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
*This post contains affiliate links.
Questions & Reviews
Your dad is the best, Sara…AND he cooks? Fabulous 🙂 I think you're my new hero for admitting you ate these so often during your pregnancy- that's awesome 🙂 (I'm waaay too lazy to do anything that ambitious 🙂 Hope everything is going well!
BTW…best crepe topping ever is a bit of sugar and lemon juice, then fold it up so the sugar melts…amazing.
I love crepes! I've tried them a few times and they've always tasted great but I've never truly loved the ones I make. They're never as thin as I'd like them. Maybe this recipe will be "the one" for me! Thanks!
Love crepes- the recipe I have makes them a little too thick though. Can't wait to try this. I'm featuring this recipe tomorrow- thanks for sharing!
Stacey, it could be a combination of both of those things. Are you using a non-stick pan? That helps, as does buttering it well. Then just keep pouring batter until you get it to cover the bottom- you may just not be using enough. Good luck!
What a coincidence. This is my dad's specialty too! He always made them saturday mornings for us. He gets a little crazy with the fillings though. Sausage biscuit sauce, spaghetti sauce etc as well as the normal. Since I've married and moved away I crave these things. But every time I try to make them I ruin them. I can't seem to get them to swirl around the pan. Am I using too little or is the pan too hot? Help! I want these so much my teeth hurt!
When I made these my first time only a few turned out. Most of them were either burnt or a mushy mess. But the second time I made them they were sooo good! I found that when I put too much batter in the pan, I couldn’t flip the crepes. Also make sure you butter/spray the pan every time.
When I was a kid, my mom had a crepe maker. It was like a plug in frying pan, except instead of being concave, it was convex. You just heated it up, the dipped the whole convex surface in the batter, waiting a couple of minutes, then peeled off your perfect crepe. I'm totally going to search for it & steal it next time I go home.. dad's not allowed stuff like this for breakfast anyway…
Swedish Pancakes as we call them is my absolute favorite Saturday evening meal from growing up. The picture with the butter and syrup are exactly how we ate them. Can't wait to make them again. My family love them. I took pictures of my mom making them the last time she made them for us before she passed away and had her write the recipe 3 times in her handwriting so each of my kids would have it directly from her hand.
Being Polish, my mom never made pancakes. Instead we always had crepes for breakfast on the weekends. Or sometimes, when I begged, for dinner. When I went to my first sleepover and realized that pancakes were actually much thicker and not as delicious tasting, I realized that I was in the minority. Crepes are much more decadent and delectable.
Ideal toppings? Ummm NUTELLA with strawberries and homemade whip.
I love crepes! My all time favorite is butter, powdered sugar, and fresh lemon juice. Yumm!
Ours growing up were called Flinzin, with cinnamon and sugar. So good!!
My favorite crepe filling is some sweetened cream cheese in the center. Then you roll up the crepe and put homemade apple pie filling on top. YUM!
I had to laugh when I read this post. We had "jelly rolls" all the time growing up (my Austrian great-grandmother's specialty). I was a very confused young adult when I realized my "jelly rolls" were actually crepes and everyone else's jelly rolls were something else entirely.
Interesting that a lot of comments are about dads/grandpas making these…my dad also made these for us growing up, but in our house, they were "skinny pancakes" (I have 2 brothers who have asperger's syndrome, so change is UNwelcome-renaming these was the only way dad could get them to even try them) *Side note-French toast was renamed "pan toast"
My fav filling-2 Tbsp cottage cheese, and 1-2 tsp favorite jam, then roll burrito-style and dust with powdered sugar if you like it sweeter. YUM!
I love crepes! We make them Christmas morning and I love to fill mine with sausage and powdered sugar and them smother them in syrup! So good!
I can't believe I've still never eaten or made crêpes before. I must change this soon. Your crêpes are lovely!
Mmmm. In my house we called them Swedish pancakes (my dad served his mission in Sweden).
My grandpa made these, "Danish Hotcakes" every Christmas morning. I love them! We also put syrup on them, or butter and sugar. But my new favorite is pears and chocolate sauce. Yum
My mom made these all growing up, but we called them "Swedish pancakes." And we filled ours with strawberries and whipped cream–mmmmmm. My husband is the designated crepe-maker at our house, so I don't know if these will work for Father's Day . . . 🙂
I have always made these, and grew up eating them as well. When my kids were small and I made them for the kids, they just called them "roll up things." So that is what they are known as at our house. My daughter, when she was old enough to write, got the recipe out and crossed out the original title and wrote in "Roll up Things."
i love your site! i have made quite a few recipes from it including both fish tacos! and i love crepes!
This looks great! Thanks for the great tips. I love "crepes" and collect recipes… but have never made them!
We love us some crepes in our house… I have one of these
http://www.amazon.com/Villaware-V5225-VillaWare-Crepe-Maker/dp/B00005R85W
that makes beautiful, easy crepes with no flipping necessary. Our favorite filling is Sour Cream with some granulated or brown sugar mixed in until it is just a little sweet. DELISH!! 😉
my dad made crepes every sunday while i was growing up… i think he still does. i think its the 'frenchie' in him. he always makes his batter in the blender. maybe i'll have to make some this week to honor him. thanks for sharing!
Wow! Someone else had thin pancakes growing up! My family has a recipe for thin pancakes & whenever I make them for someone else, I have to tell them they're similar to crepes! But the best way to eat them is to put lots of butter & then sugar– and if a buttery sugary mixture drips very slowly out the bottom as you eat them (rolled up), then you know you did it right 🙂
Love it!
I love crepes because you can make them either sweet or savory. Super photo tutorial too! 🙂
Ok girls… it's my birthday this weekend and I plan on cooking entirely from this site! I'll post some pics next week and let you know how it goes!!! My mom and I are gonna tackle this one together (with my sister who is visiting too)!
Saturday morning we are gonna start off at 6am with a trip to a blackberry farm! I see a blackberry galette in our future!
HUGS and thanks for the many many many amazing recipes and tips!
XO!
Syrup? Are you people out of your minds? The IDEAL topping for Crepes (and I'm gonna assume for Thin Cakes and Swedish Pancakes as we called them growing up) is….
NUTELLA!!!
My favorite combo is Nutella with bananas and whipped cream or Nutella with strawberries and whipped cream.
It's mostly just important to have NUTELLA!
🙂
P.S. Here in Japan you can get savory crepes with fishy fillings! YUM! (for them.)
P.P.S. I make my Crepes/Swedish Pancakes with whole wheat, soy milk, and no sugar these days. Helps off-set the guilt of having what is essentially a dessert for dinner. (We're Brinner fans around here.)
EXACTLY!! I wanted to know what was wrong with these people! Nutella is the way to go! It’s soooo delicious! I love it with bananas too! And it’s more authentic. That’s how I had them in Paris. 🙂
Oh thanks so much for sharing! I love crepes but I've never tried to make them. This doesn't seem tooo hard!
My very very favorite to-die-for topping for a crepe is my mom's homemade chokecherry syrup (similar to elderberry if you've never heard of it), and softened cream cheese. Oh, I LOOOOOVE!!