Easy To Make Crepes

Just like our Best Fluffy Pancakes, Crepes are extremely versatile and easy to make! This Easy To Make Crepes recipe features a number of helpful tips and tricks that are guaranteed to help you create delicate, soft and buttery French Crepes every single time! So versatile, you can make them for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner or dessert!

WHAT ARE CREPES?

Similar to American pancakes and Buttermilk Pancakes, French crepes have a mild, sweet, cake-like flavour, but a very different size and texture. Crepes are thinner, softer and more delicate. The batter is watery when compared to pancake batter, containing no leavening agents which prevents them from getting fluffy. It’s easy to be intimidated by crepes if you have never made them before. You may have heard that they are either too difficult to make or too delicate to deal with, but with the right recipe, they are actually so easy! After making them once, they will be perfect EVERY time.

Do these crepes look familiar? Perhaps because this is the very same simple, foolproof crepe recipe used in our Strawberries and Cream Crepes with Orange Liqueur. They might look tricky, but once you’ve got the hang of it, you’ll be flipping perfect crepes every time.

INGREDIENTS

All you need for easy to make crepes is flour, eggs, milk and butter (or oil). The traditional recipes consist of 4 eggs, 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of flour. I’m not a fan of the strong eggy taste, so throughout the years, we have been able to reduce the amount of eggs, swapping 2 out for extra milk and fats (butter/oil). I also find the more eggs in the recipe, the more likely it is your crepes will turn out rubbery and chewy.

HOW TO MAKE PERFECT CREPES

In our recipe, we include two methods for mixing our batter: WHISK the DRY ingredients together first. Make a well in the centre and add the wet ingredients. Whisk until lump free and smooth. BLEND all ingredients together in less than 10 seconds. REST your batter while your pan heats up, letting the gluten rest. I find 5-10 minutes is plenty of time. You want a runny batter so that it runs freely around the base of your pan, evenly covering it when swirling it around.

COOK in a lightly greased nonstick pan over a medium heat.

For an 8 inch pan, you will need about 3 tablespoons of crepe batter (about 50 ml). A 10 inch pan needs about a ¼ cup of batter (about 60 mL). For a 12 inch pan, you need just over ⅓ of a cup of batter (about 80-90 mL).

You want just enough batter to create a thin crepe! Add batter while swirling the pan: Use one hand to pour the batter in, while the other hand swirls the pan. Work quickly to ensure the batter spreads evenly over the base and around the edges of the pan. FOR SOFT CREPES Use butter as grease to make your crepes super soft while cooking. Let cook until the surface has set and the underside is slightly golden, about 1 minute. Gently flip and cook until set, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. FOR CRISP EDGES Using oil as your grease helps get those edges nice and crispy! Cook until the edges are starting to brown and crisp slightly, about 1 ½ – 2 minutes. Flip and cook for a further 30 seconds until the crepes develop brown spots.

CAN I MAKE THEM GLUTEN FREE?

Yes, crepes can be made gluten free. Use your regular gluten free flour, or buckwheat flour instead. They are slightly more delicate, but taste the same.

SUBSTITUTIONS

MILK: Almond milk, soy milk, oat milk, rice milk or goats milk can be used to make them. You can also swap milk out for water if you prefer, but the flavour will be altered. FLOUR: Wholemeal and whole wheat flours can be used. They will have a nutty taste and will not be as delicate. The finer the flour, the softer the crepes. BUTTER: Oil can be used instead.