French Crêpes, in my opinion, are just a little more versatile than pancakes. Their slightly lacy, thin texture is perfect for wrapping around any sweet or savoury filling and is easily tucked into a napkin and eaten on the go. During our spell in France, crêpes were the children’s favourite goûter (snack). And indeed, no trip to the ski slopes would be complete without a crêpe in the car on the way home – small crêpe cabins were conveniently everywhere!
Traditional French Crêpes are super simple to make with store-cupboard ingredients. They are better if you make them the night before, but a 30-minute rest in the fridge is also fine. The mixture will then happily sit in the refrigerator for up to three days. You can swap out some of the flour for cocoa for dreamy chocolate crêpes.
The opportunities for fillings are endless. For this recipe, we have filled the crêpes with blood orange compote and Greek yoghurt—a delicious breakfast treat. You can squeeze over a little fresh lemon and sprinkle with some sugar. You can also melt chocolate tahini, a healthier (and super easy) option, rather than the classic Nutella filling. Or, fill them with your favourite jam, fruit compote, or red fruits.
The first crêpe is often not so good, but after that, you will find it easy with some practice. Choose a good non-stick pan; a pancake or crêpe pan is ideal, but any non-stick pan is perfect. Melt a little butter (essential) in the pan and then pour about a quarter of a cup of mix. Swirl the pan as you go so the mixture evenly covers the pan. You only need a thin layer – filling holes with a little extra batter. It takes about 2 minutes for the edges to crisp and bubbles to form on the surface. You’ll need a good spatula to turn the crêpe over. If it is reluctant to lift out of the pan, give it a little longer and then brown it on the other side. They are ready when the flipped crêpe easily slides around in the pan.
Try our spinach, banana or Ukrainian Pancakes.
French Crêpes
Equipment
- 1 non-stick pancake or frying pan The base of the pan I used was 21 cm – labelled as a 26 cm pan.
- 1 electric whisk
Ingredients
- 150 g all-purpose flour for chocolate crêpes, reduce flour to 120 and add 30g of cocoa
- ⅓ tsp salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- 20 g butter
- 3 large eggs
- 440 ml full fat milk
- extra butter for cooking
Instructions
- Warm the milk until tepid. Drop in the knob of butter and let it melt.
- Sieve the dry ingredients into a large bowl.
- Add the warm milk, water, and eggs to a large jug and whisk them together until slightly frothy.
- Add half the milk mixture into the flour mixture – whisk to a smooth paste – gradually add the rest of the milk to form a smooth batter. Try not to whisk too much.
- Pour the batter back into the jug. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Heat your pan – then add a small knob of butter and swirl around to cover the whole pan. Add ¼ cup of pancake mixture and swirl around to cover the pan evenly. Remember, if you use a bigger non-stick frying pan, you may need more batter.
- You only need a thin layer – fill holes with extra batter. It takes about 2 minutes for the edges to crisp and bubbles to form on the surface. You'll need a good spatula to turn the crêpe over. If it is reluctant, give it a little longer and then gently brown on the other side. It is ready when it easily slides around in the pan. Stack them onto a warmed plate as you go.
- To serve, fill with a spoonful of Greek yoghurt and fold the crêpe into a triangle. Spoon over the orange compote and sprinkle with more pink peppercorns.
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