These thin French pancakes are surprisingly fun to make, once you get the hang of it! Here’s how to make basic crepes, and a few ideas on to enjoy them.
Have you made crepes? These thin French pancakes are addicting-ly fun to make, once you get the hang of it! They’re also extraordinarily versatile — they can be eaten as an entree, stuffed with anything from cheese to vegetables to meat, or as a dessert, topped with fruit, whipped cream, and of course, the ever popular Nutella! Here’s our basic crepe recipe.
How to make basic crepes
We’ve deemed this week Crepe Week, and we have both a savory and sweet recipe to share with you! Making basic crepes can be tough if you’ve never done it before, so expect to scrap your first one or two! But once you get the hang of it, it’s a breeze!
The main idea for basic crepes is to create a paper thin pancakes that you cook in a skillet. The batter is made of the usual suspects: flour, eggs, milk and oil. In this recipe, we’ve used some whole wheat flour to get a more robust, nutty taste. Once you’ve mixed up the batter, you heat a small skillet and pour in about ¼ of the batter. Roll around the skillet to make sure the entire bottom is coated, then cook it quickly, just about 30 seconds. Then flip the crepe (we’ve found using chopsticks makes that easy!) and cook for another 15 seconds. Remove the crepe to a covered plate and then keep on cooking!
Watch how to make basic crepes
Since making basic crepes requires a bit of technique, we’ve also developed a video to show you the how to cook and flip them (since it’s a bit easier than describing in words). Take a watch to our video below:
Erin of Naturally Ella was kind enough to work with us on this recipe – we developed it as a meld of our favorite method from Julia Child, and the Grilled Cheese Crepe recipe from Erin’s blog. We also added half-wheat flour, which we’ve been doing with a lot of baked goods lately. (Substituting half buckwheat flour also works, and adds good flavor.)
Crepes fillings
There are hundreds of ways to serve basic crepes in delicious ways. These crepes work with either a savory or sweet preparation. Here are a few recipes for how to serve crepes:
- Crepes with Strawberries & Peaches
- Grilled Cheese Crepes
- Berries and our sweetened whipped cream
- Nutella and strawberries
- Ham and gruyere
- Mushrooms and spinach
- Smoked salmon and dill
- Sauteed peppers and onion with vegetarian gravy
- Sweetened mascarpone or ricotta
- Bananas and chocolate drizzle
- 7 Savory Crêpes You Can Eat for Dinner | Food & Wine
- Crepe Cake with Whipped Cream | Bon Appetit
This recipe is…
This basic crepes recipe is vegetarian.
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Basic Crepes Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: Makes 8 to 10 8-inch crepes 1x
Description
These thin French pancakes are surprisingly fun to make, once you get the hang of it! Here’s how to make basic crepes, and a few ideas on to enjoy them.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup whole wheat flour (or buckwheat flour)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 ½ tablespoons grapeseed or vegetable oil
- 8-inch skillet and chopstick, for cooking
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, stir together ¼ cup all-purpose flour, ¼ cup whole wheat flour, and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt. Vigorously whisk in 2 eggs, ¾ cups milk, and 1 ½ tablespoons oil until smooth.
- Assemble your crepe making station with an 8-inch skillet, plate, a towel or piece of wax paper, chopstick, bowl of batter, and ¼ cup measure.
- Cook the crepes: Heat an 8-inch skillet to medium low heat and lightly oil it with a paper towel. Pour in just under ¼ cup batter and rotate the pan so that the batter covers the pan (see the video above). Wait for about 30 seconds until the crepe cooked. Use the chopstick to loosen the edges of the crepe, then flip it and cook for another 15 seconds on the other side. Place the cooked crepe on the plate, and cover with a towel. (Tip: If you’ve never cooked crepes before, you may need to scrap one or two before you get the hang of it. You also may need to reduce the heat mid-way through the cooking, and/or oil the skillet again.)
- Category: Essentials
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: French
Keywords: Basic Crepes, Crepes Recipe, Vegetarian Dinner Recipe, Dessert Recipe
I absolutely love crepes! These sound fantastic!
I’ve been dying to try making crepes! I think I’ll fill them with some strawberries and Nutella!
Thank you so much for this post!
I’ve been dreaming about a little restaurant near where I went to college that served nothing but crepes, and with nothing like there where I live now, I wanted to make my own, but was dissuaded by thinking (obviously incorrectly) that I need a special pan, etc…
I will be making these VERY soon.
Great! I’m sure a special pan would help with the flipping, but with a little practice you can definitely do without. :)
Oh, I keep meaning to make crepes, but for some reason I also keep putting it off. Yours look amazing! Looking forward to seeing what fillings you chose. :)
Nice tips and video. I recently discovered 3 Days in Paris at the City Market in downtown Indianapolis. Very tasty crêpes for when you can’t get to France or make them yourself.
Agreed – they are very tasty! 3 Days in Paris is also at the Broad Ripple Farmer’s Market, for those in Indy. They mentioned to me once that they also use a flour blend similar to below (but I don’t want to give away all their secrets, so I won’t reveal the exact ingredients :) ). Make sure to check them out, Indy residents!
I always find I have to discard the first crepe for some reason and then the rest turn out fine. They are such a great base for many meals.
OK, I thought I had to be the only one that finds making crepes fun! So glad I’m not, haha. These look great, and remind me that it’s been way too long since I made crepes. I’ve never actually had savory filled crepes, so I’m curious to try that out sometime. Sweet filled ones are so delicious though :)
I’ve enjoyed many crepes, but have yet to make them myself. Your video was extremely helpful and now I feel ready to try them! Looking forward to trying all sorts of filling combinations!
My family is from brittany (france) and crêpes are our thing… passed down generation to generation. These don’t look right. Too thick. Crepes should be like lace at the edges. Also, wheatflour is used when you make “dinner” crepes (with a sunny side egg, cheese or ham or all three in it) but not for sweet crepes.
3/4 cup of milk? Try like half a litre. The batter should be milky but not.. “battery”. In fact it should be like eggnog even slightly more liquid.
We also don’t use only milk but cut the milk w/beer or even water. Sometimes cognac…
A crepe should be paper thin but not dry so you can’t just pour the batter in THEN spread it around (your pan isn’t hot enough btw) It’s got to splash in as you vigoursly shake that batter around as fine as possible. It’s a technique. The high heat and watery batter cooking quickly is what will form the lace edges…
When the edges lift up , you flip it over, quick.
I’m sorry but those are just thin pancakes
Thanks for sharing tips from your family’s recipe!
I am also from France and completely agree with Noa and all of her comments. My mom cut the milk with water, and also made the batter with beer. She would also add a splash of rum for sweet crepes. Mardi Gras was my favorite day, bicycling as fast as I could from school, in time to see a high pile of crepes on a plate. Ate them sprinkled lightly with sugar. The crepes have to be very very thin, with little holes, just like lace. Also, when my mom flipped the crepe, she had a tiny coin in her hand, as this was supposed to bring you good fortune :)
I only wish I had her old pan today…
I enjoy your blog, keep up with the fun recipes.
These look delicious – thanks for the tutorial and the recipe!