A Guide To Making The Best Homemade Crepes (Video) (2024)

Learn how to make the best homemade crepes! Perfectly thin and deliciously buttery, they are a staple for a weekend breakfast, brunch, kids’ snacks, desserts, or a DIY crepe party! Only 6 ingredients needed.

Crepes are one of my favorite things to enjoy for brunch, but I used to think they were hard to make. They seem so fancy, but turns out they are easier to make than you think.

Since my kids also love them, I was determined to find the best crepe recipe and have finally created the perfect one after many trials. Today, I’m going to share all the tips and techniques with you. After reading this post, you will be ready to make mouth-watering crepes for any occasion.

And the best thing about these homemade crepes? You can fill or top them with literally anything!

What Are Crepes?

Crepes are very thin, delicate pancakes made of flour, milk, egg, butter, sugar, and salt. They can be enjoyed sweet or savory, depending on what you serve with. For example:

• Sweet crepes: lemon and sugar (aka classic French crepes), Nutella, jams, honey, maple syrup, fresh fruits (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and bananas), chocolate syrup, whipped cream, etc.
• Savory crepes: ham, cheese, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, avocado, bell peppers, onion, herbs, etc.

The Crêpes originated in the Brittany region of France but the love for crepes has spread all over the world, including Japan.

Popular Harajuku Crepes in Japan

In Japan, crepes are considered street food and we don’t really have the custom of eating crepes at home.

If you visit Japan, you will see Japanese adaptations of crepes that are endlessly creative. Takesh*ta Street in Harajuku is known for its numerous crepe shops and I used to hang out there to eat crepes with friends in high school. It’s more like a destination food, whether it’s in Harajuku or at a festival or at an amusem*nt park.

Japanese crepes are folded or rolled up and filled with lots of whipped cream, fruits, and sweet syrup. They are often wrapped in a paper cone so it’s easy to carry and enjoy.

Why Is This The Best Homemade Crepe Recipe?

It feels boastful to name this recipe “The Best” crepes, so I wanted to explain why. In my humble opinion, this is the best because:

• Use only 6 easy ingredients – You’re most likely have them in the pantry already.
• No special equipment – You don’t need to use a blender like some recipes suggest; just a whisk and bowls will do.
• No need to rest the batter – Yet it yields great result!
• Easy to multiply or halve the recipe – Important factor for me as I’m horrible at math.
• Perfect result. Every. Single. Time.

Wait…What Happened to the Original Crepe Recipe?

I published my original crepe recipe back in 2011 with these photos, and named it “simple crepes.” 😆

Since then, I haven’t made crepes for nearly a decade. We’ve been making pancakes and waffles, and more of them, yet I completely forgot about crepes. So, it was a good time to revisit my old crepe recipe and to perfect it.

My kids usually get tired of eating my trial food after the 3rd test, but this time around, they wanted to eat more!

If you have been using my original crepe recipe (thank you ❤️), I hope you give this revised version a try. I honestly believe it’s better and you should definitely keep this one instead.

How to Make The Best Homemade Crepes

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Cake flour
• Sugar
• Salt
• Eggs
• Milk (whole or reduced-fat)
• Butter (you can use salted, but omit salt)

That’s it! I’ll talk about topping choices later in the post.

Overview: Cooking Steps

1. Make crepe batter by combining above ingredients.
2. Heat the crepe pan (or regular pan) and make crepes until all the batter is used.
3. Fill the crepes with fruits and whipped cream and syrup, dust with powdered sugar, and garnish with toppings.

13 Must-Read Tips to Make The Best Homemade Crepes

A smooth batter is crucial for making a light and springy crepe. Before you head straight into the kitchen, read these tips and techniques:

Tip #1: Have the eggs and milk come to room temperature

Cold eggs and milk could re-harden the fat in the batter (butter in this recipe), making the batter appear curdled or grainy. I learned the hard way when I started making crepes. To avoid this, remove the eggs and milk from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before use.

👩🏻‍🍳 My last-minute hack is to heat the milk until lukewarm in the microwave (or pot) and place the cold eggs in lukewarm water.

Tip #2: Mix the flour with a whisk

You can always sift the flour using a fine-mesh sieve or sifter. But a quick method is to whisk the flour in a bowl a few times until you see no big chunks of flour.

Tip #3: Combine eggs and milk first

Instead of adding eggs, and then milk to the flour mixture, I realized it works best (for me, at least) when I combine the eggs and milk in a bowl first until smooth and hom*ogenous and then add the egg/milk mixture to the flour in the other bowl.

👩🏻‍🍳 I also recommend beating eggs thoroughly first before adding milk, as it requires a bit more effort to beat the eggs in milk.

Tip #4: Gradually add egg/milk mixture to flour

We must avoid lumps in the batter and that’s our ultimate goal here. If you pour a lot of liquid into the flour, it will quickly become lumps and float in the liquid.

Therefore, add a small amount of liquid and incorporate it into the flour until it comes into a paste form. Then add another small amount of liquid, having the paste slightly loosened. This way, your batter will be lump-free.

Tip #5: Add melted butter to room temperature batter

If you are going to make the batter ahead of time and keep it in the fridge overnight, make sure to bring the batter to room temperature before adding melted butter; otherwise, the butter will solidify in the cold batter. You don’t want to have a grainy batter. When you combine two things, both ingredients must be at room temperature.

Tip #6: Lightly grease the pan

Grease the pan with a pastry/silicone brush or paper towel between batches. You should not see any oil streaks, and that’s how thin the oil should be. I don’t recommend using butter for the pan as it will burn easily. You have plenty of butter flavor in the batter already. Update: I’ve tried making the crepe with butter since some JOC readers from France recommended it. Obviously, it has more butter flavor and it was delicious. Make sure your heat is not too strong when you add butter because it will burn easily.

Tip #7: Splash a bit of water to see if the pan is hot

This is my favorite trick to see if the pan is hot and ready. The batter should make a sizzling sound when you add it to the pan. If water doesn’t make a sizzling sound, the pan is not ready yet. Don’t forget to splash water toward the edge of the pan, too, since it takes longer to heat up that area.

👩🏻‍🍳 You will need to adjust the heat based on your gas/electric stove you use. I use medium heat on my stove and slightly reduce toward the end of cooking as my crepes become brown too fast.

Tip #8: Use a 1/3-cup measuring cup

A 1/3-cup measuring cup fills up the surface of a 10-inch (25 cm) crepe pan. The biggest mistake when making crepes is to underfill or overfill the batter in the pan.

Based on the consistency of the batter and the size of the pan, you will need to try different size measuring cups or ladles. A standard size ladle of batter should fill up a 12-inch (30 cm) pan. I like my crepes to be smaller, and I’ll talk about it in my crepe tool section.

Tip #9: Tilt and swirl the pan

Pour the batter in the center of the pan and quickly tilt one side so the batter will run toward one edge. Then swirl to evenly distribute and cover the surface. If you see any small holes, shake the pan sideways to fill up the holes.

Tip #10: Don’t touch the crepe until the edges are golden brown

The crepe needs good heat contact, so avoid lifting and checking it frequently as it will slow down the browning process. Depending on the crepe’s thickness and your gas/electric stove, the cooking time varies but it should be between 1 to 2 minutes.

If it’s taking 3 minutes, I’d say the heat is too low.

👩🏻‍🍳 If your stove doesn’t distribute heat well, turn the pan around to evenly distribute the heat. You can tell by the color of the crepe. Make sure less brown area of the crepe gets heated nicely.

Tip #11: Use a long cooking chopstick or spatula to flip

I assume the majority of my readers own a pair of long cooking chopsticks (to cook Japanese food)? I love using a long cooking chopstick to cook crepes. The wooden material is gentler than a metal spatula but either tool works.

I spin the long chopstick between my fingers as I slide under the crepe and detach it from the pan.

👩🏻‍🍳 If you use a carbon-steel crepe pan like I do, some parts of the crepe could be stuck to the pan. But don’t worry! Using a gentle poking with the chopstick, you will be able to remove the crepe from the pan nicely. You just have to nudge. If you have a non-stick pan, your crepe may even slide around and you can lift up the crepe with your fingertips.

Cook for 10-15 seconds on the second side. Insert the chopstick under the crepe, lift it up and transfer to a plate.

Tip #12: Place the “pretty side” of the crepe down

Because I usually fold (or roll up) the crepe and want to show the “pretty side” for presentation, I stack the crepes, placing the “pretty side” down.

To prevent the crepes from sticking to each other, it’s important that they are stacked in the same direction.

Tip #13: Remove crumbs from the pan

If you’re using a carbon-steel crepe pan as I do, it’s important to clean the pan after every batch. You need to pick up crumbs with a paper towel before greasing the pan.

If something is sticky and does not come off, I recommend washing the pan and starting it over again. Otherwise, I learned that the batter will stick to the pan on that spot and will get burnt on the same spot.

Equipment to Make Best Homemade Crepes

Do we need a crepe pan?

You don’t need a crepe pan and make excellent crepes.

If you’re using a regular frying pan, a non-stick pan is probably the easiest choice, especially if you’re new to making crepes.

Ever since I watched the non-stick pan documentary, “The Devil We Know” (Amazon Prime / Apple TV), I haven’t used non-stick pans and changed all my non-stick pans to carbon-steel pans.

For this reason, I bought a 10-inch (25 cm) carbon-steel crepe pan ($55), and here’s why:

• It’s much lighter than regular carbon-steel pans (no walls, smaller handle) and I can swirl the pan with one hand. If you get a bigger crepe pan, it could be slightly heavier.
• The sides of the pan are lower so it makes it easier to check how far the crepe is browning or to slide a chopstick/spatula in and flip.
• A 10-inch crepe is a good size for filling ingredients.

I have to say I love my carbon-steel crepe pan and highly recommend it!

Do I need A Crepe Tool?

I bought a crepe spreader and spatula set ($13) to test if these tools help me make better crepes. After a few trials, I realized I don’t really need them to make good-looking crepes. So, would I recommend you get these? No, I’d save the money and invest in a crepe pan.

How to Save Crepes for Later

Cover the crepes with another plate and store them in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

When you’re ready to eat, you can pop them in the microwave and reheat them for 2 minutes until warmed through.

How to Serve Crepes

Typically, my family eats 2-3 crepes per person so I usually make 1-2 batches depending on how hungry they are. Here are some delicious ideas on how to serve your crepes:

Sweet Crepes

• Lemon and sugar: Sprinkle a crepe with a teaspoon of sugar and squeeze some fresh lemon juice. Fold in quarters and top with chocolate sauce. Dust with powdered sugar, and garnish with lemon zest and slices.
• Nutella and banana: Spread a thin layer of Nutella over a crepe and top with sliced bananas. Fold in quarters, dust with powdered sugar, and garnish with strawberries.
• Jam, fresh fruits, and whipped cream: Spread your favorite jam over a crepe and top with fruits and freshly whipped cream. Fold in quarters and garnish with fruits.
• Japanese style crepe in cone shape: Roll up your favorite filling and topping for your crepe!

Savory Crepes

• Ham and cheese: Sprinkle grated cheese and sliced ham over a crepe. Grill until the cheese has melted and bubbly and fold in half. Similar concept as cheese quesadilla.
• Smoked salmon and cream cheese: Spread a thin layer of cream cheese over a crepe. Top with smoked salmon and fold in quarters or roll up.

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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on April 15, 2011. The post has been republished with new images, a new video, and a revised recipe.