The secrets to the best-ever Crepes, with the perfect thin texture, slightly crisp edges, and the perfect hint of sweetness! These expert tips and tricks from a French bakery will take your crepe-making skills to the next level!
Obsessed with breakfast like us? Try this Dutch Baby, Old-Fashioned Pancakes or Egg Skillet next!
Crepe Recipe From A French Bakery!
In high school, we hosted an adorable exchange student from France whose father was a pastry chef in their family-owned bakery. We eagerly asked her for her recipes and culinary secrets, which she generously shared with us.
And the one thing we drilled her on the most? Crepes. She expertly taught us how to make them and all her favorite ways to enjoy them. We pretty much had ‘crepe nights’ three times a week while she stayed with us! Today, I’m sharing an easy step-by-step guide, our favorite sweet and savory options, and some helpful tips.
What Is A Crepe?
A French crepe, known for its delicate texture, is made from a simple batter of flour, eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, butter, and salt, and can be filled with various sweet or savory ingredients, making it a globally loved choice for breakfast or dessert. Learn more about crepe history here.
Crepes Ingredients
With just seven common household ingredients, you can whip up a delicious breakfast!
- Whole Milk: Adds moisture and creaminess to the batter.
- Flour: Provides the necessary structure and thickness to the mixture.
- Sugar: Sweetens the batter, enhancing its flavor.
- Salt: Balances the sweetness and enhances overall flavor.
- Unsalted Butter: Enhances the richness and texture of the mixture.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: Adds a yummy vanilla flavor to the batter.
- Large Eggs: Holds the mixture together and contributes to its texture.
Quick Tip
One of our favorite things about this recipe is that it makes a bunch of crepes, which is perfect for meal prepping or planning your week’s meals. They stay fresh in the fridge for 4-5 days, so you can easily grab a couple in the morning and whip up a quick and satisfying breakfast (or any meal or snack).
How To Make Crepes
- Blend: Combine milk, flour, sugar, salt, butter, vanilla, and eggs in a blender for about 10 seconds.
- Scrape: Scrape down the blender sides and blend a few more seconds if needed.
- Chill: Refrigerate the batter for at least an hour or overnight.
- Heat: Lightly butter a skillet. Heat it, pour 1/4 cup batter, swirl to coat, flip when golden brown (about 1 minute per side).
- Enjoy: Add fillings, fold in half, then in half again, or roll it up like a burrito or fold into triangles.
Crepe Filling And Topping Ideas
Savory
- Garden delight: Fill them with warm artichoke hearts, tomatoes, baby spinach, and Parmesan cheese.
- Italian: Fill it with tomatoes, pesto, and mozzarella cheese.
- Traditional breakfast: Fill with ham, scrambled eggs, and pepper jack cheese.
- Good morning: Fill with bacon, eggs, a drizzle of syrup, and Cheddar cheese.
- TBA: Fill with turkey, bacon, avocado, mayo, and Swiss cheese.
Sweet
- Nutella: Give our delicious Nutella Crepes a try.
- Dulce de Leche: Fill with Dulce de Leche, bananas, walnuts, and whipped cream.
- S’mores: Fill with marshmallow creme, chocolate sauce, and crushed graham crackers.
- Berry: Fill with whipped cream and berries. Add a drizzle of vanilla sauce or blueberry syrup.
- Simple: Spread a little butter on a crepe and add a sprinkle of powdered sugar.
- Custard delight: Fill with homemade custard, caramel sauce, and strawberries.
- Banana: These Banana Crepes are always a hit.
- Lemon lover: Fill with lemon curd, raspberries, and blueberries or blackberries.
Tips For Success
- Refrigerate the batter: Refrigerating batter is essential to allow the flour to fully hydrate, reduce bubbling, and enhance the flavor, resulting in smoother, better-textured crepes.
- Heat: Gradually heat the pan to your desired temperature; avoid rapid heating.
- Butter the pan: Ensure even coverage of butter on the bottom and sides of the pan; it should last for multiple crepes.
- Don’t flip too soon: Wait until the crepe’s surface develops golden brown spots, the edges brown, and it’s no longer shiny before flipping to prevent tearing and undercooking.
- Swirl the batter: Immediately distribute the 1/4-cup of batter evenly across the pan’s base to achieve a thin, delicious crepe.
Quick Tip
That first test crepe that comes out a little crispy? It makes for a great treat to nibble on while cooking the rest of them!
Crepes FAQs
How Do I Keep Crepes From Sticking To The Pan?
To prevent crepes from sticking, thoroughly grease the pan with butter, coating the entire surface and sides, before heating. Using a nonstick pan also aids in preventing sticking.
How Do I Store Crepes?
Allow the cooked crepes to cool completely, then transfer them to a large resealable plastic bag. Seal the bag without any air inside and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Can You Freeze Crepes?
Yes, you can freeze crepes. Cool them, stack with wax paper in between, wrap tightly, and store in the freezer for up to two months. Thaw in the fridge or at room temperature and reheat before serving.
More Breakfast Favorites:
- French Toast with a four ingredient syrup
- Ham and Cheese Quiche the easiest recipe ever
- Bread Pudding Recipe with berries
- Easy Banana Bread with a hint of cinnamon
- Chocolate Muffins bakery style
How to Make Crepes
Equipment
- Blender
- Parchment paper
- Pan 8 to 10-inch, nonstick, see note 1
- Offset spatula or rubber spatula
Ingredients
- 2-1/2 cups milk whole milk recommended
- 2 cups all-purpose flour measured by spooning and leveling
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 2 to 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted, for cooking the crepes
- Toppings as desired see note 2
Instructions
- In a high-powered blender, combine milk, flour, sugar, salt, melted butter (cooled), vanilla, and eggs. Pulse on low speed until smooth and without lumps, about 10–15 pulses. Avoid over-beating.
- Scrape any flour sticking to the blender’s sides and bottom. Pulse a few more times if needed. Cover and refrigerate the batter for 1 hour or overnight (important for flavor and to reduce bubbling).
- Cut small squares of parchment paper to place between crepes and prevent sticking after cooking.
- Heat an 8 to 10-inch nonstick pan over medium to medium-low heat. Stir chilled batter and have a tray or platter nearby with a piece of parchment paper.
- Lightly butter the pan with melted butter using a pastry brush or a paper towel. Pour 1/4 cup crepe batter into the pan, immediately tilting and swirling it to evenly coat the bottom. Return the pan to the heat.
- Cook until the crepe is golden brown on the bottom (1–2 minutes). Lift an edge of the crepe with an offset spatula (or rubber spatula) and flip it. Cook until golden brown spots appear on the other side (another 1–2 minutes). Transfer crepe to the prepared plate/tray and cover it with parchment or wax paper.
- Repeat until all batter is used. Adjust the burner temperature as needed to control cooking speed.
- Fill the crepes with your preferred fillings, fold them in half, then in half again to form triangles. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, add whipped cream, and drizzle syrup as desired.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
We used to bug my dad to make these every cold, rainy Sunday evening as children!
The best topping? Sprinkled with lemon & sugar then rolled.
Thanks for that wonderful walk down memory lane Chelsea!
I love how food can bring back so many memories! Thanks for your comment Megs!
Recipe please
If you scroll down or click the skip to recipe button you will find it on this post! 🙂
I’ve always thought these were hard to make but loved how you broke down the whole process. The only hard part was waiting for the batter to be refrigerated for that hour, lol. We were dying to dig in!
I’ve always struggled with making crepes. You have some really great tips here, definitely giving them a try this weekend!
First, these look authentic AF. Second, I really appreciate the effort you put in to explaining how to make something so seemingly simple, so good! Pinned for this weekend! 🙂
Ps. Since I don’t have a blender, can I use a food processor or mix the batter by hand/with a stand mixer?
Thanks so much Kirsti! I really appreciate your comment 🙂 I haven’t ever used a food processor, but if it’s a powerful one I think that would be the best alternative! Hope you love these 🙂