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This is my time tested recipe for how to make crepes in a regular skillet, from scratch, at home. Step-by-step photos and instructions on everything about crepes: how to make crepe batter, how to flip crepes, how to make sure they don't stick to the pan, etc. Easy crepe recipe for French-style crepes!
Because I make the crepes so often at home, I became somewhat of an expert in my family on how to make crepes, and mind you, being an expert in crepes does not amount to many privileges here, except for the privilege of making lots of crepe batter and practicing flipping them (the crepes) on a frying pan. I literally could flip them with my eyes closed. The easy crepe recipe I have below is for classic French style crepes: thin, slightly sweet, perfect for all kinds of delicious crepe fillings!
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.
And, yes, the crepe batter recipe and the process of making crepes are so 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 skillet, 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 crepe 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 easy crepe recipe 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.
Ingredients you'll need for this easy crepe batter recipe:
2 cups milk
1 ⅓ cup flour
1 egg
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
How to make crepes:
First, make the crepe batter:
Pour crepe batter onto the heated and greased frying skillet (grease the skillet only once, for the first crepe)
That's what it looks like when you pour the crepe batter onto the heated and greased stainless steel skillet
Cook a crepe on one side until the liquid crepe batter becomes more solid:
Here, you're cooking a crepe on one side until the crepe becomes more solid. Here is the crepe almost ready to be flipped over:
All liquid crepe batter is gone, now you have just a nice bubbled side of the crepe:
Now it's time to flip the crepe to the other side, using the metal spatula:
Gently pick up the crepe around its circumference, using the metal spatula:
And ... flip it!
Crepe successfully flipped to the other side:
Crepe is cooking on the other side
Pick up the sides of the crepe around its circumference to check for doneness
Pick up the whole crepe and transfer it onto the plate
Enjoy the crepes! So, yes, making crepes in a stainless steel skillet is definitely possible! I've been doing it for years. It just takes practice. Of course, if you're new to making crepes, it's probably easier to stick to non-stick skillets. 🙂 I really hope you find this easy recipe and my instructions for how to make crepes useful!
How to make crepes in a regular skillet
Ingredients
- 2 cups milk
- 1 ⅓ cup flour
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons sugar
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients for crepe batter in a large bowl and whisk the mixture until lumps dissolve.
- 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, do it slowly.
- 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 crepe, as the pan heats up even more with each crepe.
- After cooking the crepe batter on one side for 1 to 3 minutes, flip the crepe to the other side, using the metal spatula, 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, use the metal spatula and 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 first pour the crepe batter, it will be wet in the frying pan but gradually bubbles will be forming and the crepe batter will start to get dry. When it’s all bubbles on top and no liquid crepe batter – it’s time to flip! You can see it on my photos above.
- 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 stainless steel skillet is always on high heat. This will minimize sticking. If you use non-stick, you can keep it on medium heat.
- 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. It tastes really good, and also helps crepes not stick to one another.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I too grew up with crepes. We had these filled with whipped cream cheese and strawberry jam. Nowadays it's Nutella. But any filling is awesome. Our family recipe is made with water instead of milk and ground cinnamon
I agree - any filling is so good with crepes, including both sweet and savory fillings. Crepes made with cinnamon sound so good!
loooove these tips! I've never made crepes but I sooo need to!
Thank you!
I am very late to the party as well 🙂 but I was searching for easy crepe recipes/instructions because I’ve never made them before but love them. I was reading the comments as well to see how they worked for others and get their tips and tricks. I came across Pierre St. Jean’s comment and I could not believe someone would be so freaking rude and disgusting! For no reason! Pierre whoever you are you are a despicable person and I’m sure you live a very lonely, empty life because of it! I’m still in disbelief that someone would so ruthlesly verbally attack someone they do not know who is sharing something helpful and something they enjoy and something so completely innocent, and for absolutely NO reason at all! If you don’t like something, don’t use the recipe, don’t cook it, move on! No one is forcing you to! You really need to get a life if this how you spend your time. Absolutely pathetic behavior. Thank you Julia for sharing and providing the photos for reference! They look and sound great!
I hope you try the recipe and like it! 🙂
Sorry I am late to the party! I just whipped up a batch of these for supper tonight. We used seedless raspberry jam, strawberry preserves, some whipped cream and dusted with powdered sugar. Served with maple sausage links on the side. I didn't have any granulated sugar, so I subbed powdered sugar. This tastes exactly like my late mother's crepes, and looked like them, too. The only thing is, next time I will halve the recipe~ Thank you!!
Thank you, Marilyn, I am so glad you liked this recipe! Maple sausage links sound so delicious to go with the crepes stuffed with raspberry jam. YUM! 🙂
You have created such a understandable blog where eager cookers can easily go to! Your blog is an amazing resource! Can't wait to make them! Thank you so much for putting so much hard work and determination for creating such a marvelous blog!
You're very welcome!
So I knew crepes were like pancakes but wow few differences. Can't wait to try to make them
Enjoy!
I've tried your rêciept with my non-stick pan. Amazing, it's so easy and good! Tks so much
You are NOT a crepe expert of any kind, sweetheart.
#1) You do NOT heat the pan on high, letting your pan get "very hot". Mistake #1, dumbo. That is why your crepes are extremely burnt in your picture, dummy!
#2) how stupid are you to think to cook your crepes for 1,2, or 3 MINUTES ?? Crepes are thin and will be beyond burnt, SUCH AS IN YOUR PICTURE!!!!!!! if cooking " on high heat". More like 30-45 SECONDS, dumbass!
#3) these need vanilla, as there is no flavoring in this recipe. If you are making a sweet crepe as opposed to a savory crepe, you need sweetness. Or honey, for the loved of god. Take out the sugar.
#4) why is your "cook time" 1 hour????? If it takes you one hour to make a few crepes, you're doing it wrong, and your more dumb then I think you are.
#5) Again, you are no crepe expert, so please remove that from your blog - its offensive to us French people!!
She said she's the crepe expert within her family, not the world. No need to be rude to someone sharing what has worked well for her and her family. Why not share your real French version instead of being hurtful, uppity and showing lack of class? Your commentary reminds me of the French as portrayed in Monty Python. Tsk.
Thank you. I think there are kinder French people than this one, thank heavens! She can stay in France and start her own blog with her own recipe. I made these, the times were faster, oh, and I did add vanilla. They were golden, soft, and pliable and folded very easily. Once a gain, thank you for the recipe!
Pierre you're an embarrassment to French people every where.
This recipe was fabulous delicious and awesome @
Hi there! I just made your crepes and I am only 13 years old! So this was very easy and fun! But now I have these extra crepes left over, and I was wondering if you can you refrigerate them and the batter too? I don't want them to go to waste as they are fantastic! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
I'd like to use these to make Chicken Enchilas, and wouldn't want them sweet. Can you leave off the sugar?
Nope, sorry, baking powder does NOT go into crepes. This is a recipe for flat American pancakes.
These were perfect!! My first time making crepes ever, so was in need of a good receipt and some easy to follow instructions. The explanations and pictures were very helpful and exact. I followed every instruction and the result was amazing. Thank you so much. Six 11 year old girls loved and gobbled up the triple batch that I made (with a few left over for me). I will certainly do these again.
Just made these ! Thank you so much my husband and I loveee them !!!
I make my batter with, (horrors!), buttermilk pancake mix, I beat one or two eggs and a little water and a little pancake mix. Runny consistency. I always thought crepes were an egg batter thing. Anyway I love mine and fill them with spreadable goat cheese and jalapeno & fruit jelly.
Going to have to try the real thig that you posted here.
Thanks.
just made them for breakfast. So yummy!! I was always afraid to make crepes, but you made it look so easy -- and it was!