French Crêpes
- Resting Time: 1 hour
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: Makes 8-10 crepes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: French
A simple and delicious recipe for French crêpes, or thin French pancakes.
Ingredients
For the Crêpes
- 200 g (1 1/3 cup) plain flour (all-purpose flour)
- 1/2 teaspoon caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- pinch of fine salt
- 600 ml (2 1/3 cup) full cream milk (whole milk)
- 2 eggs
- unsalted butter, for frying
To Serve
- granulated sugar
- cinnamon sugar
- lemon wedges
- jam
- Nutella
- Salted Caramel Sauce
Instructions
To Make the Crêpe Batter
- Measure the flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl.
- Pour the milk into a large measuring jug.
- Add the eggs to the milk.
- Whisk the milk and eggs together lightly to break up the eggs.
- Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently whisk until everything is incorporated and there are no lumps. Be careful not to over-whisk the mixture.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
- Leave the batter to rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour, or overnight in the fridge.
To Cook the Crêpes
- Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat.
- Add about 1/4 teaspoon butter to the pan.
- Swirl the pan so that the butter melts and coats the surface of the pan.
- Pour about 60 ml (1/4 cup) of batter into the pan and quickly swirl the pan so that the batter covers the whole surface of the pan.
- Cook the crêpe for a few minutes on one side until it is lightly golden and the edges look firm, before flipping it over to cook the other side for a further 1-2 minutes.
- Remove the cooked crêpe to a plate in a warm oven and continue with the remaining batter.
- Remember to melt some butter each time before adding the batter to the pan – it is the butter which helps the crêpes to cook and brown.
- Serve the crêpes warm with a generous sprinkle of granulated sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice, or with whatever topping you prefer.
- You can either roll up the crêpe like a log, or fold the crêpe in half, and then in half again.
Kitchen Notes
USING A CREPE PAN OR PANCAKE PAN
You can make crêpes or pancakes in any non-stick pan, but a special crêpe pan has very low sides which makes sliding the crêpe out of the pan easier. I have an old and trusty T-Fal crêpe pan.
USING A PANCAKE SPATULA
Unless you are skilled in flipping pancakes, I recommend using a wide pancake spatula which makes flipping crêpes and pancakes a breeze.
THE FIRST PANCAKE
As with any pancake recipe, the first pancake usually doesn’t always turn out or look right, often because the pan hasn’t come to the right temperature and/or because there is too much butter in the pan. In my husband’s family, they actually fight over the first pancake because they claim it to be the tastiest from all of the butter it has absorbed!
CONSISTENCY OF BATTER
Depending on the dimensions of your pan, you will have to play around with quantities of butter and batter to find the right balance for the perfect crepes. You might also have to thin the batter with some milk if the batter is too thick.
MAKE-AHEAD TIPS
It is important to let the batter rest so that the gluten in the flour has time to rest, leading to softer and less chewy crêpes. If you have left the batter to rest overnight, you might need to thin the batter a little with a dash of milk.
STORAGE TIPS
Any leftover crêpes can be kept in the fridge, covered in clingfilm, and gently reheated in a non-stick pan before serving.
FREEZER TIPS
My sister-in-law freezes her crêpes and thaws them in the microwave for a quick snack or meal for her kids.
MAKE IT GLUTEN-FREE & DAIRY-FREE
To make gluten-free crêpes which are also dairy-free, substitute the flour in this recipe for buckwheat flour and replace the milk with water. This will produce what the French call “galette de sarassin“, which are typically served with a savoury filling.
CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.
OVEN & STOVE TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website have been tested on an induction stove and/or with a conventional oven (i.e. an oven without fan). All recipes on this website state temperatures for a conventional oven, unless otherwise mentioned. If you have a convection oven (i.e. an oven with a fan), please consult the manufacturer’s handbook on how to adjust the temperature and baking time accordingly.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 10
- Calories: 146
- Sugar: 2.8g
- Sodium: 103mg
- Fat: 3.9g
- Carbohydrates: 21.7g
- Fiber: 0.7g
- Protein: 5.4g
- Cholesterol: 45.1mg
View the recipe online: https://eatlittlebird.com/basic-crepe-recipe/
