How to Make Crepes

crepes

I recently learned how to make crepes from my mom’s boyfriend, Bill. Every year he has a crepe party for Easter. He sets up several “crepe stations” around the house and yard — an electric cooker, griddle, bowl of crepe batter — and a central table indoors, covered with different crepe fillings. The fillings range from savory to sweet: sauteed mushrooms, spinach, ricotta cheese, ham, chicken salad, pimento cheese (oh yeah duh, I ate that one!) to strawberries, whipped cream, mascarpone, peaches, Nutella, bananas, peanut butter, jelly. This year I was in charge of manning the exterior crepe station and it was so much fun, you guys! I got the hang of it quickly (it’s way easier than I thought it would be) and was just flippin’ crepes left and right alongside my trusty, bottomless mimosa.

So here’s what I think makes crepes so much easier than they seem like they ought to be: butter. And eggs. Mostly the butter. Like waffle batter, crepe batter is high in the butter and eggs department, when compared to the amount of flour in the recipe. Butter (and eggs to a lesser extent) doesn’t stick to pans. This is why such a delicate, thin pancake is really kinda of a piece of crepe to flip.

Get it?

I kill me.

In this crepe recipe, I’ve got some smoked salmon, spinach, and a caper-dill cream sauce that’s really fairly low in fat for as creamy as it tastes. I think the combination here makes a great breakfast, brunch or lunch crepe. Then, if you want, you can have a second crepe course and fill them with Nutella and strawberries instead or do a classic like crepes Suzette.

Some people like to make sweet crepes if they’re gonna fill them with sweets, but I prefer to keep it simple and use the same batter for sweet or savory crepes. If you are making sweet dessert crepes and you really want to make sure they’re dessert-y you can add 1 tablespoon of sugar to the following recipe:

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Crepe Recipe

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5 from 6 reviews

  • Author: Hilah Johnson
  • Prep Time: 30 mins
  • Cook Time: 5 mins
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • Butter for cooking (a tablespoon)
  • Batter:
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup warm water
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Fillings:
  • smoked salmon, spinach leaves
  • Caper-Dill Cream Sauce:
  • 1/3 cup plain, nonfat yogurt
  • 1/3 cup Mexican crema, creme fraiche, or sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon capers, drained
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Make the crepe batter by whisking all ingredients together. Set aside for at least 30 minutes or refrigerate covered up to 2 days.
  2. Meanwhile, make your sauce by mixing all those ingredients together. Set aside.
  3. When you’re ready to cook, heat a griddle or an omelet pan (nonstick or stainless steel, lightweight is best) over medium heat with a tiny bit of butter, 1/2 teaspoon.
  4. Swirl the butter around and when it’s just beginning to turn golden, lift the pan off the heat with one hand.
  5. Pour in 1/4 cup of batter with the other hand and gently tilt the pan so that the batter covers the bottom, or makes a circle on the griddle about 6″ across.
  6. Put the pan back on the heat and cook about 1 minute.
  7. Flip the crepe with a spatula if using a griddle. If you’re using a skillet, it can be hard to get a spatula in there, so you can wiggle it out onto a plate and then flip it back in. Or use your fingers like I do in the video, but it’s hot and dangerous.
  8. Cook another 30 seconds on the other side, then slid onto a plate.
  9. Fill with a few slices of salmon, some spinach, and a tablespoon of sauce. Serve with more sauce on top. These are good hot and at room temperature.

Notes

To double the recipe: 1 cup flour 1 cup milk 1/2 cup water 4 eggs 4 tablespoons melted butter 1 teaspoon salt

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More Savory Crepe Ideas!

Thinly sliced ham, grated Swiss + creme fraiche

Kalamata olives, diced tomato + basil

Cream cheese, black pepper + lemon zest

Spinach, sauteed mushrooms + Parmesan

Smoked trout, horseradish cream + red onion

Chicken salad

Pimento cheese

Sweet Crepe Fillings:

Sweet crepes, especially those involving any kind of spread (Nutella, jam, etc) can be served folded into quarters instead of rolled. 

Nutella, sliced bananas and/or strawberries

Strawberries (raw or stewed) + whipped cream

Mascarpone cheese, honey + fresh figs

Ricotta cheese, cinnamon, lemon zest + chopped dates

Any fruit jam or marmalade + whipped cream

Lemon juice and powdered sugar (just sprinkled over top of rolled or folded crepe)

Ice cream (Oh, zip it.)

Do-Ahead Crepes!

If you want, you can make up a stack of crepes the day before, put them on a plate and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate up to 24 hours. Reheat them quickly on a griddle. Et Voila!

And if that isn’t enough, here’s 5 more crepe fillings to try!

21 Comments

  1. Laura on May 9, 2013 at 11:06 am

    Another good sweet filling would be cottage cheese and fruit 🙂 Roll it up and add a little bit of cool whip to top it off. Yum! Thank you for sharing this recipe Hilah!






    • Hilah on May 9, 2013 at 12:16 pm

      Oh cottage cheese! Thank you, Laura. That would make a great healthy breakfast crepe. 🙂

  2. Miguel on May 9, 2013 at 12:26 pm

    Is there an easy way to make these gluten-free?
    I’ve used the Pamela’s Gluten Free Pancake and Baking Mix before for other stuff. Do you think it would work, in place of the flour in this one? Or should I just try it and report back?
    Do you think the crepes would freeze well? Maybe put a piece of wax paper between each before freezing, so they don’t stick together?
    Looks delicious!






    • Hilah on May 9, 2013 at 1:01 pm

      Hey Miguel!
      I think that would work fine. Another thing you could try is using half GF mix and half buckwheat flour. Buckwheat crepes are very popular in Russia and have a nutty flavor that is really nice.
      Crepes can also be refrigerated (stacked on a plate, covered in plastic) for 24 hours and reheated on a griddle or frozen (tightly wrapped). Thaw frozen crepes overnight in the fridge or on the counter for a few hours, then peel apart and reheat. Wax paper shouldn’t be necessary, but might help guard against tearing.
      Please do report back on what you do and how it goes! Thank you!

  3. Great Stone Face on May 10, 2013 at 9:58 am

    For filling, mix farmer’s cheese, cream cheese, an egg, sugar, and a little salt — a blintz!






    • Hilah on May 10, 2013 at 11:57 am

      Is it the filling that makes a blintz vs a crepe? I’ve wondered. To me, blintzes are always sweet, is that right?

      • Great Stone Face on May 10, 2013 at 12:07 pm

        Sweet cheese-filled blintzes are the most common, but we’ve gotten (frozen) potato blintzes and I’ve seen blintzes filled very similarly to your salmon and dill cream recipe. The main differences between your crepes and blintzes is that the crepe is rolled around the filling like a burrito, then sauteed again until browned on both sides.






        • Hilah on May 10, 2013 at 5:41 pm

          Aha! Thanks for clearing that up!

  4. Yvette on May 10, 2013 at 10:17 am

    I really must say that it wouldn’t hurt if the crepes had some color to them .
    Fry them just a little bit longer,you only need to have a nice color on the side
    that will be showing.

    And don’t be stingy with the filling people !!

    • Hilah on May 10, 2013 at 11:57 am

      Thanks Yvette! I like them really soft, but they do look prettier with a little brown. Either way!

  5. DANNY CALLAWAY on May 12, 2013 at 11:44 pm

    Hi Hilah
    When you get the ingredients together you set the warm water aside because its to hot but you dont show when you added it
    This is to make the Crepes

    • Hilah on May 13, 2013 at 4:25 pm

      Hey Danny!
      The water is added with the rest of the ingredients. Just whisk it in. That part of the video got cut out. oops!

  6. Amelia. Benjamin on May 20, 2013 at 1:11 am

    awesome!..this is so much easier than the other recipes I’ve looked up. I love your website!!






    • Hilah on May 20, 2013 at 9:38 am

      Thank you, Amelia! I hope you have fun making crepes!

  7. George on June 12, 2013 at 12:48 pm

    hi Hilah,
    this looks soooo Delicious..
    i”ll definately try this..

    • Hilah on June 12, 2013 at 2:32 pm

      Thanks, George! Let me know how it goes for you!

  8. Julia on April 16, 2014 at 7:31 pm

    I remember learning how to make crepes back in French class in high school. We got extra credit for bringing in the ingredients, so my mom gave me some margarine. We did not know it had to be butter, but the teacher proclaimed to the class the French would be mortified, as she used the stick of margarine. So I definitely remember there needs to be butter in the crepes. I think I tried to make them one time after that, but I really did not bother because while they are beautiful and taste great, pancakes are just easier to make. However, if some French chef wants to show up at my door and make me some crepes, I would be so inclined to accept his offer. Maybe I will try it again.






    • Hilah on April 18, 2014 at 8:08 am

      Ahahaha! This story makes me laugh and also want to cry, Julia. I would have been so embarrassed! I guess the margarine crepes turned out okay, though?
      Hope you do try making them again. It took me years to work up the nerve, but once you get the hang of it, it’s really pretty simple.
      Thanks for writing!

      • Julia on April 18, 2014 at 9:41 pm

        Oh that French teacher always had a reason to complain about something. The crepes were still good, but I want to try your recipe. When I do I will let you know how it turned out.

  9. Great Stone Face on April 18, 2014 at 9:56 am

    A week ago, my wife and I were finishing up a cruise with friends. The last port was Cannes. At a stand by the boat harbor, she and I had a delicious lemon juice and sugar crepe and a delicious Grand Marnier crepe: photos here.

    • Hilah on April 19, 2014 at 9:00 am

      Looks like a great time! What a cute crepe truck!

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