How To Make Classic French Crêpes | Aline Made (2024)

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Everyone loves homemade French crêpes! They’re a simple yet glorious part of French culture. Learn how to master this basic crêpe recipe and whip up thin, golden French crêpes. They can be paired with sweet or savory fillings!

This basic recipe for crêpes is a French classic and should not be missing in any kitchen. They are delicious, thin, golden, and taste good to just about anyone – a recipe your family will love. Crêpes are typically served for breakfast or as a dessert with a sweet filling. But you can also fill them with a savory filling and serve them as a snack, lunch or dinner.

Crêpes are especially popular among children. It’s best to let the kids make the filling themselves so they have more fun eating them. My mom often made this crêpes recipe for us girls – I liked them best with cinnamon & sugar filling when I was a kid. These days, I like them best with raspberry jam! 🤓

With this recipe, you will learn how to make crêpes at home. You will find many tips, tricks, and filling ideas in the blog post below!

Do you want to prepare crepes without eggs and milk?Check out thisrecipe for vegan crepes!

Use A Blender: Crêpes turn out best when you mix the crêpe batter with a food processor or blender. The advantage of using a blender is that the batter turns out super smooth, and the crêpes can be baked super thin!

Resting The Dough: You must let the dough rest for about 30 minutes at room temperature. During this resting time, the flour releases gluten, which improves the texture of the batter and makes it easier to cook.

Make-Ahead: You can prepare the batter up to a day in advance, store it covered in the refrigerator, and cook once ready.

Crêpe Filling Ideas

• Raspberry Chia Jam or Jam of your choice
• Applesauce
• Sugar & Cinnamon
• Fresh Berries (I recommend Strawberries or Raspberries)
• Vanilla Yogurt or Whipped Cream
• Maple Syrup, Powdered Sugar
• Banana & Nutella
• Caramel Sauce
• Peanut Butter or Nut Butter of Choice
• Savory Fillings: Herbs, Cream Cheese, Mushroom Stew (non-vegetarians often fill it with salmon or ham)

🛒 Ingredients

See recipe card for quantities.

🔪 Visual Step-by-Step Instructions

This visual step-by-step instruction will help you along the way – definitely recommended if you’re a cooking beginner!→ Watch the recipe video to see how easy it is to make at home!🤓

• Combine eggs, milk, flour, butter, vanilla extract, sugar, and salt in a stand mixer or food processor and blend well until you have a smooth batter. You may need to scrape down the sides and blend again. → Tip: Add the liquid ingredients first and then the flour so that the flour does not stick to the bottom of the mixer!
• Let the crêpe batter rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. → Improves the texture of the batter and makes it easier to cook.

• Heat a non-stick pan (or crêpe pan) over medium-high heat and a some butter (∼ ½ tbsp).
• Pour about ¼ cup of the batter (depending on the pan size – I use a ø9-10inch frying pan) into the center of the pan. Swirl the pan until the pan is evenly covered with the batter.
• Cook each side of the crêpe for 1-2 minutes until golden brown. → Flip over with the help of a spatula.

• Add more butter to the pan, then repeat the process with the remaining batter.
• Serve warm with your favorite filling.

Tips & Tricks

• Keep Warm: Store cooked crêpes on a plate in the preheated oven at 140°F (60°C).
• Cook Faster: To speed up the cooking time, use two skillets simultaneously.
• Without Mixer: If you don’t have a mixer, you can mix the batter in a large bowl with a whisk until smooth.
• Beginner: Are you making crêpes for the first time? Don’t worry if they don’t turn out perfect. It gets easier with a bit of practice.

FAQs

It makes your crêpes smoother and thinner than whisking by hand. Furthermore, you don’t need to worry about lumps from the flour.

Substitute the wheat flour with buckwheat flour or any other gluten-free flour. You might need to add more milk, as buckwheat flour soaks up more water than all-purpose flour. I recommend following this recipe for gluten-free buckwheat crêpes.

For up to two days, if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

You can prepare the batter up to a day in advance, store it covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator, and cook once ready. Or you can store the cooked crêpes in an airtight container in the refrigerator and reheat them in the microwave, oven, or pan.

Yes, you can freeze crêpes in a freezer bag for no longer than 3 months. However, I recommend making them fresh, as they taste the best when freshly cooked.

They are typically served warm! Although they are still delicious served cold.

See Also

A Guide To Making The Best Homemade Crepes (Video)

No, crêpes are very thin, and American pancakes, on the other hand, are thick and fluffy. Pancake batter has a slightly thicker consistency and contains baking powder.

More Crêpe Recipes:

📖 Recipe