Crêpes are one of the easiest and most loved French dishes. It’s one of the first things I learned how to cook as a kid and every time I make them, it always reminds me of home. Everybody loves them whether you serve them simply or dressed up!
Nagi's Notes
I thought my crêpes were fine… right up until JB made his and I discovered what really great crêpes are supposed to taste like. These are crêpes so great you will be happy eating them plain – though no one turns down a little whipped cream and berries! Not even crêpes I had in Paris were as good as JB’s. Hope you love them!
Crêpes
After my cheese soufflé, it was so nice to see how many of you made it and loved it. Thanks to everyone who let me know what they thought.
Today I’m sharing something a lot simpler – crêpes. Making crêpes is part of French life. Simple, cosy, and always fun to share. We even have a day of crêpes called “Chandeleur” on 2 February!
Like many kids in France, this was one of my favourite things growing up. The smell, the sizzling butter, waiting for the first crêpe to come out of the pan. One of those simple little joys in life. Every time I make them now, it brings all those childhood memories rushing back.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you need to make crêpes. Today, we’re focusing on sweet crêpes, but don’t worry, savoury crêpes are coming soon too! We love them just as much, think ham, cheese, mushrooms, and all that good stuff.
Flour – Plain flour / all-purpose flour, sifted to keep the batter lump-free.
Sugar – Just a little bit because the French don’t like their crêpes too sweet.
Eggs – 3 large ones which are 55g/2 ounces each. No need to bring them to room temperature, fridge cold is fine.
Milk – The liquid to thin the batter. Full fat is best but low fat, lactose free and non-dairy will work too.
Water – A bit of an unusual ingredient in crêpes but it lightens the mixture, so they don’t feel heavy. Chef’s tip!!!
Oil – Usually butter is used in the batter but I prefer oil because it makes the crêpes softer.
Butter – To use in the pan for cooking. It brings that golden edge and lovely buttery flavour when cooking. And because it’s French of course!
How to make Crêpes
Making crêpes is simple once you know a few little tricks. Don’t be worried about flipping crêpes, they are less fragile than you think. You’ve got this!
1. Making the batter
Sift flour into a large mixing bowl. Add sugar and salt, then whisk to combine.
Make a well in the centre and add the eggs. Whisk gently and only mix in a bit of the flour. You can’t blend all the flour with just the eggs yet, so just mix in enough to make a thick paste.
Gradually add the milk, whisking between each addition. It will let the batter turn silky and lump-free. It should feel smooth and light, almost like pouring cream.
Whisk in the water and oil until shiny and lump-free. The water lightens the batter, it will help having thin crêpes but still flexible, while the oil keeps them soft and prevents sticking.
Rest for 1 hour covered, on the counter at room temperature. The batter will thicken a little as it rests, this resting step relaxes the gluten, the flour absorbs the liquid, so the crêpes cook up soft and never rubbery.
After resting, the batter should be smooth, a bit thicker, and perfectly pourable.
2. Cook the crêpes
Heat a 24cm / 9.5″ non-stick crêpe pan over medium-high heat (medium if your stove runs hot). If you don’t have one, any good non-stick pan will work, just adjust how much batter you pour in depending on the size, so it spreads nicely without being too thick or thin.
Melt about ½ tsp butter, then wipe it off with a paper towel, you just want a little butter left for flavour, no visible pools. If you leave too much butter, it will stop the batter from spreading evenly. The butter gives flavour and a touch of crispness around the edges.
Pour the batter: using a ladle, scoop up ¼ cup of batter, lift the pan off the heat, ladle most of the batter into the centre, and immediately swirl the pan so the batter coats the surface in a thin, even layer. Still while swirling, use the rest of the batter to fill up the empty spots before it sets. Tilting quickly gives you uniform crêpes. It’s a small trick that helps make the crêpe perfectly round and even, without thick patches or gaps.
Cook for 45 seconds to 1 minute until the underside turns pale golden with light brown speckles.
Flip using a long, thin spatula. Slide it gently under the crêpe without tearing the surface, lift and flip. Cook the second side for about 30 seconds. A long, narrow spatula works best for flipping crêpes because it slides under the thin crêpe without tearing it. Egg flips are too short and wide, and not a great tool for this purpose. If you don’t have one, even a wooden spoon handle or a clean ruler work better. And don’t fear the flip! Crêpes are flexible, they don’t break! 😊
Slide onto a plate and repeat, adding a small bit of butter each time. Stack the crêpes as you go, they’ll stay warm and soft. Serve with your preferred fillings or toppings!
How to serve Crêpes
The French enjoy crêpes for breakfast, lunch, as an afternoon snack or even for dinner, which was always my favourite time. They are delicious any way you serve them, rolled or folded with toppings. My mother used to make them for me rolled up with icing sugar which is the most common way crêpes are served at home in France. The simpler the better!
Here are some favourite toppings for crêpes:
Sugar and Lemon – Classic and simple, sprinkle sugar, squeeze fresh lemon juice.
Berries & Cream – Fresh berries and whipped cream (Chantilly), dusted with icing sugar (+ optional chocolate sauce – use the one in the churros recipe)! As pictured in the post.
Jam or Preserves – Apricot, raspberry, or strawberry jam spread thinly.
Nutella & Banana – The universal favourite. But not Nagi, being the banana hater she is..
Chestnut Cream (Crème de marrons) – Popular in France.
Maple Syrup & (more!) Butter – A simple but great combo.
Vanilla Ice Cream & Chocolate Sauce – Served warm with a scoop melting inside.
Voilà, fresh crêpes ready to enjoy. Don’t stress, soon you’ll be mastering the pan flip like you’ve worked in a crêperie all your life!. And if one sticks to the ceiling, just call it “art nouveau”. 😄 I truly hope it brings as much happiness to you that it does to me!
Bon appétit! – JB 👨🏻🍳
FAQ – Crêpes
I haven’t tested this with gluten flour yet. When I do, I will come back and update the post.
It’s a personal recipe I’ve adjusted over time to work perfectly in any home kitchen. I’ve tried a few variations, but in the end, I always came back to the original version.
You can make the batter a day ahead and keep it in the fridge overnight. Take it out about an hour before cooking so it can come back to room temperature. Then give it a good whisk, it will have thickened a bit more than after the usual 1 hour rest, so add a splash of milk or water to bring it back to a smooth, pourable consistency.
You can cook the crêpes ahead of time. Let them cool, then stack with a small piece of baking paper between each one so they don’t stick. Wrap well or put in a container and keep in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. To reheat, warm them in a pan or microwave for a few seconds until soft and warm.
It’s a recipe I’ve had for quite a while, and I’ve made small tweaks over time, so it works perfectly for any home cook. Nagi made it twice before we published it, part of our little routine of testing each other’s recipes. Funny thing though… the recipe makes 15, but she kept ending up with barely 10. I’m not sure what happened to the rest. But it’s only the two of us working at the office and I know I didn’t do it.
Nagi helped me with the photoshoot, I still find photos a bit tricky to get just right, just like with my last two recipes. Herron, our video editor, also helped with the video shoot. I’m getting more confident though, and I should be ready to start filming videos on my own very soon.
Watch how to make it
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JB’s Crêpes
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups plain flour / all-purpose flour , sifted
- 3 tbsp caster sugar / superfine sugar , regular white sugar is fine too
- 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 3 large eggs , (55g/2oz each in shell) – fridge cold is fine
- 2 cups full fat milk , but works with lite milk too
- 1/3 cup water (Note 1)
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil or other neutral flavoured oil (Note 1)
- 45 g (3 tbsp) unsalted butter , cut into small cubes (for cooking)
Topping suggestions
- Icing sugar then rolled – simple French home style
- Berries, whipped cream, melted chocolate or Nutella, icing sugar – as pictured in the post
- More suggestions listed in the post – see above
Instructions
Abbreviated recipe
- Whisk flour, sugar and salt. Add eggs then milk, water, oil and whisk into a smooth batter. Cover and rest for an hour. Cook in a lightly buttered non-stick pan, swirling ¼ cup batter to cover the surface. Cook for 1 minute. Flip, cook for 30 seconds, remove once golden and stack as you go.
Make the batter
- Sift flour into a large mixing bowl. Add sugar and salt, then whisk to combine.
- Make a well in the centre and add the eggs. Whisk gently and only mix in a bit of the flour. You can’t blend all the flour with just the eggs yet, so just mix in enough to make a thick paste.
- Gradually add the milk, whisking between each addition to create a smooth batter with no lumps.
- Whisk in the water and oil until the batter is glossy and pourable. When you dip a spoon in, it should coat the back lightly. Not too thick, not too runny. (Note 1)
- Cover and rest for 1 hour at room temperature. (Note 2)
Cook the crêpes
- Heat a 24cm / 9.5" non-stick crêpe pan over medium-high heat (medium if your stove runs hot). If you don’t have one, any good non-stick pan will work, just adjust how much batter you pour in depending on the size, so it spreads nicely without being too thick or thin.
- Melt about 1/2 tsp butter, then wipe it off with a paper towel, you want just a little of butter left, no visible pools. (Note 3)
- Pour the batter – Using a ladle, scoop up ¼ cup of batter, lift the pan off the heat, ladle most of the batter into the centre, and immediately swirl the pan so the batter coats the surface in a thin, even layer. Still while swirling, use the rest of the batter to fill up the empty spots before it sets. Tilting quickly gives you uniform crêpes.
- Cook for 45 seconds to 1 minute until the underside is lightly golden and flip using a long spatula and cook the other side for about 30 seconds. (Note 4 & 5)
- Slide onto a plate, then repeat, adding butter each time.
To serve
- Stack your crêpes as you go, they’ll stay soft and flexible. Serve warm either rolled burrito style with the ends tucked in to hold everything or folded into quarters with your favourite topping! (see ingredients)
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life Of Dozer
Walk? Non, non… Crêpes? Oui, oui!!!
My mother used to fill hers.
Too chicken hearted to try these. But my husband is still talking about your Hunter’s Chicken.
Haha! Yes! Have you tried the soufflé? Thanks Jane!
My 14 yr old daughter loves crepes. She made these last night. We tried them plain and with lemon and sugar. Yum. She was so excited with how well they turned out. Thanks for your recipe JB.
So great to hear this Tan! I’m glad your daughter loved it!
I use left over crepe to serve as dessert- roll with 1 scoop of vanilla icecream and a banana. Delicious
Crepe batter left to rest in refrigerator over nite is more malleable (is there such a word?)
Thanks for trying it Hoa! More you rest the batter the better 🙂
Thanks for the recipe and tips! I’ve been wanting to try to make crepes but have been afraid to try, I know I’ll mess it up lol but I think I’ll try now.
Can’t wait to get your newest book, but I love your 2023 book, Dinner, amazing recipes and I love the cover Pic of you and Dozer above the title 😋
Thanks for your kind words Pam!
omg!! Dozer, you look so so so handsome. I didn’t know you were Parisian! You look so oo-la-la. Do you like Jambo as much as I do? I love you, Dozer. Take care and keep smiling from under your favorite table.
Thanks for your message Karen! I’ll let him know 🙂
Can’t wait to try this recipe! I miss the little “up” arrow at each section!
Let me know how you go Cheryl!
Dozer is ready to “dig in”! Love it!!
He was so good!
I would love to make crepes again but this time with your recipe using oil. I hope you can make buckwheat crepe next time but i know this would be a challenge for me. . 🙂
Hi Divine, let me know how it goes when you try!
In Argentina we fill them with dulce de leche. En Argentina los rellenamos con dulce de leche ❣️
That sounds delicious Maria!
This looks wonderful and I can’t wait to try them. I have a feeling I will be buying a crepe pan. Thank you, J.B.
Thanks Donna!
This crepe recipe looks fantastic and will be featured on the menu for breakfast this weekend! One question – when I make crepes, I usually just put all the ingredients in a blender for a few seconds and then let the batter sit for 5 minutes or so. Would you say that this is an okay way to mix everything up or do you think the results would be better with hand mixing?
Hi Suzanne, I think that as long as you don’t blend it to death, it’s fine to use a blender, so your method should work. I just went with a more traditional way here. But I advise you to rest your batter for 1 hour on the counter. It makes a big difference on the end result regarding texture and softness.
Am I missing the nutritional breakdown?
I will be trying this with my grandson. Looks like it will be easy and tasty!
Hi Roger.
I am bemused that you think you can use Nagis site to be sooo rude to her and JB considering we get all these recipes for free.
I have all her books to and am very happy to have purchased them and still get all these for FREE.
It takes a lot of time and patience to do what she does.
The work they all put in to all what they do is amazing.
We should just always remember if we have nothing good to say then better we say nothing.
And she never said to anyone you have to come on her site.
So I would really hope after writing that that you don’t ever come back on her site.
Also I would love for you to let us all know what you do to help the most vulnerable out there.
This is my very first post .
I love just reading everyone’s post.
Thank you nagi and your whole family as that’s what you are.
Very well said, Barbara and I believe you have said it in the most courteous way possible for all of us that love this site.
They look perfect, going to send this to my daughter (ps. bought her Nagi´s newest recepi book for crimbo) Do you ever do savory crépes? Have a wonderful weekend. x
Hi Rakel, thank you for your comment! We’ll certainly do savoury crêpes in the future yes!
Seems you are On your own Roger, Over & Out!!
Love crepes! Been making them since I was a young child, also. Can’t wait to try your recipe, JB. I want to compare it to the one I’ve been using for 57 years. Dozer is more patient than most humans…that plate of crepes would be gone if I was nearby! Thank you JB, Nagi and Dozer
So much pressure Claudia! 57 years! I hope it goes well 🙂
Ha, no pressure for you, JB! I misspoke. I learned how to make crepes 57 years ago and still use that recipe when I can make a batch. I am anxious to use your recipe!
Hello, I love your site and have been saving recipes in my recipe tin. But today I was unable to do it with JB’s crepes. I wonder if you could tell me why? Thanks and keep your excellent work.
Hi Margarida, thank you for your comment. The little heart doesn’t appear on the bottom right corner of your screen?
The little heart appeared and I pressed it but nothing happened….
I mean, the heart goes pink, a notice saying the recipe has been added appears, as well as a little number 1 but its doesn’t go to my recipe tin.
This is happening for me too and on other recipes – button seems broken lately. Can’t wait to make this, thank you for sharing JB!
In the centre of Italy (Abruzzo, mountains around Rome) crepes without sugar are the components of a sort of a sophisticated lasagna. This dish is: crepes, ragout, fromage, bechamel, crepes.
My mother was very able to do but I not. Now with your recipes and tips I hope to replicate this traditional Italian recipe
Hi Anna Maria, I have to say your description sounds absolutely delicious! Do you know what sort of cheese? I truly hope you can replicate your mother’s recipe. 🙂
the usual fromage for lasagna is parmigiano. But in the south of Italy (about Naples) it happens to be mixed with scamorza.
Just made your crepes for dinner
Very yummy
Dozer looks very handsome 🥰
Thanks for the great feedback Anne! 🙂