This is my time tested recipe for basic crepes. Because I make them so often at home, I became somewhat of a crepe expert in my family, and mind you, being an expert in crepes does not amount to many privileges here, except for the privilege of making lots of crepes and practicing flipping them (the crepes) on a frying pan. I literally could flip them with my eyes closed. Crepes and I go back together long ways. You see, I grew up eating crepes on a weekly basis: my mom would usually cook them during the weekend, and my sister and I would eat them for breakfast, almost always with home-made sour cherry preserves. The sour cherry preserves were prepared by our parents during summer, with cherries from huge sour cherry trees in our garden. My sister and I would pit the cherries. In one of my earlier posts, with a tart cherry pie recipe, I talk about my cherry tree childhood memories.
By the way, this is the 8th day of NaBloPoMo. And, yes, making crepes is easy. In fact, the only “hard” part is using the right frying pan and a little bit of practice to flip the crepes. If you never made crepes, I highly recommend using non-stick pan, which will virtually guarantee that crepes won’t stick to the pan. I personally like to use stainless steel frying pan, as it results in a much better crepe texture, but using stainless steel will require some practice (as far as how hot you need to get that pan to make sure crepes won’t stick). With non-stick, it’s easier.
The below crepe batter recipe and tutorial describe how to make crepes batter from scratch, without lumps, how to get just the right batter thickness. For crepes, the less thick the batter is, the better. If the batter is not thick enough, though, you will end up with crepes that will be very hard to flip to the other side – they will be too thin. So, it’s a fine balance: just how thick the crepe batter should be. Below I provide precise measurements that I use for my crepe batter that always result in amazing crepes that are slightly sweet, soft, easy to flip and easily moldable in various shapes (pockets, tubes, etc., more recipes to come!). One of my most favorite ways to serve crepes as a dessert is crepes with agave-ricotta cheese filling, topped with pears roasted in honey.
How to make crepes in a regular frying pan, from scratch
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
- 2 cups milk
- 1 1/3 cup flour
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons sugar
1) Mix all those ingredients in a large bowl and whisk the mixture until lumps dissolve.
2) Heat frying pan until very hot (on high heat on stove top), spray it with oil spray and, using a soup ladle, pour small amount of batter into the frying pan as you roll the pan from side to side just enough to cover the bottom of the pan evenly with a thin layer of crepe batter. Depending on the size of your soup ladle, you could use a whole ladle-ful, or less. It also depends on the diameter of your skillet. The key is to cover the bottom of the pan with just a slightly thick layer of batter, don’t coat it too thickly.
3) Let this thin layer of crepe batter cook for 1,2 or 3 minutes, depending on your pan (the subsequent crepes will require much less time to cook than the first time as the pan heats up even more), then flip the crepe to the other side and let it cook for another minute on the other side. This way, you cook each crepe 1-2 minutes on each side. To flip the crepe, pick up the sides of the crepe around its circumference, gradually reaching towards the center of the crepe from all sides, until the crepe separates from the pan. How to know when it’s time to flip the crepe? When you pour the batter, it will be wet in the frying pan but gradually bubbles will be forming and batter will start to dry. When it’s all bubbles and no liquid batter – it’s time to flip! You can see it on my photos below.
4) Your subsequent crepes might require much less time to cook, and the more of them you have to make, the faster you will have to flip the crepes, because the frying pan will get more and more heated up. When you cook crepes, your frying pan is always on high heat. This will minimize sticking.
5) As each crepe gets done, transfer it to the plate and add each new crepe on top of previous crepe in the stack. Sometimes I like to brush each crepe with softened butter and then top it with the next one. Deliciousness!
How to make crepe batter
Pouring crepe batter onto the heated and greased frying pan (grease the pan only once, for the first crepe)
Pouring crepe batter onto the heated and greased frying pan
Pouring crepe batter onto the heated and greased frying pan
Cooking a crepe on one side until liquid evaporates
Cooking a crepe on one side until liquid evaporates. Here crepe is almost ready to be flipped over
All liquid batter is gone, just nice bubbled side of the crepe is there
Now it’s time to flip the crepe to the other side
Gently pick up the crepe around its circumference
And … flip it!
Crepe is successfully flipped to the other side!
Crepe is cooking on the other side
Picking up the sides of the crepe around its circumference to check for doneness
Picking up the whole crepe and transferring it onto the plate
Crepes recipes:
Dessert recipes:
- Chocolate peanut butter cookies
- Crepes with ricotta cheese and blueberries
- Peanut butter surprise cookies with rolos
- Strawberry banana bread with blueberries
- Chocolate chip and white chocolate chip cookies
- Banana bread with blueberries
- Outrageous chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips
- Soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies
- Berry clafoutis
- Banana bread with walnuts
- Outrageous chocolate cookies
- Apple tarte tatin, or simply caramel apple tart, with strawberries
- Rugelach with pecan and raisin filling
- Dark chocolate chip peanut butter cookies
- Blackberry almond crumble bars
- Soft yet crumbly chocolate chip almond cookies
- White chocolate macadamia nut cookies
- Chocolate covered hazelnut shortbread cookies
- Almond crescent Christmas cookies
- Cranberry noels
- Almond shortbread cookies with Amaretto
- Peach shaped sandwich cookies with dulce de leche filling
- How to make dulce de leche from sweetened condensed milk
- Cherry gelatin
- Banana bundt cake
- Crepes with agave-ricotta cheese filling, topped with pears roasted in honey
- Chocolate cupcakes, with no frosting
- Apple cinnamon rose bundt cake
- Plum and apple tart on puff pastry
- Chocolate bundt cake with cognac soaked cherries
- Berry bundt cake glazed with lemon icing
- Petite plum tarts (tartlets)
- Tart cherry pie - good memories
- White chocolate bread pudding with whiskey cream sauce
- How to make tart crust for 6 tartlets
Perfection!
Thank you
Julia,
Wow! You make this look so easy!! Thanks!!
I’ve been scared of crepes. Not so scared that I won’t order them in a restuarant, mind you! Just intimidated to make them at home. I’ll be trying your recipe and following your tutorial. I think I can do this!
It’s actually very, very easy. It takes only a little practice to make the batter just thick enough and to learn to flip the crepes correctly. So, the first couple of times you might waste some milk and flour, but then you get a hang of it, just like with everything. Definitely not rocket science.
I haven’t tackled crepes yet but this makes me feel much more at ease with the idea! Yours look delicious!
Thank you! It’s very easy and for some reason the fact that I can make good crepes always impresses the people around me. If only they knew how easy it was.
What kind of frying pan do you usually use? Is it stainless steel? And nothing sticks?
I use Williams-Sonoma stainless steel frying pans, of different sizes. Crepes don’t stick, as long as you get the pan really hot. Very rarely, my first crepe sticks, then I just wash the pan and start over. If the batter is too thin, the crepes will stick to the pan, too. I also have made crepes on many different types of non-stick pans (black coating) in other people’s houses and never had a problem with sticking. But I like the crepe texture I get with stainless steel better.
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Hi I have a non stick severely scratched pan will it still work? what will I do??
Most of the time I use stainless steel pan, because I don’t own any non-stick pans. I do use non-stick successfully when visiting friends/family, but their pans are usually without scratches so I am not really sure.