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Detailed recipe for how to make gluten free crepes using 2 easy options. First option is to use gluten-free and gum-free waffle and pancake mix. Second option is to use gluten-free and gum-free flour blend.
I am so excited to share this recipe for gluten free crepes that taste just like regular crepes - you can trust me on that statement as I've made LOTS of regular (non gluten free crepes) in my lifetime.
Tips for making gluten free crepes
- You can use either gluten free waffle and pancake mix or use gluten free flour blend.
- If you use waffle and pancake mix, use the one that contains sweet rice flour and tapioca flour as main ingredients. I successfully used Full Circle gluten free waffle & pancake mix.
- If you use gluten free flour blend, use the blend that contains sweet rice flour and tapioca starch as main ingredients. Do not use flour blends that have bean flours. I successfully used King Arthur gluten free multi-purpose flour. You can buy it at King Arthur online store, or at Walmart online.
- Storage tips: Crepes keep refrigerated for a week. After being refrigerated, they would usually stick together - which is easily fixed by microwaving them quickly. You can also freeze crepes - make sure to wrap them air-tight.
Why am I making gluten free crepes all of a sudden, while all other desserts on my site are pretty much full of gluten? Well, I have recently made a decision to become gluten free, and I've been gluten free for about a month now.
Up to this point, I have made and published lots of non-gluten free desserts on this site, and with these gluten free crepes I am making my first foray into the world of gluten free desserts!
They taste just like regular crepes, which makes me very happy because I do like to have my crepes on a regular basis.
I've been reading up on the challenges of gluten free dessert making, but these were so easy to make and are so forgiving - I highly recommend them! So delicious and so easy to make!
How to make gluten free crepes from scratch
And here is a quick step-by-step photo tutorial.
First, heat the frying pan until very hot. Grease the pan with non-stick spray or just grease it with butter - do it only once, before the first crepe. There is no need to grease the pan before each crepe, only before you pour the first one - just make sure the pan is heated well and continues to be very hot. I like to use the good quality stainless steel skillet like you see on the photos. You can also use non-stick pan. Pour about ¼ cup of the crepe batter into the very hot and greased only once frying pan:
Foll the pan from side to side just enough to cover the bottom of the pan evenly with a thin layer of crepe batter:
Cook the crepe on one side until liquid evaporates. When you first pour the batter onto the frying pan, the crepe batter will be wet in the frying pan but gradually bubbles will form and batter will start to dry. When it's all bubbles and no liquid batter - it's time to flip!
To flip the crepe, use the spatula to 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:
And, now you're cooking it on the other side. You can see how nice and toasted the first side looks. It takes only a minute or less to cook the crepe on the second side, especially if your pan is very hot:
Using the spatula, pick up the crepe and transfer it onto the plate:
Fillings for gluten free crepes
I have made lots of regular (non gluten free) crepes with various fillings and published the recipes on my site. Here are some of these recipes - all you need to do is to use this recipe for gluten free crepes and then use just the crepe filling recipe from the recipes below:
Peanut butter Nutella crepes topped with strawberries in syrup
Stuffed crepes with Ricotta cheese and Blueberry filling
Apple Cinnamon Crepes (or apple pie in a crepe)
Crepes with Ricotta cheese filling and honey roasted pears
How to make gluten free crepes
Ingredients
Option 1. Make crepes using gluten-free and gum-free waffle and pancake mix
- 2.5 cups cold water
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons butter , melted
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 ½ cups gluten-free pancake mix (gum free, see note below)
Option 2. Make crepes using your favorite gluten-free and gum-free flour blend:
- 2.5 cups cold water
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons butter , melted
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 ½ cups gluten-free flour (gum-free multi-purpose flour such as King Arthur brand, or 1 for 1 gluten-free flour - see note below)
- ½ teaspoon gluten free baking powder or mix baking soda and cream of tartar in equal parts
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Mix all crepe ingredients in a large bowl and whisk the mixture until lumps dissolve. Let the mixture sit for about 15 minutes at room temperature. It will thicken after 15 minutes.
- Heat frying pan until very hot (on high heat on stove top), spray it with oil spray (or add melted butter) and, using a soup ladle or ¼ measuring cup, 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.
- 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.
- There is no need to spray your pan with cooking spray or grease it with butter each time - only do it once, for the first crepe. If you're using a good stainless steel pan (I use All-Clad) or non-stick pan - spraying the pan once before the first crepe is enough.
- 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.
- 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 (but it's not necessary). Deliciousness!
Notes
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 tried recipe two. The batter cones out way too thick, it’s impossible to spread the batter in the pan. I added milk, it helped a bit, but this is more of a pancake recipe than a crepe recipe.
What kind of gluten free flour blend did you use? My recipe notes that you should use the following types of gluten free flour:
- For gluten free flour blend, use the blend that contains sweet rice flour and tapioca starch as main ingredients. I successfully used King Arthur multi-purpose flour.
- Do not use flour blends that have bean flours.
Hi Julia,
I made these gf crepes today and wow they turned out amazingly good! Im so delighted as the last few times I have attempted them they were flops! Thanks!
Thank you so much for the recipe! I made my version with xanthan gum, milk, and stevia. Came out fantastic on first try, 3 out of 5 crepes came out well. Going to practice this recipe for holidays.
Thank you, Sasha! I am glad you enjoyed the recipe! And, yes, crepe making certainly requires practice. 🙂
I found this misleading. It's says dairy free but then contains butter and once you have read it all you're then using a prebought mix?
This recipe has 2 options: 1) to make it with the pre bought gluten free waffle mix 2) make it with the any gluten free flour that you buy in the store or the gluten free flour that you make on your own.
DAIRY free, not gluten free. I had the same comment.
Thanks for the great recipe and tips. My pancakes turned out beautifully even though I misread and only put 1c of gf flour in. The hot pan really makes a difference.
Thank you, Sasha! Great to hear that the crepes turned out well for you! Yes, the hot pan makes a huge difference! 🙂
I was so happy to find a GF AND dairy-free crepe recipe. Every batch of crepes I've made so far has been an experiment, and I'm soooo tired of calculating for substitutions. But oh Julia! I do not buy GF pancake mix because I don't make pancakes, I make crepes. And I do not have on hand a gum-free flour blend that is also bean free and that also has sweet rice flour as "a primary ingredient." Nor is such a blend among the 10 all-purpose commercial blends listed in the America's Test Kitchen gluten free cookbook, volume 2. What I DO have is something like 40 kinds of starches and flours, and a digital scale, and measuring cups. Please, please provide suggested proportions for a do it yourself blend for your GF recipes.. Thank you for all the pleasure your recipes have given me over the years. I am your devoted fan, forever.
PLEASE NOTE: in your introduction you stated, "By the way, these are also dairy free and ...." - these are *NOT* dairy free as your ingredients include BUTTER which is dairy and a BIG one for those with allergies and sensitivities.
I am a very experienced crêpe maker and they always come out perfectly for me. I use a special crêpe griddle and French tools. However, with the GF recipe, the crêpes were a disaster (not taste wise) - I couldn't spread the batter into a thin layer with my tool - just got a gooey mess, very unattractive. I tried a non-stick pan and the spreading the batter by moving the pan but no better. I wasted a whole batch of batter and got 1 passable crêpe. Very disappointed...
I made the mistake of following this recipe without looking up others. This literally doesn't work. The batter is way too thick, and impossible to spread thinly over a pan. I looked up a YouTube video after, and their batter was very runny. I ended up adding an extra egg, and more water. The instruction to have the pan really hot is also bogus, cause as soon as the batter hit the pan, it cooked and wouldn't spread. I got them to work eventually by having the pan on low medium heat.
We didn't have any "gum free" flour, so I was able to get it to work with some tweaking. Here's how I made it work:
1.5 cups Krusteaz All-Purpose (1:1) GF flour (contains xanthan gum as last ingredient)
3 eggs (mixed not beaten)
3 tbsp butter (melted and cooled)
2 cups *cold* water (warm seems to change the chemistry of the mix)
1 shot bourbon or rye whiskey
1/8 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
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Mix wet and dry in separate bowls
Pour wet into dry whisking constantly until smooth and thin (add water as needed – 1 tbsp at a time)
Let sit for 15 minutes
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Cooking was a balance between keeping the pan hot enough to flash cook the crepes and not burning the butter. I used butter in the pan about every 3 crepes to keep the outside of the crepe crisp and light brown. Made about 12-14 – seven inch crepes.
Just made these and they were great just needed a lot of extra water to get them thin enough. As an identical twin who's other half loves crepes and isn't gluten free I can't wait to make these for her when she comes for a visit you wouldn't even know they don't have gluten in them! Thanks for the recipe!
Success x2! Thank you so much!
I have allot of experience baking, which helped. I started out with the recipe as it is here. Then, I made the Vanilla crepes with GF flour. That's where the experience came in. In the end, the only changes I had to make was to the milk/GF flour ratio: 1.5 cups flour, 1.5 cups(plus a little maybe) milk and agave nectar in place of sugar. I also use a skillet that is over 10 inches on the bottom! The crepes came out perfect; huge, crispy and tasty the first try! And no tears. Filled with a french omelet, goat cheese and spinach. I am calling this my french luncheon burrito recipe!
This looks amazing! I haven't had crepes in years since I discovered my gluten allergy! I am always looking for alternative recipes, thank you for sharing.
Hi! I'm Blogger Girl and I have a blog about baking. Would you mind if I made this recipe then posted it on my blog? Thanks for sharing this recipe with us! I think I am going to make this! 🙂 ~Blogger Girl~