you can fill and either fold them up into quarters, or roll burrito style. They can also be made ahead of time. Just stack them between sheets of waxed paper, pop them in a zip-lock bag, and store in the fridge or freezer.
Crepes can be eaten either savory or sweet, and hot or cold. Most people in the US are used to sweet crepes, but meat ,cheese, and vegetable fillings are delicious too! Ham and cheese is a French classic that I love. Just sprinkle cheese (I like havarti or gruyere) on the crepe as soon as you flip over the first side. I like to fold them in quarters and eat with our hands!
More traditional sweet fillings you can try are pastry cream, pudding, nutella, the chocolate mousse from this cake, and fruit of all kinds. Try topping with Strawberry Sauce, Buttermilk Caramel Syrup, Hot Fudge, or just a dusting of powdered sugar and sweetened whipped cream.
Crepes
Description
This simple recipe produces tender crepes, perfect for filling with sweet or savory things. In our family, we love an untraditional combo of butter and maple syrup, rolled up!
Ingredients
- 2 large or extra large eggs
- 2 tablespoons melted butter or canola oil
- 3 tablespoons sugar for sweet crepes, 2 teaspoons for savory
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 1/3 cup milk, 2% or higher recommended, but anything works!
- Additional butter for cooking
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a blender and pulse until combined. If whisking by hand, mix all dry ingredients first, and mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Slowly add wet ingredients to dry until a thick batter is achieved, whisking constantly to remove lumps. Add remaining liquid while whisking until smooth.
- Let batter sit for at least 10 minutes, and up to 30.
- Heat a non-stick skillet to medium heat. I like to use a whole stick of butter with the wrapper still on, but open on one end, to grease my pan. I just hold the butter stick and run the open end quickly over the surface of the pan to coat.
- Hold pan with one hand while you pour the batter with the other hand. Twirl the pan in a circular motion pouring just enough batter to coat the bottom of the pan. Place on cooking surface and cook until edges are set and you can easily run a rubber spatula around the edge of the pan, usually about 30-60 seconds. The very edges should appear lacey and slightly browned. Flip crepe and cook an additional 15-20 seconds. Remove crepe from pan and either keep warm in the oven or cool to room temperature.
- Fill with your choice of savory (meat, cheese, vegetable) or sweet (pudding, mousse, pastry cream, fruit) filling. Top sweet crepes with with Strawberry Sauce, Buttermilk Caramel Syrup, Hot Fudge, or just a dusting of powdered sugar and sweetened whipped cream.Unfilled crepes can be stacked between sheets of waxed paper and refrigerated or frozen. To thaw, leave at room temperature.
Makes 12-14 8″ crepes
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Kylie I totally agree! I made these and they were delish!!! Ooooh coconut whipped cream would be divine! Nice idea emily! Wait….i just have to ask Kylie as in Kylie Sumter from Oregon?
Wow you two are great! I loved this recipe and it was so easy to make! My hubby and kids loved it! Definitely a keeper!
Wow! These crepes were AMAZING and really easy! Me and my sis put fresh raspberries, hot maple syrup, and coconut whipped cream (leftover from your coconut lime cheesecake which by the way was DELISH!) and it was to die for!!!!
Oh and I just been meaning to say…..I absolutely LOVE this website! I’m 16 and I’ve always liked to cook but it wasn’t until my mom bought your cookbook that I really started LOVING it! Each of us kids has our own “dinner night” at our house where we pick and make dinner. So whenever it was my turn I just turned to your book! And i loved every single recipe (except for the ones I screwed up on which kinda happens a lot lol! 🙂 But I’ve got years to learn right?) Anyway I was in heaven with all those yummy recipes….but that was before I found this blog and HOLY COW!! I just can’t tell you how much I love everything on here! You two are amazing!!! I love just looking at the mouth watering pictures and I can’t wait to make every recipe!! Haha I’m kinda on this website a lot and sometimes my mom’ll ask me to get off the computer….”Mom I’m just on Best Bites”……”honey get off”……….”I’ll make dinner…;)” and you can take it from there haha:) Me and my sister have made a ton of your recipes and sometimes when we just feel like cooking somethin we just pull out the cookbook or the computer. Haha once she made your Guiltless Alfredo Sauce with fettuccine and it was soooooooo good! Our whole fam loved it! Now our little 3 yr old brother calls it “Megan’s Pasta” lol! Well I could go on forever on this blog but I probably should get goin on making dinner! Probably Creamy Chicken Taquitos tonight! =)
Just made these for breakfast and they were a huge hit! I am tired of the usual pancakes, muffins or french toast and was wanting something a little different. This hit the spot. We love your recipes, please keep them coming!
My parents are from Germany, so crepes have always been….you guessed it, German Pancakes. Your crepes are almost identical but he insisted on cooking them in vegetable oil, his poor fore arms! Splatter alert! But the only way I knew to eat them was with applesauce and cinnamon and sugar, wrapped like a burrito. Still my favorite way but I am loving the new combos! Thanks for all your delicious posts!
I am from the Utrecht, The Netherlands and this is pretty much the only way we eat pancakes. We put a thicker syrup on it, roll it up, then shake powder sugar on top. Another thing I used to do it put brown sugar on the pancake and roll it up. My favorite is eating it plain. And its so funny that there every kids party has crepes (we call it pancakes).
I just made these last week and paired them with Kate’s Mediterranean Egg Scramble = YUMMY!!! Loved the eggs (I’m not usually an egg fan) and loved the crepes!
I grew up calling these Hungarian Pancakes and then discovered that others called them crepes. They are my kids favorite food and ask for them for dinner as well as breakfast. Although I use a slightly different recipe, I do them just like you! 8″ no-stick skillet (10″ seems a little too big), not too much flour,& lots of butter!! My kids like them plain, with jam, or with powdered sugar. Yum!! Maybe that’s what I’ll make for dinner tomorrow when the whole family comes!
Thanks a bunch!!!! I like the no blender instructions. I made them and they came out perfect and delicious!!!
Crepes are my husband’s specialty (he served an LDS mission in France). We usually fill them with Nutella, sliced bananas, REAL whipped cream and crushed almonds. DELICIOUS!
We fill ours with “sticks” of ice cream, put them in the freezer, and serve them with hot fudge (or caramel) and nuts! We got the idea from a restaurant in Olympia, Washington called Falls Terrace. You have to buy ice cream in square cartons and cut it into 1 inch slices, then 1 inch “sticks”. Sometimes we top them with sliced strawberries. It’s our kids’ favorite birthday dessert!
This variation is one I’ll eagerly try. Sounds amazing!
These are lovingly referred to in our home as “Daddy Pancakes”. Every Sunday after church my husband makes crepes for the family and the kids have just always called them that so they don’t accidentally “order” the regular type of pancakes that are called, “Mommy Pancakes”.
my favorite way to eat crepes is with lemon juice and sugar. Divine! Or as the french would say “trop gourmandise!”
I made these for lunch today and they were fabulous! We filled them with ham and cheese- so yummy! Quick question though, what is the best way to store and reheat them if you have leftovers that have already been filled?
Thanks again for the super yummy recipes!
when I was growing up we used to make crepes only slightly thicker and then take butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and the roll them up. we dubbed them roll up pancakes and still have them every year for Christmas breakfast.
Mmmmm! I love this Smith tradition! Growing up my mom would always make these and when she did, she would tell us the story of Uncle Bill and how he just kept eating and eating thin cakes. My brothers, still to this day try to beat Uncle Bill's record. I just made these this past Saturday and it still is "a little of this and a little of that" around these parts in Nevada. Lol. And they never get old! Mmmm!
Holy crepe! Making these this morning was madness with two snotty kiddos & a sleepy dad but my "terrible two-year-old" sous chef got so excited when he found me digging for my whisk that my sometimes unwisely supportive husband decided Aunt Jemima could have the morning off. A stubbed toe, a time out, my eight month old little girl saying momma for the first time & about an hour and a half later… We had crepes! Plain butter & maple syrup crepes but they were delish! I'll take another run at them on a morning when everyone sleeps in & get fancy with the filling.
I am going to try this recipe this weekend. I make them all the time but yours look different than how mine turn out. We always put a flavored yogurt inside with fresh blackberries or strawberries, roll them up and top it with powdered sugar and chopped pecans. They are tradition for General Conference. I love your blog by the way. Go to it nearly everyday! Thanks for all the good tips!
I have been making crepes with a different recipe for about a year now – I like this one MUCH better! The texture is so tender and crispy in the middle and fabulous. I ate 5 of them by myself after dinner tonight (each with a different filling). A spoonful of nutella is a clear winner.
http://henleythegreatdane.blogspot.com/2010/07/caramel-cake.html I made it and had to post about it.
I LOOOVE crepes. I use melted butter in my crepes instead of oil. and i use vanilla extract. I love to put nutella in them or peanut butter mixed with a little powdered sugar !
I just made these crepes for breakfast! So tasty and wonderful!
Oh wow! You make it look so easy. When I get some more flour in my pantry I am definitely going to be trying this!
I made these this morning with nutella and bananas and they were delicious and super easy! So glad I can add crepes to my repetoire! Thanks for sharing!
I think I might try these out. I have had horrible experiences with crepes in the past, I can never figure out the proper time to flip them.
Thank you sweet Holly! We're so glad you're enjoying our food- comments like that make our day!
Ok here it goes. I was given a link to your blog about 5 weeks back by someone who made the chocolate mousse cake (which was obviously divine). I almost went out of my mind as I perused the site and couldn't wait to get started cooking and baking! The mint brownies and thai peanut noodles were among the first of the recipes I tried, and how could I go back from there?! In just over a month, I've use 19 of your recipes! I can't be stopped! Everything is so cilantro-y and garlic-y and chocolate-y and just utterly heavenly. I made these crepes tonight for dinner/dessert, and I just knew it was time to tell you how I feel. I love everything about this website and your recipes, and I could not be happier about finding your blog. I've always loved baking (and eating), but now I LOVE it and I LOVE cooking too, and as a new mommy of a 10 month old, it was just getting to the point where I needed to find something I love doing, while being at home. Anyway, that was a crazy rant, but I just thought you both should know how much you are impacting people's lives! I'm serious! Can't wait to see what's to come!
That looks so good!
In my family we make something similiar, but call it egg pancakes. I like them much more than a traditional crepe – they are more rich. We make the batter in a blender, and use a regular pan to cook them in, but we never use syrup. It may sound strange, but we either use butter and sugar, or jelly and sometimes with a strip of bacon down the center with the jelly and rolled up like a burrito. A family favorite for sure!
We have Thin Cakes for dinner at least twice a month, if not more. Maybe I will make these for dinner tomorrow.