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Perfect French Crepes – one of the most popular French street food is not as complicated to make as it may sound. For this easy recipe, blender does most of the job.
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I learned how to make these Perfect French Crepes many moons ago. Right after I graduated my high school and was going to start my Law School in Poland (that’s correct you go straight to law school after high school in Poland for 5 years), I found a job in a kitchen of French bistro.
At this time in Poland, it was a pretty fancy place. They were serving a lot of interesting dishes. I was 18 or 19 at that time and I learned some really good, French cooking tricks. One of them was, how to make a Perfect French Crepes.
How to Make Perfect French Crepes Batter
It may feel a little intimidating at first to make crepes but it is not that complicated. The trick is to make a perfect batter. The right proportions are the key.
Ideally, you should place the batter in the fridge for about an hour if you want it to have more bubbles and be more flexible. It’s not a necessary step, the crepes will come up great if you start pouring them on the pan right away.
The French bistro I worked for, sometimes added beer or sparkling water instead of water. With that much bubbles, the crepes will be definitely more fluffy.
For this recipe, I poured all my basic ingredients into the blender and start making the crepes right away. You can add a pinch of salt for savory crepes or 1 to 2 tablespoon of sugar and teaspoon of vanilla extract for a sweet version. I put neither as I wanted to make simple crepes and I actually never add anything because I want my crepes to be universal.
I can use some of them and make with egg, ham and cheese, or just ham and cheese or make these Easy Crepes Eggs Benedict and the other with banana and chocolate or simply with whipped cream and strawberries. It’s up to you how you want to craft your crepes. I wanted to show you options 🙂
- Put all your ingredients for the crepes into the blender.
- Mix it well until smooth.
- Heat up a pan and brush some butter on it.
- Pour about one ladle of batter and swirl around until you form round crepe. Let it cook until the edges are coming off when you use spatula around them about 1 minute.
- Flip the crepe and cook for another minute or two until the bottom is lightly brown.
- Take the first crepe out of the pan and don’t panic. The first one never comes out well.
- But the second and the rest will be looking pretty good. So, repeat the process: brash the pan, pour the batter, swirl and let it cook until it easily comes off, flip it and cook for another minute. Take it out and continue until you finish your batter.
What to fill the Perfect French Crepes With
When your perfect French crepes are done, you can make a decision what do you want to fill them with:
- Ham and Cheese;
- Ham, Egg, and Cheese;
- Mushroom and Cheese; or
- Maybe Nutella; or
- Peanut butter and banana; or
- Maybe jam; or
- Apple Sauce and Honey; or
- Whipped cream and strawberries (like on the video)?
Possibilities are endless. Go ahead and experiment.
Perfect French Crepes
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup flour
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 tablespoon melted butter
- extra melted butter for brushing the pan
- pinch of salt for savory crepes (optional)
For sweet version (optional)
- add 2 tablespoon of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
Instructions
- Melt the butter and let it cool a little;
- Add all the ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth;
- Now you can put the batter in the fridge for an hour to get more bubbles (this step is optional, you can start making your crepes immediately);
- Heat up a pan;
- Brush it with the butter;
- Using a ladle pour one ladle of batter on a pan and swirl around to cover all bottom of the pan with the crepes batter;
- Cook it for about a minute;
- Using spatula flip it and cook for a minute on the other side;
- Remove from the pan and repeat the process until you finish your batter;
Video
Nutrition
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If you like this recipe you may also like these other Ethnic recipes:
Super Easy European Style Potato Pancakes
Polish Fluffy Apple Pancakes – Racuchy
Chickpea Egg Fritters with Tahini Sauce
Very easy and delicious, Thanks for sharing. I served mine with fresh blueberries and raspberries and whip cream….YUM!
Great idea with fresh fruit 🙂
Smacznego!
Dziekuje 🙂
I served mine with brown sugar!
These really were perfect crepes! I had never made them before but wanted to do some sweet ones for my husband for father’s day. They were so good. My neighbor said they were better than the ones they’ve had in France.
Thank you for this recipe, it’s a keeper for sure!
Wow! Thanks Sarah, that is such a huge complement. I appreciate it 🙂
Thank you so much Sarah. This is a huge compliment:)
I made the batter exactly as directed, and for some reason they keep turning into lumpy, wet messes on the pan. What am I doing wrong?
They should have any lumps if you blend it well. It never happened to me. What pan are you using?
what size of crepe pan do you use ?? how hot to fry them at ??
I was using 10inches pan but you can use any pan you have. Try couple of crepes and adjust the amount of batter poured in.
How high should the temp of the stove be?
Set it on medium and while cooking the crepes adjust if needed (e.g. if they get cook too quickly lower the temp). I wouldn’t go higher then medium heat.
Do your mix in the butter with the rest of the ingredients to mix?
Yes, I melted it. Waited a little to cool off and mixed it with the other ingredients.
Hello, it looks yummy.
But I wonder, can I use mixer to whip all the ingredients?
Thank you 🙂
Absolutely! I used to only use a hand mixer. I just find the blender to be that much easier.
There is a more comlicated way to do similar-looking crepes (or a bit unusual russian ‘blini’), which must taste much greater, I believe:
3 warm eggs mix with 6-7 tsp sugar and 1/2 tsp salt,
add ~80 grams (out of total 330) of warm milk {Temp<65C} (when liquid ingredients are warm, the whole batter comes together better; also you will need less flour),
then add 8-10 tbs of flour, and mix well. The mass obtained will be something in between 'batter' and 'dough' – not liquid, but not tough ~creamy. This step is made to develop gluten. Your objective is so-called 'gluten window', although I'm not sure it is checked making batter.
Put in 3 tbs of melted butter and the rest of milk by portions, not at one time.
And sugar and salt the batter as you like.
It will seem to be too watery, too liquid to be cooked properly, but believe me it will.
Before pouring the portion of batter into your pan, get trough it with the napkin with a drop of vegetable oil on it.
You will need to experiment for some time with the optimal heat for your burner and pan (on my its 7 or 8 out of 9). Pancakes come out very soft, never stick together, are great with many feelings, but especially with caviar.
If you want a recipe of russian oladii (~american pancakes, but airy and higher), please write me here.
If someone has more info about this dish, please write here as well, I'll be happy to learn something.
Thanks for the recipe! I will try it.
I have to tell you I make this recipe weekly…today I got my batter ready and popped it in the fridge for the hour. Will the batter be good over night? I can’t seem to find the time to make them this evening.
Hi Michelle, to be honest I have never try to keep the batter in a fridge over night. But I would think it should be fine. Try and let me know how it came out.
Can you make the crepes ahead of time?
Yes, you can. When you want to heat them up, just place for a minute on a hot pan.
Can these be frozen?
I have never tried freezing crepes so I cannot tell you how they will be after you defrost them.
yo yo yo i just wanted to know if i could store them overnight in fridge and eat them cold or if that would be gross thank u
Hey Skyler, you can absolutely store them overnight. It’s also very easy to heat them up. Just heat up the non stick pan without any fat, place the crepe on it and it will be done in a minute.
Very thick, but great texture and workability. Thanks for the recipe– serving them with banana cream filling this morning!
Thank you! I’m sure they were delicious with banana cream filling.
Can you refrigerate the mix overnight?
Yes you can!
It was wonderful! My 11 year old daughter loved flipping them in the air just like I used to when I was little
Thank you!, I’m so glad you liked it 🙂
Made these for breakfast this morning. DELICIOUS!!!!! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Fantastic! I’m so happy you like them 🙂
Thank you for the recipe the Kids’s and family loved them !!!
I’m really happy about that 🙂
I just recently found your website & I am absolutely thrilled! My husband & I are of Polish & Bohemian descent respectively. Although we favor the cuisine of our nationalities, we love a variety of foods from around the world. I watched my grandmother on my mother’s side, growing up, make everything from oxtail soup to hoska & something I’ve always known as “raised pancakes” brushed w/ butter & sprinkled w/ a cinnamon & sugar mixture, made usually on Christmas Eve. I’m going to start printing your recipes to try. The first one will be the crepes! I know my husband misses enjoying them since I introduced them to him from a restaurant in our area that has unfortunately been closed for many years ago. I will let you know about my success in making them & my husband’s response. Sincerely, Deborah Jirsa
Fantastic. Thanks so much Deborah. I hope you guys will like my recipes 🙂
I can’t find the measures for the ingredients
They are in a recipe card at the end of the post. You can also use Jump to recipe button at the top of the page.
These are truly amazing and so simple!
Served them to my family for the last couple years – upon their request. Always have to make two batches – one sweet and one savory. My daughter even requested me to make them the afternoon after her bachelorette party for her and her bridesmaids and the morning after her wedding to serve everyone following their sunrise wedding – it was a smaller wedding. Lol.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!!❤️