Light and thin French pancakes are perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert. Fill these crepes with your favorite fillings and you will have an unforgettable treat. Made with simple ingredients crepes are easy to make at home.Â
Crepes have this way about making breakfast, brunch, or dessert seem extra special. These are one of my mother’s favorite recipes of mine. I normally make them for her birthday or Mother’s day per her request. They are so easy to make and are bound to impress. Â
In this recipe
Crepes use very simple ingredients and all can be found in the refrigerator or pantry. Flour, eggs, milk, sugar, salt and water are all that makes up a crepe. For those that have a dairy sensitivity unflavored nut milks can still work in this recipe.Â
Resting crepe batter
 The batter needs at least an hour to rest before baking. This will give time for the gluten to relax as well as hydrate. The time used to relax and hydrate allows the flour to absorb the liquid. It also allows all of the air from mixing to leave the batter. This will ensure a thin, tender, and delicate crepe.
If this step is skipped the crepe will be more chewy and may contain air pockets when cooking. The batter can be made the night before and refrigerated.Â
Nice and thin
When making crepe batter you want to make sure that the batter blended evenly. Since these pancakes are so thin then any clumps in the batter will be noticeable. There are going to be some small clumps and that is ok. When the batter rests those small clumps will naturally disappear. It is the larger ones you will want to watch out for.Â
When cooking the crepes you will not need to butter the pan between each crepe as there is plenty of it in the batter. However the pan will need to be brushed with butter every few crepes. To make sure that the crepes stay nice and thin only coat about 2/3 of the pan with batter and then tilt the pan around until the rest of it is covered in batter.Â
Looking for more brunch recipes?
Traditional Homemade Crepes
Equipment
- Whisk
- Mixing Bowl
- Crepe pan/Small sauté pan
- Spatula
- Pastry brush
- Cling film
Ingredients
Crepe batter
- 3 eggs
- 3 egg yolks
- 1½ cup flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 1¼ cup milk
- ¾ cup water
- ½ tsp salt
- 10 tbsp butter unsalted, melted
For cooking crepes
- 4 tbsp butter unsalted, melted
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl whisk the eggs and egg yolks until evenly combined. Then add the rest of the ingredients and whisk until smooth. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for an hour.
- Heat a small sauté pan or crepe pan on medium heat. Brush with some of the melted butter and add enough crepe batter to cover ⅔ of the bottom of the pan. Spread the batter around to cover the whole pan.
- Cook the crepe until set on top and flip. The crepe should start to brown. Cook on the other side for an additional 30 seconds and set on a plate.
- Crepes are best served immediately.
Notes
- Crepes can be stored in a warming drawer or on a warming plate before serving.
- Wrap well in cling film and they will last in the refrigerator 2-3 days or the freezer for 3-4 weeks.Â
