Make these vanilla crepes at home for a delicious French-style breakfast or dessert! Learn easy technique how to make French crepes at home in a regular frying pan!
Crepes…. so many childhood memories are tied to them. Sometimes I think I make them out of nostalgia for my long gone youth. 🙂 These homemade vanilla crepes certainly accomplish the job of comforting anyone who is lucky to taste them. Who could refuse a sweet French crepe for breakfast and/or dessert?
Especially if you stuff these crepes with ricotta cheese and blueberries or with with apple-cinnamon filling, just like an apple pie! , or just eat them plain, with a cup of sweetened tea or coffee. Dust the crepes with some powdered sugar if you like. They make great comfort food.
These crepes are made using a regular stainless steel frying pan and a non-stick spray. No need for a special crepe maker. Make sure to measure the flour properly, by sifting it first, so that your batter consistency is just right (on the thinner side). Because these are vanilla crepes, you can literally just eat them plain, dusting them with confectionary sugar, or by folding in your favorite fruit preserves. These crepes go especially well with cherry preserves!
Make these vanilla crepes at home for a delicious French-style breakfast or dessert! Learn easy technique how to make French crepes at home in a regular frying pan!
- 2 cups milk
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or, up to 1 tablespoon – for more pronounced flavor)
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Mix all those ingredients in a large bowl and whisk the mixture until lumps dissolve.
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Heat frying pan until very hot (on high heat on stove top), spray it with a non-stick 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
These crepes were delicious! With a little nutella, they tasted just like the ones I remember in Paris. The recipe made 10 crepes in a 10″ skillet. Perfect!
Thanks, Diana! So glad you liked the crepes! I make these often – love them plain, with a little bit of fruit preserves, or with creamy fillings + fruit. So Yum!
How many crepes does this recipe make? Thanks!
Delicious!
We recently had a user submit this recipe to us and it sounds/looks amazing! Thanks for sharing! -Dinner Happy
Also try mixing things up using different extracts. I use almond and vanilla in the same mix, and the crepes (also do the same in regular pancakes) are wonderful!
Oh yes – what a great idea! I can’t wait to use those extracts. I might even use a touch of amaretto liquor :). I’ve used it once in cookies because I didn’t have an almond extract on hand and they tasted great. 🙂
Lovely crepes. They look perfect!
also… there are no non-stick sprays here… could I use butter?
these look amazing!
just the basic recipe I was looking for.
do you think they will work even in a nonstick pan?
I actually use stainless steel regular pan (it’s not nonstick), and it works great, as long as it’s a good stainless steel pan. When using this stainless steel pan I do use non-stick spray, and if I just used butter, the crepes would stick for sure.
Lacy, beautiful, divine!